A Systematic Review of Dietary Lifestyle Interventions for Neuropathic Pain.

Chronic severe neuropathic pain (NP) affects one in 10 individuals over the age of 30 in North America. Standard pharmacological interventions are associated with significant side effects and have limited effectiveness. Diets seeking to improve physiological health, support gut barrier integrity, and decrease systemic inflammation have recently emerged as powerful tools conferring neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects, potentially reducing the overall morbidity and mortality of multiple neurological and metabolic diseases.

Spectrum of bacterial pathogens in inflammatory and noninflammatory cutaneous ulcers of American tegumentary leishmaniasis.

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) ulcers exhibiting an inflammatory phenotype, characterized by purulent exudate, erythema, pain, and/or lymphatic involvement, are empirically treated with antibiotics.

Objective: The spectrum of bacteria present in localized versus inflammatory phenotypes of CL is elucidated herein.

Methods: Filter paper lesion impressions (FPLIs) from 39 patients with CL (19 inflammatory and 20 noninflammatory ulcers) were evaluated via real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and end-point PCR targeting: , , , spp.

Imported congenital malaria caused by : A case report.

We describe a 5-week-old term infant with severe congenital malaria in a non-endemic setting. She presented with diarrhea, poor feeding, lethargy, hepatosplenomegaly, and severe anemia. She was fortuitously diagnosed with malaria on routine blood smear, and successfully treated with intravenous artesunate.

A Canadian children's hospital's experience with cystic echinococcosis over 30 years: A case series.

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) or hydatid disease caused by the cestode is an uncommon infection in Canada especially among children. There are limited reports describing the clinical presentation and management in Canadian children.

Methods: The medical records of all children diagnosed with CE at a quaternary paediatric centre in Ontario between January 1988 and August 2021 were retrospectively reviewed.

Novel detection of RNA virus-1 (LRV-1) in clinical isolates of .

American tegumentary leishmaniasis comprises a discrete set of clinical presentations endemic to Latin America. RNA virus-1 (LRV-1) is a double-stranded RNA virus identified in 20–25% of the and , however not in . This is the first report of LRV-1 in and its associations with clinical phenotypes of ATL.

The efficacy of a whole foods, plant-based dietary lifestyle intervention for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain in leprosy: a randomized control trial protocol.

Introduction: Despite effective treatment of leprosy via WHO-approved multi-drug therapy (MDT), patients still suffer from debilitating neuropathic sequelae, including peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP), and continue to develop intercurrent etiologies (such as diabetes), and progressive existing neuropathy over time. Strategies seeking to improve physiological and metabolic wellness, including those that reduce systemic inflammation and enhance immune responsiveness to neurotoxic factors may influence underlying neuropathic etiologies. A whole food plant-based diet (WFPBD) has been shown to be effective in the management of neuropathic pain due to diabetes, limiting severity and relevant symptomology.

Performance characteristics of diagnostic assays for schistosomiasis in Ontario, Canada.

Introduction: Due to lower intensity of infection and greater intervals from last exposure, parasitologic detection methods for schistosomiasis are poorly sensitive in non-endemic areas, challenging accurate diagnosis.

Methods: We evaluated parasitologic indirect detection methods for schistosomiasis. We included specimens submitted for serology, and stool for ova and parasite microscopy.

A dengue vaccine whirlwind update.

Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne single-stranded RNA virus of the family with four serotypes (DENV1, DENV2, DENV3, and DENV4) circulating many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Endemic in more than 100 countries, DENV results in over 400 million cases annually, a subset presenting with severe or life-threatening illnesses such as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) or dengue shock syndrome (DSS). While no specific treatments outside of supportive management exist, vaccines are an area of major research with two vaccines, Dengvaxia (CYD-TDV) and Denvax (TAK003), recently licensed for clinical use.

Inflammatory bowel disease later diagnosed as strongyloides colitis in migrants to Canada: a case series.

colitis is a gastrointestinal manifestation of the parasitic infection, , which may be misdiagnosed and treated as ulcerative colitis (UC) in patients presenting in non-endemic regions. Treatment of colitis as UC can lead to a lethal hyperinfection syndrome. Therefore, prior to commencing immunosuppressive treatment of UC, it is essential to use diagnostic markers to differentiate the two etiologies.

