Human schistosomiasis Gryseels, Bruno; Polman, Katja; Clerinx, Jan ...
The Lancet (British edition),
09/2006, Volume:
368, Issue:
9541
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Schistosomiasis or bilharzia is a tropical disease caused by worms of the genus
Schistosoma. The transmission cycle requires contamination of surface water by excreta, specific freshwater snails as ...intermediate hosts, and human water contact. The main disease-causing species are
S haematobium, S mansoni, and
S japonicum. According to WHO, 200 million people are infected worldwide, leading to the loss of 1·53 million disability-adjusted life years, although these figures need revision. Schistosomiasis is characterised by focal epidemiology and overdispersed population distribution, with higher infection rates in children than in adults. Complex immune mechanisms lead to the slow acquisition of immune resistance, though innate factors also play a part. Acute schistosomiasis, a feverish syndrome, is mostly seen in travellers after primary infection. Chronic schistosomal disease affects mainly individuals with long-standing infections in poor rural areas. Immunopathological reactions against schistosome eggs trapped in the tissues lead to inflammatory and obstructive disease in the urinary system (
S haematobium) or intestinal disease, hepatosplenic inflammation, and liver fibrosis (
S mansoni, S japonicum). The diagnostic standard is microscopic demonstration of eggs in the excreta. Praziquantel is the drug treatment of choice. Vaccines are not yet available. Great advances have been made in the control of the disease through population-based chemotherapy but these required political commitment and strong health systems.
Schistosomiasis remains one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases worldwide and the infection is frequently found in travelers and migrants. The European Network for Tropical Medicine and Travel ...Health conducted a sentinel surveillance study on imported schistosomiasis between 1997 and 2010. This report summarizes epidemiological and clinical data from 1,465 cases of imported schistosomiasis. Direct pathogen detection and serology were the main diagnostic tools applied. Of these, 486 (33%) cases were identified among European travelers, 231 (16%) among long-term expatriates, and 748 (51%) among non-European immigrants. Overall, only 18.6% of travelers had received pretravel advice; 95% of infections were acquired in the African region. On species level,
was identified in 570 (39%) and
in 318 (22%) cases; 57.5% of patients were symptomatic. Acute symptoms were reported in 27% of patients leading to earlier presentation within 3 months. Praziquantel was used in all patients to treat schistosomiasis. Many infections were detected in asymptomatic patients. In 47.4% of asymptomatic patients infection was detected by microscopy and in 39% by serology or antigen testing. Schistosomiasis remains a frequent infection in travelers and migrants to Europe. Travelers should be made aware of the risk of schistosomiasis infection when traveling to sub-Saharan Africa. Posttravel consultations particularly for returning expatriates are useful given the high potential for detecting asymptomatic infections.
Intravenous (IV) artesunate is the treatment of choice for severe malaria. In Europe, however, no GMP-manufactured product is available and treatment data in European travellers are scarce. ...Fortunately, artesunate became available in the Netherlands and Belgium through a named patient programme. This is the largest case series of artesunate treated patients with severe malaria in Europe.
Hospitalized patients treated with IV artesunate between November 2007 and December 2010 in the Netherlands and Belgium were retrospectively evaluated. Patient characteristics, treatment and clinical outcome were recorded on a standardized form and mortality, parasite clearance times and the occurrence of adverse events were evaluated.
Of the 68 treated patients, including 55 with severe malaria, two patients died (2/55 = 3.6%). The mean time to 50% parasite clearance (PCT50), 90% and 99% were 4.4 hours (3.9 - 5.2), 14.8 hours (13.0 - 17.2), and 29.5 hours (25.9 - 34.4) respectively. Artesunate was well tolerated. However, an unusual form of haemolytic anaemia was observed in seven patients. The relationship with artesunate remains uncertain.
Data from the named patient programme demonstrate that IV artesunate is effective and well-tolerated in European travellers lacking immunity. However, increased attention needs to be paid to the possible development of haemolytic anaemia 2-3 weeks after start of treatment.Treatment of IV artesunate should be limited to the period that IV treatment is required and should be followed by a full oral course of an appropriate anti-malarial drug.
