Parasitology Research Articles

Journal of parasitology Policies and Instructions to Authors

Journal of parasitology Policies and Instructions to Authors

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in the Field of Parasitology.

The article's abstract is not available.

Prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. and Blastocystis hominis in faecal samples among diarrheic HIV patients in Medan, Indonesia.

Aim To investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium sp. and B. hominis among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients in two different outpatient clinics, Haji Adam Malik General Hospital and Primary Care Centre of Padang Bulan, Medan, Indonesia, between two interval periods. Method Cryptosporidium spp. microscopic examination, as well as Jones' medium for B. hominis, were conducted in the Parasitology Laboratory, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was done in the Multidisciplinary Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara. This was a cross-sectional study, involving 54 diarrheic HIV positive patients (44 males, 10 females). The data were analysed by Spearmen rank correlation, interrater agreement, and 2 tests. Results Infection rate for Cryptosporidium spp. and B. hominis was 24% (13 patients) and 9% (five patients), respectively. The prevalence of CD4 cell count below 200 cell/mm3 was relatively high, 29.6% (16 patients). There was a significant relationship between cryptosporidiosis and CD4 cell count (p=0.01; OR 1.57; 95% CI 1.25-1.99). Microscopic examination was superior over ELISA, whose diagnostic value for sensitivity and specificity was 46.15% and 100.0%, respectively, and Kappa (K) coefficient of 0.56. Conclusion The prevalence of cryptosporidiosis among HIV patients was still relatively high. CD4 count showed a significant relationship with Cryptosporidium spp. infection, but not with Blastocystic hominis. Microscopic examination is still the most reliable technique to diagnose the parasites in faecal samples.

INFEKSI JAMUR KUKU (ONYCHOMYCOSIS) PADA LANSIA DI PANTI SOSIAL TRESNA WERDHA WANA SERAYA

Onychomycosis merupakan infeksi pada lempeng kuku yang dapat disebabkan oleh jamur dermatofita (Tinea unguium), non dermatofita atau yeast. Infeksi onychomycosis menyebabkan kerusakan pada kuku yang menyebabkan lempeng kuku menebal, rapuh dan mudah hancur. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk gambaran onychomycosis pada lansia di Panti Sosial Tresna Werdha (PSTW) Wana Seraya. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian deskriptif. Pengambilan sampel penelitian dilakukan di Panti Sosial Tresna Werdha (PSTW) Wana Seraya di Jl. Gemitir No.66, Kesiman Kertalangu, Denpasar Timur, Kota Denpasar, Bali. Sampel dianalisa di Lab. Parasitologi Teknologi Laboratorium Medis STIKes Wira Medika Bali. Pemeriksaan menggunakan teknik pengamatan langsung menggunakan pewarna kalium hidroksida (KOH) 10% pada kerokan kuku 15 orang responden yang memenuhi kriteria inklusi dan eksklusi. Hasil pemeriksaan menunjukkan terdapat 1 responden (6,67%) yang positif onychomycosis dengan ditemukannya hifa pada pengamatan mikroskopis preparat kerokan kuku. Sementara itu 14 sampel lainnya (93,33%) dinyatakan negatif. Hasil screening pada penelitian ini menunjukkan lansia di PSTW Wana Seraya telah memiliki hygiene diri yang baik khususnya dalam memelihara kebersihan kuku kaki dan tangan sehingga mengurangi faktor resiko terjadinya infeksi jamur kuku.

