Publications by authors named "Almazan C"

Ticks and tick-borne diseases are a growing burden worldwide and vaccines are effective control interventions. Vaccine formulations with tick antigens such as BM86/BM95 (BM) and Subolesin (SUB) have shown reduction in tick fitness and infestation in immunized hosts. However, antigen combination is a challenging approach to improve vaccine efficacy (E) against multiple tick species.

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Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive condition affecting more than 800 million individuals worldwide. Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) are questionnaires aimed at evaluating patients' experiences with healthcare received. Given that CKD management often involves continuous treatments, capturing patient experiences can guide improvements in care that align with patients' preferences, making PREMS a relevant tool in CKD management.

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Ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites that affect animals, and some of them transmit a wide range of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, and protozoa to both animals and humans. Several vaccines have shown immunogenicity and protective efficacy against ticks in animal models and definitive hosts. After several decades on anti-tick vaccine research, only a commercial vaccine based on a recombinant antigen is currently available.

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We discuss the potential usefulness of molecular testing of soil, dust, and water samples to detect medically important parasites, and where such testing could be used to supplement stool sampling in humans. A wide variety of parasites including protozoa and helminths, many of which are zoonotic, have an important infection reservoir in the environment. In some cases, this environmental period is essential for further parasite development.

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Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMS) are questionnaires developed to assess the patient experience and incorporate a vision of patient centered care as a new element of value in the quality of healthcare. The PREM-C9 was developed and tested recently in the United Kingdom (UK) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CODP). The aim of the current study was to test the validity and reliability of the PREM-C9 in Spanish and Catalan.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study builds on previous research about how antibiotics affect the tick microbiota, particularly the transmission of Babesia microti, by comparing antibiotic-treated (AT) and control-treated (CT) Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks to observe changes in their microbial community interactions.
  • - Results indicated that AT ticks had a more connected but less interactive microbial community, showing significant differences in network centrality measures, which reflect how different bacteria interact within the community.
  • - The findings highlight that certain bacteria like Coxiella and Acinetobacter play key roles in maintaining network stability, and the antibiotic treatment made these networks less robust, indicating a higher susceptibility to disturbances.
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Tick-borne rickettsioses, caused by Gram-negative bacteria of the Rickettsia genus, pose a growing global threat, with various arthropod vectors contributing to their transmission. Understanding the complex interactions within tick microbiota, including the role of Rickettsia species, is crucial for elucidating the dynamics of rickettsial diseases. Here, we investigate the taxonomic profiles and co-occurrence networks of Rickettsia in Rh.

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  • - Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are a major health issue in poor tropical and subtropical communities, necessitating improved diagnostic methods beyond traditional techniques.
  • - A study conducted from 2010 to 2019 in northern Salta, Argentina, analyzed 944 stool samples to evaluate the sensitivity of various diagnostic methods for detecting STH, revealing that sedimentation/concentration was the most effective.
  • - The findings support the use of combined parasitological methods in clinical and public health labs and recommend incorporating these improved diagnostic strategies into World Health Organization control plans for STH.
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The brown dog tick, (Audouin, 1826), is distributed across the American continent and is formerly known as the "tropical lineage". It belongs to the (Latreille, 1806) species complex, referred to as (). Mitochondrial genome sequences are frequently used for the identification and represent reference material for field studies.

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The control and prevention of ticks and tick borne diseases (TBDs) is often difficult, since it is necessary to disrupt a complex transmission cycle, involving ticks and vertebrate hosts, which interact in a changing environment, driven by constant environmental and ecological changes. Our view is that factors driving the spread of are complex and intrinsically interconnected, something that has often been ignored in control strategies. The aim of this review is to analyze the importance of the epidemiological surveillance of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs) for Public Health, with the One Health approach; emphasizing the knowledge, importance, and distribution of TTBDs.

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Acaricides are the most widely used method to control the cattle tick . However, its use increases production costs, contaminates food and the environment, and directly affects animal and human health. The intensive use of chemical control has resulted in the selection of genes associated with resistance to acaricides, and consumers are increasingly less tolerant of food contamination.

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In this comprehensive review study, we addressed the challenge posed by ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) with growing incidence affecting human and animal health worldwide. Data and perspectives were collected from different countries and regions worldwide, including America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The results updated the current situation with ticks and TBD and how it is perceived by society with information bias and gaps.

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Ticks of the Rhipicephalus sanguineus complex are known as the brown dog ticks. This complex groups at least 12 species of ticks that are distributed worldwide. On the American continents, R.

