Knowledge and practices about taeniasis/cysticercosis complex within the framework of the national plan for its elimination in Colombia, 2019.

Unlabelled: The taeniasis/cysticercosis complex (TCC) belongs to the group of neglected infectious diseases with a multifactorial transmission that includes hosts such as humans and pigs of the parasitic tapeworm (Taenia solium) and environmental factors. This study represents the first phase of the National and Cross-sectoral Plan for TCC Elimination.

Objectives: To obtain data about knowledge and practices in relation to the TCC from knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) surveys applied in two pilot localities for building a baseline of the potential risk factors related to identification, prevention, and control of TCC in Colombia.

Prevalence of intestinal parasitism in preschool and school children in Colombia: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are a public health challenge in developing countries such as Colombia, causing anaemia and delayed growth and development in children. We aimed to estimate the geographical and prevalence trend of IPIs in the last 30 years in school and preschool children in Colombia.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Succinate dehydrogenase gene as a marker for studying genetic diversity.

has been reported as the most common eukaryotic microorganism residing in the intestines of both humans and animals, with a prevalence of up to 100% in some populations. Since this is a cryptic species, sequence polymorphism are the single strategy to analyses its genetic diversity, being traditionally used the analysis of gene sequence to determine alleles and subtypes (STs) for this species. This multicopy gene has shown high diversity among different STs, making necessary to explore other genes to assess intraspecific diversity.

Development of a Multilocus Sequence Typing Scheme for .

is an intestinal protozoan most commonly found in humans. It has been grouped into 8 assemblages (A-H). Markers such as the glutamate dehydrogenase gene, triose phosphate isomerase and beta-giardin (β-giardin) have been widely used for genotyping.

Molecular and descriptive epidemiology of intestinal protozoan parasites of children and their pets in Cauca, Colombia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Parasitic infections, particularly those caused by protozoa, represent a considerable public health problem in developing countries. Blastocystis, Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp. and the Entamoeba complex (Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar and Entamoeba moshkovskii) are the most common etiological causes of intestinal parasitic infections.

Molecular detection and genotyping of pathogenic protozoan parasites in raw and treated water samples from southwest Colombia.

Background: Protozoan parasites such as Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., Cyclospora cayetanensis, Toxoplasma gondii and Entamoeba histolytica represent a great challenge to the systems producing water for human consumption because their cystic forms are persistent in the environment and resist to the disinfection methods conventionally used for their control. In this study, we investigated the presence of these protozoan pathogens in both raw and treated water samples used for the production of drinking water in Nariño Department, southwest Colombia.

Elimination of onchocerciasis from Colombia: first proof of concept of river blindness elimination in the world.

Background: Onchocerciasis is a chronic parasitic infection originally endemic in 13 discrete regional foci distributed among six countries of Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela). In Colombia, this disease was discovered in 1965 in the Pacific Coast of the country. The National Onchocerciasis Elimination Program was established in 1993 with the aim of eliminating disease morbidity and infection transmission.

[Profiles of intestinal polyparasitism in a community of the Colombian Amazon region].

Introduction: Intestinal parasite infections and polyparasitism are highly prevalent in the most vulnerable populations of developing countries due to environmental, biological and social determinants common in the transmission of parasites. Children between 1 and 15 years of age are the most affected population.

Objective: To describe the prevalence and profiles of intestinal polyparasitism in 1 to 15 year-old children from native communities in the Colombian Amazon region.

Combination of five diagnostic tests to estimate the prevalence of hookworm infection among school-aged children from a rural area of colombia.

Background: Public health programs for the control of soil-transmitted helminthiases require valid diagnostic tests for surveillance and parasitic control evaluation. However, there is currently no agreement about what test should be used as a gold standard for the diagnosis of hookworm infection. Still, in presence of concurrent data for multiple tests it is possible to use statistical models to estimate measures of test performance and prevalence.

Molecular Epidemiology of and among Indigenous Children from the Colombian Amazon Basin.

The incidence and prevalence of intestinal parasites in children is most likely due to lack of natural or acquired resistance and differences in behavior and habits closely related to environmental and socioeconomic determinants. The most important protozoa that parasitize humans are , and . These parasites present wide intraspecific genetic diversity and subsequently classified into assemblages and subtypes.

Clinical and Parasitological Features of Patients with American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis that Did Not Respond to Treatment with Meglumine Antimoniate.

Background: American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is a complicated disease producing about 67.000 new cases per year. The severity of the disease depends on the parasite species; however in the vast majority of cases species confirmation is not feasible.

Geographic distribution of human Blastocystis subtypes in South America.

Blastocystis is a cosmopolitan enteric protist colonizing probably more than 1 billion people. This protozoan exhibits genetic diversity and is subdivided into subtypes (STs). The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of Blastocystis STs in symptomatic and asymptomatic human samples from different countries of South America.

Identification of Entamoeba moshkovskii in Treated Waste Water Used for Agriculture.

