Value of Electronic Educational Media in Combatting Parasitic Diseases

The Contribution of Community Health Education to Sustainable Control of the Neglected Zoonotic Diseases

Effective and sustainable control of the Neglected Zoonoses (NZDs) demands a One Health approach. NZDs largely impact on individuals in low- and middle-income countries, disproportionally affecting resource poor communities with poor access to veterinary and human health services and to clean water and which are intrinsically dependent on animals for their livelihoods. Many NZDs in humans can be treated, but treatment is often complex and expensive. Similarly, while tools for prevention of transmission may exist, they are complex and expensive to adopt at the scale required to be effective. The cost of intervention for NZDs is high when compared to the public health benefits alone, but costs are easily outweighed by full cross sector analysis and when monetary and non-monetary benefits to all stakeholders are considered. Education is a key tool, often overlooked in favor of more complex solutions for the control of NZDs. Successful education programs have been targeted to children of school age for Taenia solium in Kenya, schistosomiasis in Nigeria, and soil transmitted helminths in China. A Snakes and Ladders board game, designed to teach children about schistosomiasis and encourage compliance with mass deworming programs, deployed in Nigerian schools, showed a 67% increase in knowledge of praziquantel and 65% of children who had previously rejected treatment requested the drug at school. For soil transmitted helminths in China, presentation of health information in cartoon format rather than in poster format, showed post-assessment knowledge to be 90% higher. With the rise in affordable smart-phone technology, internet access and airtime in communities in low- and middle- income countries e-education is an increasingly attractive proposition as an intervention tool for the NZDs. The Vicious Worm, a computer based educational health tool that has been designed around the prevention of Taenia Solium has shown remarkable efficacy in affected communities in which it has been deployed with participants applying the principles learned in their communities. This review explores the successes and benefits of education as a control tool for the NZDs.

Highlights in poloxamer-based drug delivery systems as strategy at local application for vaginal infections

Infectious diseases related to the vagina include diseases caused by the imbalance of the vaginal flora and by sexually transmitted infections. Some of these present themselves as a public health problem due to the lack of efficient treatment that leads to their complete cure, and others due to the growing resistance to drugs used in therapy. In this sense, new treatment strategies are desirable, with vaginal administration rout being a great choice since can bypass first-pass metabolism and decrease drug interactions and adverse effects. However, it is worth highlighting limitations related to patient's discomfort at application time. Thereby, the use of poloxamer-based drug delivery systems is desirable due its stimuli-sensitive characteristic. Therefore, the present review reports a brief overview of poloxamer properties, biological behavior and advances in poloxamer applications in controlled drug release systems for infectious diseases related to the vagina treatment and prevention.

Highlights in Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as a Multifunctional Controlled Drug Delivery Nanoplatform for Infectious Diseases Treatment

Infectious diseases are a major global concern being responsible for high morbidity and mortality mainly due to the development and enhancement of multidrug-resistant microorganisms exposing the fragility of medicines and vaccines commonly used to these treatments. Taking into account the scarcity of effective formulation to treat infectious diseases, nanotechnology offers a vast possibility of ground-breaking platforms to design new treatment through smart nanostructures for drug delivery purposes. Among the available nanosystems, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) stand out due their multifunctionality, biocompatibility and tunable properties make them emerging and actual nanocarriers for specific and controlled drug release. Considering the high demand for diseases prevention and treatment, this review exploits the MSNs fabrication and their behavior in biological media besides highlighting the most of strategies to explore the wide MSNs functionality as engineered, smart and effective controlled drug release nanovehicles for infectious diseases treatment. Graphical Abstract Schematic representation of multifunctional MSNs-based nanoplatforms for infectious diseases treatment.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of bovine cysticercosis in Brazil: current knowledge and way forward

Background

Taenia saginata taeniosis/cysticercosis has been well studied in several countries. