Agreement between clinical criteria and quantitative polymerase chain reaction for diagnosing scabies in Auckland children.

Aim: We sought to determine the degree of agreement between clinical and laboratory methods for diagnosing scabies in school-aged children.

Methods: Clinical information and samples were collected from children aged 7 months to 14 years attending educational institutions in Auckland, New Zealand. Two methods determined scabies status: the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies clinical criteria (IACS) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).

A cross-sectional survey of knowledge and attitudes towards scabies control in Australian aged care facilities.

Scabies outbreaks cause significant morbidity and disruption in aged care facilities and other institutional settings. Failure to manage scabies outbreaks may be attributable to low awareness amongst healthcare workers. A survey was distributed to healthcare workers across aged care facilities in South-East Queensland, Australia.

Comparison of prevalence estimates of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 deletions in Plasmodium falciparum determined by conventional PCR and multiplex qPCR and implications for surveillance and monitoring.

Objectives: The accuracy of malaria rapid diagnostic tests is threatened by Plasmodium falciparum with pfhrp2/3 deletions. This study compares gene deletion prevalence determined by multiplex real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and conventional polymerase chain reaction (cPCR) using existing samples with clonality previously determined by microsatellite genotyping.

Methods: Multiplex qPCR was used to estimate prevalence of pfhrp2/3 deletions in three sets of previously collected patient samples from Eritrea and Peru.

Limited threat of Plasmodium falciparum pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 gene deletion to the utility of HRP2-based malaria RDTs in Northern Uganda.

Background: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) that detect Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein-2 (PfHRP2) are exclusively deployed in Uganda, but deletion of the pfhrp2/3 target gene threatens their usefulness as malaria diagnosis and surveillance tools.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at 40 sites across four regions of Uganda in Acholi, Lango, W. Nile and Karamoja from March 2021 to June 2023.

Children's scabies survey indicates high prevalence and misdiagnosis in Auckland educational institutions.

Aim: Here, we present results of a survey of scabies prevalence in childcare centres and primary schools in Auckland.

Methods: Children whose parents agreed to take part in participating centres in the Auckland region were examined for scabies by general practitioners and given questionnaires of relevant symptoms. Diagnoses of clinical or suspected scabies were made according to the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS) criteria.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 and 3 deletions in Peru.

Peru was the first country where pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 gene deletions were detected despite the fact that rapid diagnostics tests are not commonly used for confirmatory malaria diagnosis. This context provides a unique scenario to study the dynamics of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 gene deletions without apparent RDTs selection pressure. In this study we characterized the presence of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 genes on 325 P.

High prevalence of scabies in Auckland pre-schools.

Aim: Scabies is a difficult disease to diagnose and its prevalence not well established. A strong association between scabies and more serious illnesses in children, for instance acute rheumatic fever, suggests greater understanding of scabies prevalence is warranted. Here, we present initial findings of a study of childcare centres, to estimate the prevalence of scabies in the Auckland community.

Epidemiology of mutant Plasmodium falciparum parasites lacking histidine-rich protein 2/3 genes in Eritrea 2 years after switching from HRP2-based RDTs.

Eritrea was the first African country to complete a nationwide switch in 2016 away from HRP2-based RDTs due to high rates of false-negative RDT results caused by Plasmodium falciparum parasites lacking hrp2/hrp3 genes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted during 2019 enrolling symptomatic malaria patients from nine health facilities across three zones consecutively to investigate the epidemiology of P. falciparum lacking hrp2/3 after the RDT switch.

Molecular diagnosis of scabies using a novel probe-based polymerase chain reaction assay targeting high-copy number repetitive sequences in the Sarcoptes scabiei genome.

Background: The suboptimal sensitivity and specificity of available diagnostic methods for scabies hampers clinical management, trials of new therapies and epidemiologic studies. Additionally, parasitologic diagnosis by microscopic examination of skin scrapings requires sample collection with a sharp scalpel blade, causing discomfort to patients and difficulty in children. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic assays, combined with non-invasive sampling methods, represent an attractive approach.

Safety and parasite clearance of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum infection: A pilot and a randomised volunteer infection study in Australia.

Background: Artemisinin resistance is threatening malaria control. We aimed to develop and test a human model of artemisinin-resistant (ART-R) Plasmodium falciparum to evaluate the efficacy of drugs against ART-R malaria.

Methods And Findings: We conducted 2 sequential phase 1, single-centre, open-label clinical trials at Q-Pharm, Brisbane, Australia, using the induced blood-stage malaria (IBSM) model, whereby healthy participants are intravenously inoculated with blood-stage parasites.

Polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum Kelch 13 and P. vivax Kelch 12 Genes in Parasites Collected from Three South Pacific Countries Prior to Extensive Exposure to Artemisinin Combination Therapies.

The South Pacific countries Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea (PNG) adopted artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) in 2008. We examined Kelch 13 and Kelch 12 genes in parasites originating from these countries before or at ACT introduction. Four Kelch 13 and two Kelch 12 novel sequence polymorphisms, not associated with artemisinin resistance, were observed in parasites from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Treatment of pigs with endectocides as a complementary tool for combating malaria transmission by Anopheles farauti (s.s.) in Papua New Guinea.

