Infection intensity-dependent accuracy of reagent strip for the diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium and estimation of treatment prevalence thresholds.

Background: Reagent strip to detect microhematuria as a proxy for Schistosoma haematobium infections has been considered an alternative to urine filtration for individual diagnosis and community-based estimates of treatment needs for preventive chemotherapy. However, the diagnostic accuracy of reagent strip needs further investigation, particularly at low infection intensity levels.

Methods: We used existing data from a study conducted in Tanzania that employed urine filtration and reagent strip testing for S.

Real-time PCR for detection of Strongyloides stercoralis in human stool samples from Côte d'Ivoire: diagnostic accuracy, inter-laboratory comparison and patterns of hookworm co-infection.

Human infections with the helminth species Strongyloides stercoralis encompass a wide clinical spectrum, ranging from asymptomatic carriage to life-threatening disease. The diagnosis of S. stercoralis is cumbersome and the sensitivity of conventional stool microscopy is low.

Safety and immunogenicity of a candidate bioconjugate vaccine against Shigella dysenteriae type 1 administered to healthy adults: A single blind, partially randomized Phase I study.

Background: Shigellae cause severe disease in endemic countries, especially in children. Several efficacy trials have been conducted with candidate vaccines against Shigellae, but the lack of protection, the safety concerns, or manufacturing challenges hindered successful market approval. Conjugated vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective for different pathogens (i.

Neglected tropical diseases: diagnosis, clinical management, treatment and control.

Branded in 2005, "neglected tropical diseases" have gained traction in terms of advocacy, interest for research, enhanced funding and political will for their control and eventual elimination. Starting with an initial set of 13 neglected tropical diseases--seven helminth, three bacterial and three protozoal infections--the list considerably expanded to more than 40 diseases that now also includes viral, fungal and ectoparasitic infections. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the neglected tropical diseases, their causative agents and the current geographical distribution, including their importance for the general practitioners seeing returning travellers and migrants in Switzerland.

Rabies: relevance, prevention, and management in travel medicine.

Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease, transmitted only in mammals. Terrestrial rabies, predominantly transmitted by dogs, is the most important rabies cycle threatening humans. The causative neurotropic virus is a negative-stranded RNA virus of the family Rhabdoviridae, genus Lyssavirus.

Acute febrile respiratory reaction after praziquantel treatment during asymptomatic late form of acute schistosomiasis.

Paradoxical reactions (Jarish Herxheimer-like reactions) have been described in patients treated with praziquantel (PZQ) during acute schistosomiasis (infected≤ 3 mo), while PZQ treatment of chronic schistosomiasis is generally considered to be safe. We report an acute febrile reaction with respiratory decompensation following PZQ treatment in a 17-year-old male patient who had no potential (re)exposure to infection for at least 5 months and was therefore considered to have reached the chronic stage of disease. We speculate that the clinical manifestations in our patient constitute a very late paradoxical reaction in an unusually long acute phase of infection.

The visiting friends or relatives traveler in the 21st century: time for a new definition.

Background: Travelers visiting friends or relatives (VFR travelers) are a group identified with an increased risk of travel-related illness. Changes in global mobility, travel patterns, and inter-regional travel led to reappraisal of the classic definition of the term VFR.

Methods: The peer-reviewed literature was accessed through electronic searchable sites (PubMed/Medline, ProMED, GeoSentinel, TropNetEurop, Eurosurveillance) using standard search strategies for the literature related to visiting friends/relatives, determinants of health, and travel.

Travel case scenarios as a demonstration of risk assessment of VFR travelers: introduction to criteria and evidence-based definition and framework.

Background: Travel-associated health risks need to be balanced against the positive opportunities associated with interregional travel. As the perceived and real spectrum of health risks related to international travel increase both quantitatively and qualitatively, the need for more discriminating tools in clinical assessment for the purpose of mitigation, public health management, and research are needed. One group of international travelers identified as having increased risk of poor travel-related health outcomes are those who travel with the specific intent of visiting friends or relatives (VFR travelers).

Health information given by Swiss travel agencies.

Background: Many of the 1 million Swiss traveling to tropical or subtropical countries book their trip through travel agencies every year. These agencies are thus an important source of information about malaria and other important health risks and little is known about the appropriate health information provided by these.

Method: A study was conducted to assess health-related information in members of the Swiss Federation of Travel Agencies in the metropolitan area of Zurich, Switzerland.

Immunogenicity of booster vaccination with a virosomal hepatitis A vaccine after primary immunization with an aluminum-adsorbed hepatitis A vaccine.

Background: Increasing numbers of individuals are traveling to areas of high hepatitis A endemicity and require immunization against the hepatitis A virus (HAV). The option of using a virosomal, aluminum-free, HAV vaccine (Epaxal) for booster immunization following primary vaccination with an aluminum-adsorbed vaccine has been assessed.

Methods: In total, 142 healthy subjects, 79 men and 63 women, aged 12 to 72 years, were injected intramuscularly with a booster dose of Epaxal (0.