We conducted an observational study to determine the prevalence of Entamoeba spp., in samples collected in a waste water treatment plant that provides water for agricultural irrigation. Samples were collected weekly over a period of 10 weeks at representative contamination stages from within the treatment plant.

Molecular Epidemiology of Entamoeba: First Description of Entamoeba moshkovskii in a Rural Area from Central Colombia.

Background: Entamoeba histolytica, E. dispar and E. moshkovskii are the most frequent species described in human infection where E.

Molecular diagnosis and genotype analysis of Giardia duodenalis in asymptomatic children from a rural area in central Colombia.

Giardiasis is a parasitic infection that affects around 200 million people worldwide. This parasite presents a remarkable genetic variability observed in 8 genetic clusters named as 'assemblages' (A-H). These assemblages are host restricted and could be zoonotic where A and B infect humans and animals around the globe.

[The effect of ivermectin on geohelminth frequency (i.e. as used in the onchocerciasis control program in Colombia)].

Objective: Evaluating the effect of ivermectin on soil-transmitted helminthes (STH) infection frequency in a Colombian population included in the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA).

Methods: This was an impact evaluation study which adopted a longitudinal approach using the population of Naicioná (1996) as baseline for comparison to people from the same population as controls (2008). The cross-sectional approach involved comparing the reference population of Naicioná (2008) to the population of Dos Quebradas (2008) used as controls.

[Evaluation (assessment) of three tests for diagnosis of geohelmints in Colombia].

Introduction: Soil-transmitted helminth infections are considered a public health problem in developing countries. The diagnostic tests, both for individual parient diagnosis as for population studies should be evaluated in terms of validity and reliability.

Objective: To compare the direct examination, the modified Ritchie-Frick method, a Kato-Katz designed by a Brazilian group and one designed by the WHO, for the diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminthes.

[Helminth prevalence in a waste-water plant at El Rosal, Cundinamarca].

Objective: Assessing helminth egg prevalence in sludge and raw and treated wastewater from a wastewater treatment system located in the village of El Rosal, Cundinamarca.

Methodology: 30 wastewater and 10 sludge samples from the El Rosal plant were taken during a 10-week period. The sludge and water samples were processed according to the Bailinger and the official Mexican standard methodology, respectively.

Paradoxical associations between soil-transmitted helminths and Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Evidence on the comorbidity between soil-transmitted helminth infections and malaria is scarce and divergent. This study explored the interactions between soil-transmitted helminth infections and uncomplicated falciparum malaria in an endemic area of Colombia. A paired case-control study matched by sex, age and location in Tierralta, Cordoba, was done between January and September 2010.

[Differentiation of Entamoeba histolytica from Entamoeba dispar using Gal/GalNAc-lectin and polymerase chain reaction].

Background: Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar are morphologically identical. However, the former is highly pathogenic and the latter is not.

Aim: To differentiate Entamoeba histolytica from Entamoeba dispar through ELISA and PCR techniques in Colombian isolates from feces.

Entamoeba moshkovskii perspectives of a new agent to be considered in the diagnosis of amebiasis.

During the last decade Entamoeba moshkovskii has become relevant given its capacity to infect humans, especially when considering that it is morphologically indistinguishable from E. histolytica. For a long time, E.

Correlation between malaria incidence and prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths in Colombia: an ecologic evaluation.

Introduction: Recent studies have suggested an association between the soil-transmitted helminth infections and malaria incidence. However, published evidence is still insufficient and diverging. Since 1977, new ecologic studies have not been carried out to explore this association.

[An active search for cases of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in indigenous Colombian children and the canine population].

Objectives: Carrying out an active search for cases of canine and human zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (LVZ) by determining IgG antibodies against Leishmania infantum by indirect immunofluorescence (IFAT) and assessing the risk factors associated with the disease occurring in a Colombian endemic area.

Methods: 580 indigenous children aged less than five and 270 cross-bred dogs from 5 rural areas near the town of Coyaima (Tolima) were evaluated by determining their antibodies using the Colombian Leishmania infantum (infantum) MOHOM/ COL/CLO44B strain as antigen. 527 households in the area were surveyed to assess the risk factors and protective measures being taken.

[History of the Entamoeba histolytica protozoan].

This article presents a history of Entamoeba histolytica spanning since the remote times when it was not even recognized as a cause of human disease to the recent molecular advances. Feder Losch (1875) in Saint Petersburg, found amoebae in fecal samples but only regarded them as responsible for maintaining the inflammatory process, not as a cause of dysentery. Fritz Schaudinn (1903) established the differentiation between Entamoeba histolytica and Endamoeba coli, Schaudinn decided to call it E.

[Frequency of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in patients with implanted pacemaker].

Introduction: In Colombia the impact of infections of Trypanosoma cruzi are known to produce chronic cardiopathy and expressed by bradycardia. In Colombia the extent and impact of these infections has not been examined.

Objective: The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of T.