Exploration and practice of teaching reform and course construction of human parasitology

In order to adapt to the needs of innovative medical personnel training, Zunyi Medical University conducted teaching reform and curriculum construction for human parasitology. Key teachers were trained by strengthening the construction of the teaching staff. Through the preparation of lessons, lectures, supervision and other measures, the teaching quality has been improved. Teaching reform was carried out by the introduction of humanities knowledge, scientific research training, and formative evaluation. Through the development of quality curriculum resources, standardized teaching archives, improved scientific research, and quality service for the society, the curriculum construction of human parasitology has been greatly improved. Key words: Human parasitology; Teaching reform; Course construction

Critical diagnosis of complicated strongyloidosis with nested-PCR and High Resolution Melting analysis (HRM)

Diagnosis of strongyloidosis is sometimes problematic and requires novel techniques. Here, critical diagnosis of a complicated case of strongyloidosis using molecular methods is reported. A young woman referred to the Diagnostic Laboratory of Strongyloidiasis in School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. She had taken albendazole before referring to the laboratory. She had cerebral edema, behavior disorders, hypereosinophilia and titer of IgE >2000 IU/mL. The patient had history of intestinal and skin disorders and steroid therapy. For detection of Strongyloides stercoralis infection, parasitological techniques and novel methods of nested-PCR and HRM analysis were applied on stool samples upon admission and during the following up. On the samples provided upon first admission, parasitology showed negative results, while both molecular methods revealed infection with S. stercoralis. After specific treatment, during the following up, the patient general health was much improved and the results of all parasitological and molecular tests were negative for strongyloidosis. Application of novel sensitive diagnostic methods for detection of S. stercoralis is necessary, especially once parasitological techniques have lack of sensitivity.

Research and Reviews in Clinical Microbiology: Virology and HIV Medicine-A book Review

Clinical microbiology is a vast subject that covers a wide range of sub categories that include clinical bacteriology, clinical virology, clinical mycology, and clinical parasitology. The present book is a compilation of both research and review pieces related to the field of clinical virology and HIV medicine.

Reflections on an inflection: From virology to parasitology guided by POLARIS.

Reflections on an inflection: From virology to parasitology guided by POLARIS.

Plant-borne compounds and nanoparticles: challenges for medicine, parasitology and entomology

Plant-borne compounds and nanoparticles: challenges for medicine, parasitology and entomology

Using interactive teaching methods for the study of medical parasitology

Стає актуальним застосування інноваційних методів і технологій навчання, спрямованих на виховання творчої активності та ініціативи студентів. Багато вчених займалися питаннями навчання та організації освітнього процесу у вищих медичних навчальних закладах, проте питання інтерактивного навчання в процесі вивчення курсу «Медична паразитологія» потребує подальшої розробки. Мета статті — практичне обґрунтування інтерактивних форм навчання під час вивчення дисципліни «Медична паразитологія». Паразитарні захворювання продовжують посідати важливе місце серед хвороб людини як у Європи, так і в Україні. Це вказує на необхідність вивчення паразитології у структурі захворюваності сучасного людства. Особливістю проведення практичних занять є використання великої кількості ілюстративного матеріалу. Важливим для підвищення ефективності засвоєння навчального матеріалу курсу «Медична паразитологія» при проведенні практичних занять є рішення ситуаційних завдань і проведення рольових ігор. Ділові ігри моделюють життєву ситуацію, розглядають питання епідеміології паразитарних захворювань. Інтерактивні методи забезпечують ефективність процесу навчання студентів із дисципліни «Медична паразитологія». Це формує професійне мислення студентів, сприяє їх професійно-особистісному розвитку, стимулюванню навчально-пізнавальної активності, оволодінню навичками всебічного аналізу ситуацій, оперативному прийняттю рішення, вмінню аналізувати додаткову інформацію для уточнення вихідної ситуації, самостійності у прийнятті рішень, оволодінню практичним досвідом здобуття користі зі своїх і чужих помилок.