Surveillance of Amoebic Keratitis-Causing Acanthamoebae for Potential Bacterial Endosymbionts in Ontario, Canada.

spp. are the causative pathogens of several infections, including amoebic keratitis (AK), a vision-threatening infection. Acanthamoebae from corneal specimens of patients with AK harbor bacterial endosymbionts, which may increase virulence.

A review of nutrition in neuropathic pain of leprosy.

Leprosy is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that continues to burden low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), despite being eliminated as a public health concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000. The causative agents, and , affect nearly 200,000 individuals globally each year, with over 19,000 new cases detected in the Americas in 2020 alone. Canada has experienced an increasing incidence of leprosy, due to rising levels of travel and migration from endemic areas, reaching over 37,000 individuals with leprosy by the end of 2020.

Elevated baseline expression of seven virulence factor RNA transcripts in visceralizing species of : a preliminary quantitative PCR study.

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease that manifests as three major disease phenotypes: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral. In this preliminary study, we quantified virulence factor (VF) RNA transcript expression in species, stratified by geographic origin and propensity for specific disease phenotypes.

Methods: Cultured promastigotes of 19 clinical and ATCC isolates were extracted for total cellular RNA, cDNA was reverse transcribed, and qPCR assays were performed to quantify VF RNA transcript expression for , , , , , , and .

Molecular Surveillance for Imported Antimicrobial Resistant Plasmodium falciparum, Ontario, Canada.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms at several loci have been correlated with Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance. We examined the prevalence of resistance markers in P. falciparum from imported malaria cases in Canada during 3 time periods, 2008-2009, 2013-2014, and 2017-2018.

Leishmania RNA virus-1 is similarly detected among metastatic and non-metastatic phenotypes in a prospective cohort of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis.

American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (ATL) is an endemic and neglected disease of South America. Here, mucosal leishmaniasis (ML) disproportionately affects up to 20% of subjects with current or previous localised cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL). Preclinical and clinical reports have implicated the Leishmania RNA virus-1 (LRV1) as a possible determinant of progression to ML and other severe manifestations such as extensive cutaneous and mucosal disease and treatment failure and relapse.

Babesia microti in a Canadian blood donor and lookback in a red blood cell recipient.

Background And Objectives: We describe the third documented case of autochthonous human babesiosis in Canada and the second in a Canadian blood donor.

Materials And Methods: Multiple laboratory investigations were carried out on the donor and the immunocompromised recipient of an associated, potentially infectious red blood cell product.

Results: The donor had not travelled except for outdoor exposure in south-eastern Manitoba, followed by illness and hospital admission.

Evaluation of a point-of-care molecular detection device for Leishmania spp. and intercurrent fungal and mycobacterial organisms in Peruvian patients with cutaneous ulcers.

Purpose: Overlapping clinical features of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) with ulcers caused by fungi and mycobacteria necessitate confirmatory diagnostic testing. We evaluated a handheld battery-operated device for detection of CL and common fungal and mycobacterial causes of ulcers.

Methods: We validated Palm PCR™ for detection of common ulcerative skin pathogens using ATCC reference and clinical strains of Leishmania, mycobacteria, and fungi in the lab and field.

Comparison of Whole Genome Sequencing versus Standard Molecular Diagnostics for Species Identification in the Leishmania Viannia Subgenus.

The prognosis and treatment of New World tegumentary leishmaniasis is dependent on the infecting species, yet such species identification in the Leishmania Viannia subgenus poses a diagnostic challenge. Currently, speciation relies on standard molecular techniques such as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, and Sanger sequencing (SS). Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is a robust and increasingly cost-efficient tool that may improve Leishmania species identification.

Enface vitreous OCT 'worm holes': A novel finding in a patient with diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis (DUSN).

Purpose: To describe a case of diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis (DUSN), a rare condition that causes progressive vision loss following infection by a nematode using enface vitreous imaging.

Observations: We present the clinical findings of a 37-year-old female, clinically diagnosed with DUSN after a non-invasive multimodal imaging approach that included MultiColor scanning laser imaging and enface vitreous OCT, which revealed the nematode body and lacunae created by worm migration, respectively.

Conclusion And Importance: To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of lacunae visualized using enface vitreous optical coherence tomography (OCT), potentially marking the migration path of the nematode.

Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium isolates from humans in Ontario, Canada.

Background: Cryptosporidiosis is a gastrointestinal disease with global distribution. It has been a reportable disease in Canada since 2000; however, routine molecular surveillance is not conducted. Therefore, sources of contamination are unknown.