Parasites: From Source to Vector and Human
1Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand
3Westmead Clinical School, Westmead Hospital, the University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
4Department of Microbiology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry, India
Parasites: From Source to Vector and Human
Description
Parasites are one of the main infectious agents related to public health problem worldwide. These tropical parasitic diseases are capable of causing significant morbidity and mortality in humans. Among waterborne transmission, Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp., and free living amoebae are leading causes of not only in sympatomatic conditions particularly found in children, malmorished, and immunocompromised individuals but also in outbreaks related to these protozoan parasites. Toxoplasma gondii is the most common protozoan parasite related to food- and water-borne transmission. T. gondii can potentially produce both high infection rate in at least one-third of the world’s population and disease burden as clinically confirmed toxoplasmosis found among pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals. Through vectorborne, filarial worms, Leishmania spp., and Plasmodium spp. are among killer parasites that have significantly contributed to both economic loss and public health disaster in mankind. Soil-transmitted helminths, the neglected parasites, are the most common infections affecting people living in marginalised comminities. There are also numbers of parasites such as Schistosoma spp. or Trypanosoma spp. that remain forgotten in many parts of the world.
Prospective authors are invited to contribute original research articles as well as critical reviews for this forthcoming special issue that will contribute to a better understanding of the host-parasite relationship. Considering that parasites are (re)emerging and some are neglected diseases, we are interested in articles exploring several aspects of these parasitic diseases such as rapid diagnosis of next generation seromarkers and molecular detection, treatment, prevention, and control. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Parasite evolution
- Parasite-host cell interactions
- Host genetic background and immune response
- Epidemiological studies
- Geographic Information System (GIS)
- Clinical relevant
- Identification of biomarker for diagnosis or prognosis
- Innovative laboratory diagnostic tests
- Antiparasitic agents and resistant
- Vaccine candidates
- Novel strategies for parasites eradication and/or control
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/bmri/infectious.diseases/paras/ according to the following timetable: