Latest onchocerciasis Stories

LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a telltale molecular marker for Onchocerciasis or "river blindness," a parasitic infection that affects tens of millions of people in Africa, Latin America and other tropical regions. The newly discovered biomarker, detectable in patients' urine, is secreted by Onchocerca volvulus worms during an active infection. The biomarker could form the basis of a portable,...

Fight against river blindness is successful and inexpensive A relatively inexpensive program set up to combat river blindness, an infectious disease, has resulted in major health improvements in Africa, shows a study conducted by Erasmus University Medical Center researchers. The study, due to be published January 31 in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows that US$250 million helped cure or prevent blindness, skin disease, severe itching, and other symptoms in millions of people. In...

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that the worm which causes River Blindness survives by using a bacterium to provide energy, as well as help 'trick' the body's immune system into thinking it is fighting a different kind of infection. River Blindness affects 37 million people, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, causing intense itching of the skin, visual impairment and in severe cases, irreversible blindness. It is caused by a parasitic worm that is transmitted by...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Killing over 780,000 people each year, malaria is one of the deadliest diseases in the world. Finding a cure has been the goal of scientists for many years. Now a cheap and common medication used to treat lice in children and heartworm in pets, could add malaria to the list of diseases it helps control.According to the World Health Organization, new approaches to combat malaria are in constant demand. Current methods of avoiding transmission rely mainly on sleeping under...

HORSHAM, Pa., July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a study sponsored by Topaz Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, scientists from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst presented data showing that a 0.5% ivermectin (IVM) cream formulation was active against lice eggs from permethrin resistant head lice. The data were presented in a poster presentation on Saturday, July 9, 2011 at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology in...

Also used for treating lice in children and heartworm in pets, ivermectin could add malaria to long list of diseases it currently helps controlA cheap, common heartworm medication that is already being used to fight other parasites in Africa could also dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria, potentially providing an inexpensive tool to fight a disease that kills almost 800,000 people each year, according to a new study published today in the July edition of the American Journal of...

The team found that a bacterium inside the worm acts as a 'disguise' for the parasite, resulting in the immune system reacting to it in an ineffective way. The bacteria protect the worm from the body's natural defences, but once the bacteria are removed with antibiotics, the immune system responds appropriately, releasing cells, called eosinophils, that kill the worm.Antibiotics are successful against the parasite, but the long treatment regime means that it has limited use across whole...

HORSHAM, Pa., Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Topaz Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced the completion of two Phase 3 clinical trials that studied the use of ivermectin topical cream as a potential treatment for head lice. These trials were conducted according to a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "Parents and caregivers are looking for safe and effective treatments for head lice," said...

In a major breakthrough that comes after decades of research and nearly half a billion treatments in humans, scientists have finally unlocked how a key anti-parasitic drug kills the worms brought on by the filarial diseases river blindness and elephantitis.Understanding how the drug ivermectin works has the potential to lead to new treatments for the diseases, in which the body is infected with parasitic worms, said Charles Mackenzie, a professor of veterinary pathology in the College of...

How parasites use different life-history strategies to beat our immune systems may also provide insight into the control of diseases, such as elephantiasis and river blindness, which afflict some of the world's poorest communities in tropical South-East Asia, Africa and Central America. The research is due to be published next week in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology.The study, led by Dr Simon Babayan of the University of Edinburgh, showed using a mouse model of parasite infection...