Background: Outdoor, early-biting, zoophagic behaviours by Anopheles farauti (s.s.) can compromise the effectiveness of bed nets for malaria control.

Cyclooctatetraene: A Bioactive Cubane Paradigm Complement.

Cubane was recently validated as a phenyl ring (bio)isostere, but highly strained caged carbocyclic systems lack π character, which is often critical for mediating key biological interactions. This electronic property restriction associated with cubane has been addressed herein with cyclooctatetraene (COT), using known pharmaceutical and agrochemical compounds as templates. COT either outperformed or matched cubane in multiple cases suggesting that versatile complementarity exists between the two systems for enhanced bioactive molecule discovery.

A bioreactor system for the manufacture of a genetically modified Plasmodium falciparum blood stage malaria cell bank for use in a clinical trial.

Background: Although the use of induced blood stage malaria infection has proven to be a valuable tool for testing the efficacy of vaccines and drugs against Plasmodium falciparum, a limiting factor has been the availability of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant defined P. falciparum strains for in vivo use. The aim of this study was to develop a cost-effective method for the large-scale production of P.

Safety and Reproducibility of a Clinical Trial System Using Induced Blood Stage Plasmodium vivax Infection and Its Potential as a Model to Evaluate Malaria Transmission.

Background: Interventions to interrupt transmission of malaria from humans to mosquitoes represent an appealing approach to assist malaria elimination. A limitation has been the lack of systems to test the efficacy of such interventions before proceeding to efficacy trials in the field. We have previously demonstrated the feasibility of induced blood stage malaria (IBSM) infection with Plasmodium vivax.

The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.

Background: As part of efforts to eliminate malaria, Vanuatu has piloted the implementation of enhanced malaria surveillance and response strategies since 2011. This involves passive case detection (PCD) in health facilities, proactive case detection (Pro-ACD) and reactive case detection (Re-ACD) in communities using malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). While RDTs improve case management, their utility for detection of malaria infections in ACDs in this setting is unclear.

Piperaquine Monotherapy of Drug-Susceptible Plasmodium falciparum Infection Results in Rapid Clearance of Parasitemia but Is Followed by the Appearance of Gametocytemia.

Background: Piperaquine, coformulated with dihydroartemisinin, is a component of a widely used artemisinin combination therapy. There is a paucity of data on its antimalarial activity as a single agent. Such data, if available, would inform selection of new coformulations.

Sensitive Detection of Plasmodium vivax Using a High-Throughput, Colourimetric Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (HtLAMP) Platform: A Potential Novel Tool for Malaria Elimination.

Introduction: Plasmodium vivax malaria has a wide geographic distribution and poses challenges to malaria elimination that are likely to be greater than those of P. falciparum. Diagnostic tools for P.

Validating Eaton's Hypothesis: Cubane as a Benzene Bioisostere.

Pharmaceutical and agrochemical discovery programs are under considerable pressure to meet increasing global demand and thus require constant innovation. Classical hydrocarbon scaffolds have long assisted in bringing new molecules to the market place, but an obvious omission is that of the Platonic solid cubane. Eaton, however, suggested that this molecule has the potential to act as a benzene bioisostere.

Artesunate-mefloquine versus chloroquine for treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in Malaysia (ACT KNOW): an open-label, randomised controlled trial.

Background: The zoonotic parasite Plasmodium knowlesi has become the most common cause of human malaria in Malaysia and is present throughout much of southeast Asia. No randomised controlled trials have been done to identify the optimum treatment for this emerging infection. We aimed to compare artesunate-mefloquine with chloroquine to define the optimum treatment for uncomplicated P knowlesi malaria in adults and children.

Prospective study in a porcine model of sarcoptes scabiei indicates the association of Th2 and Th17 pathways with the clinical severity of scabies.

Background: Understanding of scabies immunopathology has been hampered by the inability to undertake longitudinal studies in humans. Pigs are a useful animal model for scabies, and show clinical and immunologic changes similar to those in humans. Crusted scabies can be readily established in pigs by treatment with the glucocorticoid dexamethasone (Dex).

Antibody responses to Sarcoptes scabiei apolipoprotein in a porcine model: relevance to immunodiagnosis of recent infection.

No commercial immunodiagnostic tests for human scabies are currently available, and existing animal tests are not sufficiently sensitive. The recombinant Sarcoptes scabiei apolipoprotein antigen Sar s 14.3 is a promising immunodiagnostic, eliciting high levels of IgE and IgG in infected people.

An exploratory study to assess the activity of the acarine growth inhibitor, fluazuron, against Sarcoptes scabei infestation in pigs.

Background: The most common treatments for scabies in human and veterinary settings are topical 5% permethrin or systemic treatment with ivermectin. However, these treatments have very little activity against arthropod eggs, and therefore repeated treatment is frequently required. In-vitro, biochemical and molecular studies have demonstrated that human mites are becoming increasingly resistant to both acaricides.

Acaricidal activity of eugenol based compounds against scabies mites.

Background: Human scabies is a debilitating skin disease caused by the "itch mite" Sarcoptes scabiei. Ordinary scabies is commonly treated with topical creams such as permethrin, while crusted scabies is treated with topical creams in combination with oral ivermectin. Recent reports of acaricide tolerance in scabies endemic communities in Northern Australia have prompted efforts to better understand resistance mechanisms and to identify potential new acaricides.