A simple and rapid method for blood collection from walking catfish, Clarias batrachus (Linneaus, 1758)

Blood is collected from experimental animals for a wide range of scientific purposes including; hematology, clinical biochemistry parameters, immunology, studies in bacteriology, parasitology and investigations in reproductive performance and health. The number of methods employed to collect blood from fish include; the puncture of caudal vein, dorsal aorta or cardiac vessels and the severance of the caudal vein. Unfortunately, all these procedures are practically found to be slow and stressful to Clarias batrachus, including the popular caudal vein approach, likely due to the small size of caudal veins relative to the size of the species. In line with the universal ethical recommendations for taking blood from small research animals, we propose an alternative one-operator approach for C. batrachus that is simple, rapid and without the need to sacrifice the fish as with other methods. This procedure targets the dorsal aorta (a relatively larger blood vessel) in a sedated fish, punctured by inserting a needle directly from the anterior part of the anal fin about 2-5 mm behind the genital papilla, to draw the desired amount of blood. The technique is a one-operator procedure not requiring the help of an assistant or any special equipment to restrain the fish. The operation of the protocol is unique since it permits the continuous collection of blood from the same experimental fish over a varied time course and reduces the need for a large number of replicate animals. The advantages of the proposed protocol are also highlighted and discussed in detail.

Application of flipped classroom in human parasitology teaching

Objective To explore the value of applying flipped classroom in human parasitology. Methods Totally 430 students of 5-year program were divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental class received human parasitology teaching through flipped classroom teaching mode, while the control class received traditional teaching. The effect of teaching was evaluated by questionnaire and examination. The data were analyzed through t-test. Result Meanwhile, statistical difference was found in average score of total between experiment group and control group [(68.2±8.6) vs. (66.6±11.0), P=0.032]. There was also statistical difference in average score of comprehensive analysis [(16.4±3.2) vs. (16.1±3.9), P=0.038]. Questionnaire survey of satisfaction showed that 191 students of experimental class (90.95%) felt new teaching mode could improve autonomous learning ability, 199 students (94.76%) in-creased interest in learning; 185 students (88.10%) had more interactive with teachers, 178 students (84.76%) enhanced cooperation between students, 186 students (88.57%) approved of small group discussion learning and 165 students (78.57%) had no extra burden. Conclusion Flipped classroom teaching mode can improve students' autonomous learning ability and cultivate their abilities of independent thinking, cooperation, criti-cism, innovation, analyzing and solving problems. Thus this new teaching mode is worthy of reference and popularization. Key words: Flipped classroom; Human parasitology; Autonomous learning; Formative assessment

Assessment of First-Year Students’ Metacognitive Ability in Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA): Toward Curriculum Development

Introduction: Metacognition is the awareness of knowledge how one learns in addition to whatone learns and to understand how a task will be performed. Metacognitive skill as self-assessmentis recognised as an important contributor to the development of critical capacity, reflective attitudeand autonomous life-long learning. Accurate, self-assessment of knowledge and skills is essential forstudents to maintain and improve through self-directed learning. Objective: The objective of thisstudy was to explore, how well students’ evaluate their own level of understanding for lectures toreflect their metacognitive skill that can be used in educational strategy to promote students’ personaland professional growth. Methods: To assess the metacognition of the students, a questionnaire basedon three items was designed. All 60 (17 male and 43 female) preclinical, first-year medical studentswere included in this study. The metacognition as planning, monitoring and evaluating the lecture wasjudged through students’ response on 33 lectures in terms of understanding of knowledge, clearingof misconceptions and presenting of a well prepared material respectively in the field of haematologyand parasitology. Metacognition as reflected in the lecture understanding level (LUL) score, lecturespreparation level (LPL) score and students question level (SQL) score was estimated for its correlationwith student’ achievement score in pre-clinical phase of MBBS program. Results: The data wasanalysed for correlation between metacognition and overall students’ achievement scores and astatistically significant correlation between LUL and multiple true false (MTF) of 268 (p = .039),LPL and MTF of .282 (p = .029) as well as between SQL and MTF of .360 (p = .005) was comparedto poor correlation between LUL, LPL and SQL and the other three assessment tools (short essayquestions [SEQ], problem-based questions [PBQ] and objectively structured practical examination[OSPE]) was found. Conclusion: The significant correlation of students’ metacognition and theirachievement score in classroom setting with MTF and poor correlation with SEQ, PBQ and OSPE isattributed to multiple factors discussed in this study, imperative to students’ personal and professionalgrowth.

