Genetic Susceptibility to Astrovirus Diarrhea in Bangladeshi Infants.

Background: Astroviral infections commonly cause acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis in children globally. However, these infections often go undiagnosed outside of research settings. There is no treatment available for astrovirus, and Astroviridae strain diversity presents a challenge to potential vaccine development.

Genome-Wide Association Studies of Diarrhea Frequency and Duration in the First Year of Life in Bangladeshi Infants.

Background: Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under 5 years old worldwide. Known diarrhea risk factors include sanitation, water sources, and pathogens but do not fully explain the heterogeneity in frequency and duration of diarrhea in young children. We evaluated the role of host genetics in diarrhea.

Prospective Cohort Study of Cryptosporidium Infection and Shedding in Infants and Their Households.

Background: Cryptosporidium spp. are responsible for significant diarrheal morbidity and mortality in under-5 children. There is no vaccine; thus, a focus on prevention is paramount.

Prospective cohort study of infection and shedding in infants and their households.

Background: are responsible for significant diarrheal morbidity and mortality in under-five children. There is no vaccine, thus a focus on prevention is paramount. Prior studies suggest that person-to-person spread may be an important pathway for transmission to young children.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Cryptosporidiosis in Infants Implicates .

Diarrhea is a major cause of both morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially among young children. Cryptosporidiosis is a leading cause of diarrhea in children, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where it is responsible for over 200,000 deaths per year. Beyond the initial clinical presentation of diarrhea, it is associated with long-term sequelae such as malnutrition and neurocognitive developmental deficits.

Fecal Immunoglobulin A Against a Sporozoite Antigen at 12 Months Is Associated With Delayed Time to Subsequent Cryptosporidiosis in Urban Bangladesh: A Prospective Cohort Study.

In this prospective cohort study of Bangladeshi children, greater fecal immunoglobulin A, but not plasma immunoglobulin G, directed against the Cryptosporidium sporozoite-expressed antigen Cp23 at 12 months of age was associated with delayed time to subsequent cryptosporidiosis. This finding suggests a protective role for mucosal antibody-mediated immunity in naturally exposed children.

A high-throughput sequencing assay to comprehensively detect and characterize unicellular eukaryotes and helminths from biological and environmental samples.

Background: Several of the most devastating human diseases are caused by eukaryotic parasites transmitted by arthropod vectors or through food and water contamination. These pathogens only represent a fraction of all unicellular eukaryotes and helminths that are present in the environment and many uncharacterized organisms might have subtle but pervasive effects on health, including by modifying the microbiome where they reside. Unfortunately, while we have modern molecular tools to characterize bacterial and, to a lesser extent, fungal communities, we lack suitable methods to comprehensively investigate and characterize most unicellular eukaryotes and helminths: the detection of these organisms often relies on microscopy that cannot differentiate related organisms, while molecular assays can only detect the pathogens specifically tested.

Case-Control Study of Cryptosporidium Transmission in Bangladeshi Households.

Background: Cryptosporidium is a leading contributor to diarrheal morbidity and mortality in under-5 children worldwide. As there is no vaccine and no effective drug therapy in young children for this infection, preventing infection is critical. We undertook a pilot case-control study to define the extent of person-to-person transmission of cryptosporidiosis within an urban and a rural community in Bangladesh.

Morbidity, mortality, and long-term consequences associated with diarrhoea from Cryptosporidium infection in children younger than 5 years: a meta-analyses study.

Background: The protozoan Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of diarrhoea morbidity and mortality in children younger than 5 years. However, the true global burden of Cryptosporidium infection in children younger than 5 years might have been underestimated in previous quantifications because it only took account of the acute effects of diarrhoea. We aimed to demonstrate whether there is a causal relation between Cryptosporidium and childhood growth and, if so, to quantify the associated additional burden.

Species of Cryptosporidia Causing Subclinical Infection Associated With Growth Faltering in Rural and Urban Bangladesh: A Birth Cohort Study.

Background: Cryptosporidiosis is a major cause of childhood diarrhea in low- and middle-income countries and has been linked to impairment of child growth. This study investigated the burden of cryptosporidiosis and its impact on child growth in both a rural and an urban site in Bangladesh.

