Active clinical trials for "Helminthiasis"

To efficiently control soil-transmitted helminths (Ascaris, Trichuris, and hookworm), WHO, PAHO, and others recommend the inclusion of an education strategy in school-based deworming programs. However, the effectiveness of such a strategy on the rate of STH re-infection and on education indicators, such as absenteeism, remains to be fully understood. The proposed research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a post-deworming education intervention targeted to Grade 5 school children enrolled in Belén's schools using a cluster-randomized trial design. Results will be used to inform school-based deworming programs in Peru and other similar endemic areas in Latin America and, indeed, around the world.

There is a sever lack in application of health education intervention for Soil Transmitted Disease (STH) in rural communities and in school children among Orang Asli in Pahang in Malaysia, and also there is a lack of information on the effect of different health education aspects on STH control in Malaysia, so the investigators think that introducing such new national educational package and for the first time in Malaysian's school will help children to make some behavior changes specially for the school children aiming to use these children as an educator agents to their families and preschool brothers and sisters, to build a base for this issue and to reduce STH intensity in these rural areas, which in turn will determine the best approach to health education intervention to be applied to other rural areas in Malaysia.

Cheap and effective drugs called 'anthelmintics' are routinely administered to children in developing countries to eliminate infections by parasitic helminths. However, the effects of anthelmintic treatment on other pathogens (e.g., bacteria, viruses, protozoa) remain unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of anthelmintic treatment on the incidence of viral- and bacterial-induced diarrhea in school children in southern Vietnam. Diarrheal disease remains a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality in children in Vietnam, and these children are typically co-infected with intestinal helminths. As helminths and diarrheal pathogens infect the same intestinal niche, anthelmintic treatments may alter host immune responses and the composition of the gut microbiota in ways that affect infection and disease risks caused by diarrheal pathogens. This study will recruit 350 helminth-infected and 350 helminth-uninfected children aged 6-15 years. Recruited children will be randomized to receive either anthelmintic or placebo treatment once every three months and will be monitored for incidences of diarrheal disease for 12 months. At the 12-month time point, all children will receive anthelmintic treatment. Blood and stool samples will be collected throughout the study and used for evaluation of anemia and host immune responses, and for classification of gut microbes and parasite detection, respectively. The interventional study proposed here will provide an important first test of whether anthelmintic treatments have any indirect effects on infections caused by diarrheal pathogens.

This project will develop and assess the feasibility and acceptability of a urine-based assay to monitor adherence to Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaigns within Soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) control programs, evaluating the urine and serum pharmacokinetics of ALBENDAZOLE (ABZ) and its metabolites across a variety of food/fast conditions, age, gender and body weight. The final goal is to obtain a field ready tool for the measurement of adherence to anthelmintic treatment at a community level that serves as a coverage/adherence indicator and a reference standard for other monitoring tools.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a severe disease and a major cause of death in many people worldwide. It is caused by a bacteria that enters through the lungs and can spread elsewhere in the body. People with latent TB have the bacteria that lie dormant but can become active and cause disease. These people are offered treatment to prevent development of active TB. Worldwide, a lot of people with LTBI also have a parasitic worm called a helminth that can stay in the gut or the blood. These parasites can affect the immune system and cause diseases like TB to become worse. Researchers want to see how helminth infection makes it harder for people to fight TB infection. Objectives: - To study how the immune system of people with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) acts to prevent development of active TB. Also, to study how helminth infection might affect this immune response. Eligibility: Adults age 18 70 with LTBI as defined by an approved blood test called QuantiFERON TB Gold. No evidence of infections like Hepatitis or HIV Pregnant subjects and subjects taking medications that suppress the immune system are not eligible. Have not received prior treatment for LTBI. Participants might be still eligible if prior treatment for active TB has been received Design: Screening phase: - Participants will be screened with medical history, physical exam, and blood tests for other infections/conditions which might affect the immune system. They will have testing for active TB i.e. blood testing as well as testing of their spit, scans and X-rays. Baseline phase: Only eligible participants will be entered into the study. Participants will have interviews, medical history, and physical exam. Blood will be drawn from an arm vein for testing. Participants will collect stool samples at home for 3 days in a row to test for helminth infection.. Participants may have apheresis. Blood cells are removed by needle. They pass through a separator machine which returns everything but the cells back to the participant. Participants may have procedures at the start and end of the study that let researchers look into the lungs and collect cells. Study phase, about 2 years: All participants will be offered treatment for LTBI which lasts 6-9 months. Participants being treated for LTBI will have about 11 study visits. They will visit monthly for 9 months while on treatment, then 6 and 12 months after treatment. Participants not eligible/refusing treatment for LTBI will be made aware of active TB, then have 3 other visits, about 6, 12, and 24 months after the baseline visit. Participants who have helminth infection will receive appropriate treatment. All participants will have blood drawn at each visit.

