Correction to: Genetic algorithms identify individuals with high risk of severe liver disease caused by schistosomes.

In the original article publication, the affiliation of the author Ana Coutinho is incorrect.

Genetic algorithms identify individuals with high risk of severe liver disease caused by schistosomes.

Schistosomes induce severe hepatic disease, which is fatal in 2-10% of cases, mortality being higher in cases of co-infection with HBV or HCV. Hepatic disease occurs as a consequence of the chronic inflammation caused by schistosome eggs trapped in liver sinusoids. In certain individuals, the repair process leads to a massive accumulation of fibrosis in the periportal spaces.

Low plasma haptoglobin is a risk factor for life-threatening childhood severe malarial anemia and not an exclusive consequence of hemolysis.

Severe Malarial Anemia (SMA), a life-threatening childhood Plasmodium falciparum malaria syndrome requiring urgent blood transfusion, exhibits inflammatory and hemolytic pathology. Differentiating between hypo-haptoglobinemia due to hemolysis or that of genetic origin is key to understand SMA pathogenesis. We hypothesized that while malaria-induced hypo-haptoglobinemia should reverse at recovery, that of genetic etiology should not.

Liver ultrasound elastography for the evaluation of periportal fibrosis in schistosomiasis mansoni: A cross-sectional study.

Background: ARFI elastrography has been used as a noninvasive method to assess the severity of liver fibrosis in viral hepatitis, although with few studies in schistosomiasis mansoni. We aimed to evaluate the performance of point shear wave elastography (pSWE) for predicting significant periportal fibrosis (PPF) in schistosomotic patients and to determine its best cutoff point.

Methodology/principal Findings: This cross-sectional study included 358 adult schistosomotic patients subjected to US and pSWE on the right lobe.

A Functional IL22 Polymorphism (rs2227473) Is Associated with Predisposition to Childhood Cerebral Malaria.

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a severe complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection. This encephalopathy is characterized by coma and is thought to result from mechanical microvessel obstruction and an excessive activation of immune cells leading to pathological inflammation and blood-brain barrier alterations. IL-22 contributes to both chronic inflammatory and infectious diseases, and may have protective or pathogenic effects, depending on the tissue and disease state.