Methods: Pregnant women in the second trimester were identified at 2 sites in Bangladesh, 1 urban and 1 rural.

Burden and Risk Factors of Antimicrobial Use in Children Less Than 5 Years of Age with Diarrheal Illness in Rural Bangladesh.

Antimicrobial overuse contributes to antimicrobial resistance. Empiric use of antimicrobials for diarrheal illness is warranted only in a minority of cases, because of its self-limiting nature and multifactorial etiology. This study aims to describe the factors contributing to antimicrobial overuse for diarrheal disease among children less than 5 years of age in rural Bangladesh.

Natural History of Cryptosporidiosis in a Longitudinal Study of Slum-Dwelling Bangladeshi Children: Association with Severe Malnutrition.

Background: Cryptosporidiosis is a common cause of infectious diarrhea in young children worldwide, and is a significant contributor to under-five mortality. Current treatment options are limited in young children. In this study, we describe the natural history of Cryptosporidium spp.

Plasma endotoxin core antibody concentration and linear growth are unrelated in rural Malawian children aged 2-5 years.

Background: Environmental enteropathy is subclinical inflammation of the upper gastrointestinal tract associated with reduced linear growth in developing countries. Usually investigators have used biopsy or a dual sugar absorption test to assess environmental enteropathy. Such tests are time and resource intensive, restricting their utility as screening methods.

Calcified neurocysticercus, perilesional edema, and histologic inflammation.

Abstract. Here, we present the second report of the histopathology of a Taenia solium calcification giving rise to perilesional edema. This has important implications, because if perilesional edema lesions are inflammatory in character, immunosuppressive or anti-inflammatory medications, not just antiepileptic drugs alone, may be useful to prevent or treat recurring episodes in such patients.

Oral polio vaccine response in breast fed infants with malnutrition and diarrhea.

Oral vaccines for polio (OPV) and rotavirus are less effective in children in the developing world. The reasons for this are not well understood. We tested for risk factors for poor response to OPV in infants from an urban slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

REG1B as a predictor of childhood stunting in Bangladesh and Peru.

Background: Undernutrition remains a significant problem worldwide, with environmental enteropathy implicated as a contributing factor. An understanding of the pathogenesis and identification of children at risk are critical to the design of more-effective interventions.

Objective: The stool regenerating gene 1β (REG1B) protein, which is a putative measure of intestinal injury and repair, was tested as a noninvasive biomarker of future childhood stunting.

Breast milk parasite-specific antibodies and protection from amebiasis and cryptosporidiosis in Bangladeshi infants: a prospective cohort study.

In this prospective cohort study, the presence of parasite-specific immunoglobulin A in breast milk was associated with protection of Bangladeshi infants from cryptosporidiosis and amebiasis. Our findings suggest that passive immunity could be harnessed for the prevention of Entamoeba histolytica and Cryptosporidium species infection in children living in endemic regions.

Evaluation of a rapid point-of-care fecal antigen detection test for Entamoeba histolytica.

Amebiasis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the developing world. A reliable point-of-care test would help to improve diagnosis and early treatment. We evaluated a novel rapid fecal antigen detection test for E.

Environmental enteropathy: critical implications of a poorly understood condition.

Environmental enteropathy (also called tropical enteropathy) is a subclinical condition caused by constant fecal-oral contamination and resulting in blunting of intestinal villi and intestinal inflammation. Although these histological changes were discovered decades ago, the clinical impact of environmental enteropathy is just starting to be recognized. The failure of nutritional interventions and oral vaccines in the developing world may be attributed to environmental enteropathy, as the intestinal absorptive and immunologic functions are significantly deranged.

Contribution of enteric infection, altered intestinal barrier function, and maternal malnutrition to infant malnutrition in Bangladesh.

Background: Malnourished children are at increased risk for death due to diarrhea. Our goal was to determine the contribution of specific enteric infections to malnutrition-associated diarrhea and to determine the role of enteric infections in the development of malnutrition.

Methods: Children from an urban slum in Bangladesh were followed for the first year of life by every-other-day home visits.