The general purpose of the project is to analyse soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) in a highly endemic area in northern Argentina with a multidisciplinary approach. The specific objectives are to evaluate the local epidemiology of STH, validate a new diagnostic serology method for S. stercoralis and evaluate the efficacy and safety of a mass drug administration regimen with albendazole and ivermectin.

This protocol offers diagnosis and standard medical treatment for various parasitic gastrointestinal infections. Gastrointestinal parasites are either worms (helminths) or one-celled animals called protozoans which live in the human intestines. Often, parasitic infections do not cause illness. In these cases, drug treatment is not indicated, because treatment can have adverse side effects. Patients will be examined for their immune responses, correlation between the number of parasites and disease, and other studies. Individuals with known or suspected parasitic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including amebiasis, giardiasis, hookworm, strongyloidiasis, trichuriasis, pinworm, tapeworm, trichinosis, clonorchis, opisthorchis, coccidiosis, paragonimiasis, and echinococcus may be eligible for this study. Patient evaluations may include blood and urine tests, stool examination, X-rays, ultrasound studies and, uncommonly, duodenal aspiration for examination of fluid from the duodenum (first part of the small intestine). Other tests may be required, depending on the parasite and disease. Direct examination of the tissues of the intestines may be required to rule out certain infections. Research procedures include collection of stool, blood and duodenal fluid when the diagnosis has been established and these procedures are not required for medical care. Patients with strongyloidiasis may also be given a diagnostic skin test similar to skin tests for tuberculosis and allergies. Research procedures on children will be limited to collection of stool, urine and blood. No more than 7 milliliters (1 1/2 teaspoons) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) body weight of blood will be collected in children over a 6-week period. In adults no more than 30 tablespoons of blood will be collected in a 6-week period. Parasites may fail to respond to treatment. In these cases, it may be necessary to grow the parasite in the laboratory in order to test treatments in the test tube. Patients who do not respond to standard medications and dosing may need different doses of drugs or drugs or combinations of drugs used in the United States for other medical problems. If these medications or doses are used, patients will be informed of their possible side effects.

Molecular testing of the gut microbiome and enteric pathogens is rapidly moving beyond targeted PCR testing to next generation sequencing techniques. In addition, the current state of monitoring for soil-transmitted helminth infections is moving increasingly from microscopic techniques to molecular techniques. The targeted PCR test for soil transmitted helminth diagnosis has been validated on stool samples, but not rectal swabs. Bulk stool samples are logistically challenging and time-intensive to collect, thus participation is often far from optimal. Rectal swabs are more efficient and may result in higher participation. In this study, children will be randomized to either albendazole, azithromycin, or both drugs, after which both rectal swabs and bulk stool samples will be collected. The investigators will compare the PCR test for soil transmitted helminth infections using both the rectal swabs and the bulk stool samples. In addition, the investigators will analyze the gut microbiome of the children using next generation sequencing techniques to gain insight into effects of mass drug administration.

Summary Diseases due to T. solium and soil transmitted helminths (STHs) are of cosmopolitan distribution and strongly linked with poor sanitation and poverty. These infections are to a great extent perpetuated by open defecation (OD). Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is an approach in which people in rural communities are facilitated to do their own appraisal and analysis, come to their own conclusions, and take their own actions. To date no rigorous study has been conducted to evaluate the impact of CLTS on the transmission of taeniasis/cysticercosis or STHs, despite the worldwide acclaim which CLTS has received as an approach to improve sanitation. The overall aim of the study is to contribute to the reduction and subsequent control of T. solium and STH infections through the implementation of CLTS approaches in 1 districts in the Eastern Province of Zambia. By using CLTS it is hypothesised that toilet acquisition and usage will be increased with a resultant reduction in OD which will in turn reduce the transmission of T. solium and STH infections in the district. This will be measured by porcine/human cysticercosis prevalence (serological test) and STH infections in humans (quantitative coprological test).

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections caused by Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, or hookworm, affect approximately 1.5 millions individuals primarily in tropical and subtropical regions. STHs infections have been associated with delay in growth and development in children. The prevalence in Indonesia varied from 45% to 65%, but in poor sanitation areas the prevalence can increased to 80%. World Health Organization currently recommends mass treatment with benzimidazoles and health hygiene education to control the disease. In this study we evaluated the effectiveness of single and four-monthly health hygiene education to STH reinfection rates among school-aged children in Mandailing Natal district, North Sumatera province, Indonesia.