Strengthening Laboratory Capacity for Early Warning Alert and Response System (EWARS) in Indonesia

Background: Establishment of Early Warning Alert and Response System (EWARS) in Indonesia was initiated since 2009 in few selected provinces and government was planning to roll out in other provinces. Before initiating this roll out the assessment of performance of EWARS in 2012 was conducted. The aim of the assessment is to strengthen laboratory for supporting to EWARS for alerts testing. Methods: Laboratory capacity mapping tool and laboratory algorithm for twenty two priority diseases of EWARS were developed. This mapping tool was used in nine provinces to look at the existing capacities. This mapping tool and algorithm is used to pilot the laboratory support function for EWARS in four districts of West Kalimantan. Results: Almost all alerts have no laboratory confirmation except for few disease like measles, poliomyelitis and malaria. Capacity mapping of five of the nine provinces have available capacity for testing for bacteriology, virology, parasitology, mycology, hematology, immunology and environmental/chemicals in public or private sectors. A piloting of laboratory support for EWARS demonstrated the application of algorithm, development of logistic planning and allocation of resources for laboratory testing for alerts of EWARS. Conclusion: Capacity mapping opens horizon on strengthening support function of the system, which are readily available at local levels and provides opportunities for coordination and collaboration. EWARS is an opportunity to strengthen sustainable and sensitive surveillance system, which in turn assist on overall of health development through health systems strengthening.

Impact of Students’ Class Attendance on Recalling Previously Acquired Information

Background: In recent years, availability of class material including typed lectures, the professor’s Power Point slides, sound recordings, and even videos made a group of students feel that it is unnecessary to attend the classes. These students usually read and memorize typed lectures within two or three days prior to the exams and usually pass the tests even with low attendance rate. Thus, the question is how effective is this learning system and how long the one-night memorized lessons may last. Methods: A group of medical students (62 out of 106 students), with their class attendance and educational achievements in the Medical Mycology and Parasitology course being recorded since two years ago, was selected and their knowledge about this course was tested by multiple choice questions (MCQ) designed based on the previous lectures. Results: Although the mean re-exam score of the students at the end of the externship was lower than the corresponding final score, a significant association was found between the scores of the students in these two exams (r=0.48, P=0.01). Moreover, a significant negative association was predicted between the number of absences and re-exam scores (r=-0.26, P=0.037). Conclusion: As our findings show, the phenomenon of recalling the acquired lessons is preserved for a long period of time and it is associated with the students’ attendance. Many factors including generation effect (by taking notes) and cued-recall (via slide picture) might play a significant role in the better recalling of the learned information in students with good class attendance. Keywords: STUDENT, MEMORY, LONG-TERM, RECALL, ABSENTEEISM, LEARNING

A Systematic Review of Studies on General Medicine Comprehensive Exams in Iran

Introduction: Evaluation is one of the most important stages of education system. Student exams may be used both for student assessment and program evaluation. Given the significance of general medicine exams, the present study systematically reviews studies conducted on these exams in Iran in 2016.Methods : Available documents weresystematically reviewed and their information was collected. Using documents available in scientific databases suchas IranMedex, SID, Magiran, Medlib, PubMed, Google Scholar, ERIC by appropriate keywords (doctor, generalpractitioner, student, graduate, trainee, intern, exam, general sciences, pre-internship, skill and medical), 59 studies conducted on general medicine exams until March 2015 were extracted; of these studies, 10 studies which wereavailable in full text and met the least research quality were selected for the review. Results: Out of 10 studiesreviewed, 7 studies evaluated the effective factors on results of general medicine exams and 3 studies analyzed theresults of these exams. Meanwhile, results of those 7 studies showed that low GPA, delay in passing the basicsciences and age at the time of admission to the university are effective factors on results of exams. Results of threestudies analyzing exams showed that genetics and radiology gained the highest and parasitology, orthopedics andphysiology gained the lowest average percentage of scaled relative ratings. In analysis of 40 exams during a 20-yearperiod, 65.8% students were passed the exams in the first trial. However, 99.6% of participants continued their education after few trials. Conclusion: The factors such as length of stay in medical school and grand point averageof students are predicating comprehensive exam results in all the reviewed studies. Therefore, these factors can beconsidered as effective factors on results of general medicine exams. Also the results may support the importance ofnational comprehensive exams as a reliable tool in fostering quality in education. Keywords: exam, basic sciences, pre-internship, general medicine

