Congenital Transmission by Protozoan
1Laboratory of Cell Biology, Placenta and Chagas (IICSHUM), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Córdoba, Stockholm, Sweden; National University of La Rioja, La Rioja, Argentina
2Program of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
3Department of Infectious Diseases and Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605, USA
Congenital Transmission by Protozoan
Description
Congenital transmission by protozoan parasites is an important public health problem worldwide, because it affects two live human beings, the mother and the fetus or the newborn. It is still surprising that despite the abundant immunoepidemiological knowledge of congenital transmission of protozoan parasite, no definite etiology or predictive diagnostic tests have been identified. Understanding the mechanisms by which host/parasites infection and interaction occurs is one of the most important topics that will help find specific biomarkers of infection, prevent congenital transmission of the parasites, maintain the health of the offsprings, and develop safe and efficient treatments. In addition, understanding of the biological mechanisms of host/parasite interactions will facilitate protection of mothers and their families and reduce costs in health services. Moreover, this will lead to gain insight into epidemiological aspects and association with other pathologies and preserve the well-being of the newborn baby.
We invite authors to submit original research and review articles that seek understanding of the interaction between the mother/the fetus and the protozoan parasites, such as in malaria, Chagas disease, toxoplasmosis, leishmaniasis, and sleeping sickness. Also, we are interested in other parasites which are potentially dangerous for normal fetal development and the possible treatment associated with congenital transmission of protozoan parasites, as well as their epidemiological and clinical aspects. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Maternal biomarkers of the fetomaternal infection
- Mechanisms of placental invasion and fetal infection
- Participation of the maternal and fetal conditions in protozoan diseases
- Parasites involved such as Trypanosoma cruzi, Plasmodium sp, Toxoplasma gondii, Leishmania sp, Trypanosoma brucei, and others which are potentially harmful to fetal development
- Epidemiological analysis that surrounds the protozoan diseases
- Association of protozoan diseases with other metabolic or nonparasitic infectious diseases
- Treatment and/or prevention of transmission of parasites during pregnancy
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jtm/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: