Publications by authors named "Allen Nalugwa"

Preschool children suffer from morbidity attributable to Schistosoma mansoni. We compared a single and double dose of praziquantel treatment on the regression of S. mansoni associated morbidity in children less than six years in Uganda.

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causes morbidity in human beings, with the highest prevalence in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Prolonged infection with egg deposition in intestinal blood vessels leads to liver and spleen enlargement, and thus chronic morbidity. The objective of this study was to assess whether preschool-aged children develop severe -related morbidity.

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Background: Schistosoma mansoni infection is proven to be a major health problem of preschool-age children in sub-Saharan Africa, yet this age category is not part of the schistosomiasis control program. The objective of this study was to compare the impact of single and double dose praziquantel (PZQ) treatment on cure rates (CRs), egg reduction rates (ERRs) and re-infection rates 8 months later, in children aged 1-5 years living along Lake Victoria, Uganda.

Methodology/principal Findings: Infected children (n= 1017) were randomized to receive either a single or double dose of PZQ.

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Bulinus globosus, a key intermediate host for Schistosoma haematobium that causes urinary schistosomiasis, is a hermaphroditic freshwater Planorbid snail species that inhabits patchy and transient water bodies prone to large seasonal variations in water availability. Although capable of self-fertilizing, this species has been reported to be preferentially out crossing. In this study, we characterized the population genetic structure of 19 B.

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The freshwater snail genus Bulinus has been intensively investigated due to its role as intermediate host for trematode blood flukes that cause the debilitating disease schistosomiasis in man and livestock. Owing to taxonomic ambiguities within Bulinus, attention has often focused upon species delineation and several molecular methods have recently been used for identification and characterization purposes. Inspection of compensatory base changes (CBCs) in the secondary structure of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) has been used to differentiate species in other genera, and here we present a study investigating the presence of CBCs between species in the species groups within Bulinus.

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