Malaria continues to have a high morbidity rate associated among European travelers. Thorough recording of epidemiological and clinical aspects of imported malaria has been helpful in the detection ...of new outbreaks and areas of developing drug resistance. Sentinel surveillance of data collected prospectively since 1999 has begun within TropNetEurop, a European network focusing on imported infectious diseases. TropNetEurop appears to cover ∼10% of all patients with malaria seen in Europe. Reports of 1659 immigrants and European patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria were analyzed for epidemiological information and data on clinical features. Regional data were quite diverse, reflecting local patterns of immigration and international travel. By far, the most infections were imported from West Africa. Europeans had more clinical complications; consequently, all deaths occurred in this group. Compared with European standards, the mortality rate was low (0.6% in Europeans). Data from TropNetEurop member sites can contribute to our understanding of the epidemiological and clinical findings regarding imported falciparum malaria.
BackgroundSurveillance of human leishmaniasis in Europe is mostly limited to country-specific information from autochthonous infections in the southern part. As at the end of 2021, no integrated ...analysis has been performed for cases seen across centres in different European countries.AimTo provide a broad perspective on autochthonous and imported leishmaniasis cases in endemic and non-endemic countries in Europe.MethodsWe retrospectively collected records from cutaneous, mucosal and visceral leishmaniasis cases diagnosed in 15 centres between 2014 and 2019. Centres were located in 11 countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Data on country of infection, reason for travelling, infecting species, age and sex were analysed.ResultsWe obtained diagnostic files from 1,142 cases, of which 76%, 21% and 3% had cutaneous, visceral, and mucosal disease, respectively. Of these, 68% were men, and 32% women, with the median age of 37 years (range: 0-90) at diagnosis. Visceral leishmaniasis was mainly acquired in Europe (88%; 167/190), while cutaneous leishmaniasis was primarily imported from outside Europe (77%; 575/749). Sixty-two percent of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases from outside Europe were from the Old World, and 38% from the New World. Geographic species distribution largely confirmed known epidemiology, with notable exceptions.ConclusionsOur study confirms previous reports regarding geographic origin, species, and traveller subgroups importing leishmaniasis into Europe. We demonstrate the importance of pooling species typing data from many centres, even from areas where the aetiology is presumably known, to monitor changing epidemiology.
Travelers have the potential both to acquire and to spread dengue virus infection. The incidence of dengue fever (DF) among European travelers certainly is underestimated, because few centers use ...standardized diagnostic procedures for febrile patients. In addition, DF is currently not reported in most European public health systems. Surveillance has commenced within the framework of a European Network on Imported Infectious Disease Surveillance (TropNetEurop) to gain information on the quantity and severity of cases of dengue imported into Europe. Descriptions of 294 patients with DF were analyzed for epidemiological information and clinical features. By far the most infections were imported from Asia, which suggests a high risk of DF for travelers to that region. Dengue hemorrhagic fever occurred in 7 patients (2.4%) all of whom recovered. Data reported by member sites of the TropNetEurop can contribute to understanding the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of imported DF.
Previous studies have indicated that age is a risk factor for severe falciparum malaria in nonimmune patients. The objectives of this study were to reevaluate previous findings with a larger sample ...and to find out how strongly clinical outcomes for elderly patients differ from those for younger patients. Results of adjusted analyses indicated that the risks of death due to falciparum malaria, of experiencing cerebral or severe disease in general, and of hospitalization increased significantly with each decade of life. The case-fatality rate was almost 6 times greater among elderly patients than among younger patients, and cerebral complications occurred 3 times more often among elderly patients. Antimalarial chemoprophylaxis was significantly associated with a lower case-fatality rate and a lower frequency of cerebral complications. Women were more susceptible to cerebral complications than were men. Our study provides evidence that falciparum malaria is more serious in older patients and demonstrates that clinical surveillance networks are capable of providing quality data for investigation of rare events or diseases.
The purpose of this study was to determine diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for common angiographic and interventional procedures in Belgium. Dose Area Product (DAP) measurements were performed on ...21 systems, (13 angiography and 4 vascular surgery centres). Type of procedure, total DAP, patient weight and height were collected on a daily basis during 1 y. The 75th percentile of the distribution of DAP values was defined as DRL. Preliminary DRLs were calculated for the three most frequent procedures for the whole population, for a weight class of patients (65–80 kg) and normalised to the standard size patient. Among them, the DRL for angiography of the lower limbs (30% of the procedures) from the whole population was 74.6 and 63.2 Gycm2 for the size corrected. The mean DAP values of each room was then compared to these DRLs.
PDF