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Background: In the European Union, around 5 million people are affected by psychotic disorders, and approximately 30%-50% of people with schizophrenia have treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). Mobile health (mHealth) interventions may be effective in preventing relapses, increasing treatment adherence, and managing some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia seem willing and able to use smartphones to monitor their symptoms and engage in therapeutic interventions.

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Article Synopsis
  • The paper by Allen and Humphreys in 1979 kickstarted the research and development of tick vaccines as a nonchemical way to protect guinea pigs and cattle from tick infestations.
  • Prior observations of host resistance to ticks were documented long before, but it was this paper that provided solid proof of the potential effectiveness of anti-tick vaccines.
  • The experimental methods introduced in the paper influenced subsequent research aimed at discovering and assessing new tick vaccine options.
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Reducing ineffective practices is one way to ensure high-quality and efficient healthcare for the population. For this reason, several initiatives have been implemented worldwide to reduce low-value care. This article describes the experience of the project, a multifaceted deadoption strategy implemented in the Catalan primary care system.

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and are apicomplexan parasites that cause established and emerging diseases in humans, domestic and wild animals. These protozoans are transmitted by Ixodid ticks causing babesiosis or theileriosis, both characterized by fever, hemolytic anemia, jaundice, and splenomegaly. In North America (NA), the most common species affecting humans is , which is distributed in the Northeastern and Upper Midwestern United States (US), where the tick vector is established.

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Cytauxzoonosis is an emerging tick-borne disease of domestic and wild felids produced by infection of an apicomplexan protozoan similar to spp. Transmitted by , lone star tick, and , American dog tick, infection of in cats is severe, characterized by depression, lethargy, fever, hemolytic crisis, icterus, and possibly death. Cytauxzoonosis occurs mainly in the southern, south-central, and mid-Atlantic United States in North America, in close association with the distribution and activity of tick vectors.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focused on creating synthetic peptide vaccines aimed at neuropeptides in salivary glands and hindguts of ticks to protect mice and sheep from tick infestations.
  • - Vaccination generated a strong IgG antibody response against SIFamide (SIFa) and myoinhibitory peptide (MIP) neuropeptides, but did not show significant negative effects on nymphs in mice or clear conclusions in sheep due to low nymph numbers.
  • - While overall tick feeding and growth were not notably affected, a negative link was found between antibody levels against SIFa and MIP and the success of larva molting, suggesting potential for using MAPs to target tick immunity, despite limited protection results
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  • Researchers sequenced the salivary gland transcriptomes of female ticks to explore potential vaccine candidates against tick-borne pathogens.
  • The study focused on two antigens, IrSPI and IrLip1, thought to reduce tick feeding and pathogen transmission by affecting the host immune response.
  • Despite generating a strong immune response in vaccinated mice and sheep, the antigens actually increased tick engorgement and molting while offering no protection against tick infestations, marking a novel finding in anti-tick vaccination research.
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  • A study established a sheep infection model for the tick-borne diseases transmitted by the European Norway variant 2 ovine strain (NV2Os), showing successful infection through tick cells.
  • Both inoculated sheep exhibited clinical signs of infection such as fever, the presence of specific bacteria in blood tests, and antibody development.
  • The research confirmed that ticks can effectively transmit the bacteria between sheep, demonstrating the potential for further studies on transmission and control strategies for this emerging disease in Europe.
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Background: The aim of this study was to detect and molecularly identify Rickettsia spp. in Rhipicephalus sanguineus (sensu lato) collected from free-roaming dogs in 30 communities from five municipalities in the south of Coahuila State, northern Mexico, where Rocky Mountain spotted fever is endemic.

Methods: In total, 60 dogs from each municipality were examined for engorged ticks.

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The cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus microplus (Canestrini) (Acari: Ixodidae), is a one-host tick that infests primarily cattle in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. This species transmits deadly cattle pathogens, especially Babesia spp., for which a recombinant vaccine is not available.

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The use of live animals in tick research is crucial for a variety of experimental purposes including the maintenance of hard tick colonies in the laboratory. In ticks, all developmental stages (except egg) are hematophagous, and acquiring a blood-meal when attached to their vertebrate hosts is essential for the successful completion of their life cycle. Here we demonstrate a simple method that uses easily openable capsules for feeding of hard ticks on rabbits.

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The cattle industry is one of the most important agroeconomic activities in Mexico. The national herd is estimated to include approximately 33.5.

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