Human parasitology teaching reform based on culturing students' ability to practice

To improve the quality of teaching, investigating the effect of practice-based in the teaching of human parasitology by department of parasitology in our school. We take medical laboratory science professional as an example, the parasite teaching is the traditional model of infusion teaching at present, besides the classical contents, it is difficult for some courses to meet the needs of social development at present, which has deficiency in attracting students' interest. Based on the optimization of teaching content, and teaching methods for the teaching process, part of contents were carryed out on the base of cultivating students' ability to practice. The objective of this teaching model is to solve practical problems as the goal, particularly focus on learning process of solving the problem. These results show that the teaching model based on culturing students' ability to practice could better embody the idea of student-centered teaching, to some extent, it helps to stimulate students' independent thinking ability, and enhance students' learning achievement, and cultivate students' analysis and problem-solving ability, practical ability and teamwork spirit. Key words: Human parasitology; Practice-based learning; Teaching

Introduction of the 2016 ASP Eminent Parasitologist Recipient.

Introduction of the 2016 ASP Eminent Parasitologist Recipient.

The Five Decades of Academic Services of Professor Hassan Farsam (1932-2016) to Modern Pharmacy in Iran.

Hassan Farsam was a superb professor of pharmacy and medicinal chemistry at the School of Pharmacy of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. He passed away on February 5, 2016 in Tehran. He was born in Tehran on September 27, 1932. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Pharmacy School of Tehran University in 1952 and completed his training in 1957. Then, he took a course of malariology in the former Health and Parasitology Research Institute (now Public Health School). In due course, the young Dr. Farsam received a oneyear scholarship and obtained his post doctorate in pharmaceutical chemistry in the School of Pharmacy of Paris University. On his return to Iran in 1968, he became an associate professor. Later, he was appointed as the Dean of Pharmacy School of Tehran University and became a full professor in 1977.1 pharmaceutical sciences in Iran, and as a prominent teacher he had a crucial role in training hundreds of pharmacy students. He

El inexorable avance de la Leishmaniasis: comunicación del primer caso autóctono de la Provincia de Córdoba

The objective of this work is to report the fi rst case of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the province of Cordoba, in the month of November, 2014. There are no previous reports of autochthonous cases in the province. The work team from the Chair of Medical Parasitology and Mycology. School of Medicine, National University of Cordoba, has been raising warning fl ags regarding the effects of global warming on public health, since it stimulates the advance of the epidemiologic boundary of vector transmitted diseases; leishmaniasis is an example of this statement. This zoonosis has been diagnosed in a patient from Unquillo, a mountainous region, little more than 20 km away from the capital of Cordoba, Argentina. The diagnosis has been checked with tissue biopsies, undoubtedly through parasite observation. Deforestation for agriculture and wood production, the generation of closed neighborhoods in the surroundings of cities, the migration of people coming from endemic areas and the global increase of temperatures are the factors which favor the new settlements of this pathology.8 This disease has a great impact on health and its vector has to be fought against through permanent health programs. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is greatly spread in America and representations can be found since pre-Columbian times in pottery and anthropomorphic huacos showing lesions corresponding to this pathology.1, 7, 8 The etiologic agent is a parasite transmitted by a small insect, Lutzomyia; it produces chronic ulcers and mutilation due to the destruction of nose and larynx cartilages. It is a priority to inform about the emergency of the disease, generate preventive actions of health promotion and let all the health team know about the existence of the disease in our setting.1, 7, 8