| 1. |
- Al Abri, Seif, et al.
(författare)
-
Tools to implement the World Health Organization End TB Strategy: Addressing common challenges in high and low endemic countries
- 2020
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 1201-9712 .- 1878-3511. ; 92, s. S60-S68
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: The purpose of this viewpoint is to summarize the advantages and constraints of the tools and strategies available for reducing the annual incidence of tuberculosis (TB) by implementing the World Health Organization (WHO) End TB Strategy and the linked WHO TB Elimination Framework, with special reference to Oman. Methods: The case-study was built based on the presentations and discussions at an international workshop on TB elimination in low incidence countries organized by the Ministry of Health, Oman, which took place from September 5 to September 7, 2019, and supported by the WHO and European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID). Results: Existing tools were reviewed, including the screening of migrants for latent TB infection (LTBI) with interferon-gamma release assays, clinical examination for active pulmonary TB (APTB) including chest X-rays, organization of laboratory services, and the existing centres for mandatory health examination of pre-arrival or arriving migrants, including examination for APTB. The need for public-private partnerships to handle the burden of screening arriving migrants for active TB was discussed at length and different models for financing were reviewed. Conclusions: In a country with a high proportion of migrants from high endemic countries, screening for LTBI is of high priority. Molecular typing and the development of public-private partnerships are needed. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases.
|
|
| 2. |
- Bénard, A, et al.
(författare)
-
Survey of European programmes for the epidemiological surveillance of congenital toxoplasmosis.
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin. - 1560-7917. ; 13:15
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this investigation was to describe systems for the epidemiological surveillance of congenital toxoplasmosis implemented in European countries. In September 2004, a questionnaire, adapted from the evaluation criteria published by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was sent to a panel of national correspondents in 35 countries in the European geographical area with knowledge of the epidemiological surveillance systems implemented in their countries. Where necessary, we updated the information until July 2007. Responses were received from 28 countries. Some 16 countries reported routine surveillance for toxoplasmosis. In 12 countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England and Wales, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Scotland and Slovakia), surveillance was designed to detect only symptomatic toxoplasmosis, whether congenital or not. Four countries reported surveillance of congenital toxoplasmosis, on a regional basis in Italy and on a national basis in Denmark, France and Germany. In conclusion, epidemiological surveillance of congenital toxoplasmosis needs to be improved in order to determine the true burden of disease and to assess the effectiveness of and the need for existing prevention programmes.
|
|
| 3. |
- Derouin, Francis, et al.
(författare)
-
Prevention of toxoplasmosis in transplant patients.
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. - : Elsevier BV. - 1469-0691. ; 14:12, s. 1089-101
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening opportunistic infection that affects haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) and solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. Its incidence in these patients is closely related to the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the general population, which is high in Europe. In SOT recipients, toxoplasmosis results mainly from transmission of the parasite with the transplanted organ from a Toxoplasma-seropositive donor to a Toxoplasma-seronegative recipient. This risk is high in cases of transplantation of organs that are recognized sites of encystation of the parasite, e.g. the heart, and is markedly lower in other SOT recipients. Clinical symptoms usually occur within the first 3 months after transplantation, sometimes as early as 2 weeks post transplant, and involve febrile myocarditis, encephalitis or pneumonitis. In HSCT recipients, the major risk of toxoplasmosis results from the reactivation of a pre-transplant latent infection in seropositive recipients. The median point of disease onset is estimated at 2 months post transplant, with <10% of cases occurring before 30 days and 15-20% later than day 100. Toxoplasmosis usually manifests as encephalitis or pneumonitis, and frequently disseminates with multiple organ involvement. Diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is based on the demonstration of parasites or parasitic DNA in blood, bone marrow, cerebrospinal fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid or biopsy specimens, and serological tests do not often contribute to the diagnosis. For prevention of toxoplasmosis, serological screening of donors and recipients before transplantation allows the identification of patients at higher risk of toxoplasmosis, i.e. seropositive HSCT recipients and mismatched (seropositive donor/seronegative recipients) SOT recipients. Preventing toxoplasmosis disease in those patients presently relies on prophylaxis via prescription of co-trimoxazole.
|
|
| 4. |
- Evengård, Birgitta, et al.
(författare)
-
Northern Europe
- 2011. - 1
-
Ingår i: A geographic guide to infectious diseases. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 9780470655290 - 9781119971610 ; , s. 218-229
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The most common community-acquired infectious diseases are upper and lower respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, and urinary tract infections. Among vector-borne infections, Borrelia dominate but tick-borne encephalitis is found in the Baltic countries and parts of Sweden and a few cases have been reported from Denmark. The most common cause of viral meningitis is enterovirus, and herpes virus is the most common cause of encephalitis. Bacterial meningitis is rare and the most common causes are pneumococci and meningococci type B. Hepatitis A is very rare but local outbreaks are described from single imported cases. Hepatitis B is often sexually transmitted and B and C are usually related to intravenous drug abuse. Gastroenteritis due to virus is seen and food-borne outbreaks are rare but seen regularly due to virus and especially Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. (Campylobacter, the most reported in Sweden.) The prevalence of HIV is below 1% in the population and all patients are offered free antiretroviral treatment. Infections related to immunosuppressed patients like transplant recipients and patients for other reasons receiving immunosuppressive treatment are increasing primarily due to an increasingly aging population. Tuberculosis is still common in the Baltic countries where MDR is also a problem. Parasitic infections are rare, but waterborne outbreaks of Giardia have been described from Norway and Sweden. In the Baltic countries Echinococcus multilocularis seems to be spreading and Trichinella infections from consumption of infected meat has been described.
|
|
| 5. |
- Gilbert, Ruth E, et al.
(författare)
-
Ocular sequelae of congenital toxoplasmosis in Brazil compared with Europe.
- 2008
-
Ingår i: PLoS neglected tropical diseases. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1935-2735. ; 2:8, s. e277-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- T. gondii causes more severe ocular disease in congenitally infected children in Brazil compared with Europe. The marked differences in the frequency, size and multiplicity of retinochoroidal lesions may be due to infection with more virulent genotypes of the parasite that predominate in Brazil but are rarely found in Europe.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Petersen, Eskild
(författare)
-
Diagnosis of infection with Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women, neonates and immunocompromised patients
- 2005
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Infection with Toxoplasma gondii poses unique diagnostic problems like long-term persistence of specific IgM-antibodies, which makes it difficult to use the presence of Toxoplasma-specific IgM-antibodies alone as a sign of acute infection. The importance of determining the time of infection in pregnant women is also a unique diagnostic challenge in Toxoplasma diagnostics. The first paper in this thesis compares the performance of different enzyme immuno assays, immunofluorescence assays, immunosorbent agglutination assays and IgG-avidity assays. The study showed that a combination of an IgM assay followed by an IgG-avidity test was the best combination to estimate the time interval in which infection had taken place. Diagnosis of infection in newborns without Toxoplasma-specific IgM- or IgA antibodies is difficult and a two-dimensional immunoblot assay to distinguish between maternal and child IgG-antibodies with different specificities was developed having higher sensitivity than previous assays. A new IgG-avidity assay based on recombinant antigens was developed, which effectively abolished the problem of long-term low IgG-avidity seen in samples analysed by assays using whole cell, lysed antigen. Enzyme immuno assays with whole cell, lysed antigen pose problems with poor discrimination between IgG negative and low-positive samples and recombinant antigens should provide assays with less background, however, the sensitivity may be reduced. Two studies show how combinations of recombinant antigens perform in assays of Toxoplasma-specific IgG- and IgM-antibodies. The assays do not yet have the same sensitivity as whole cell, lysed antigen based assays, but the concept is promising and should be further explored. T. gondii infection is a problem in immunodeficient hosts as the parasite remains alive in the chronically infected. Current strategies for diagnosing these infections rely on regular testing for Toxoplasma-specific DNA by PCR in blood and other fluids including bronchioalveolar lavage (BAL). We show that a new, real time PCR based assay can be used to detect Toxoplasma in BAL fluids from HIV patients.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
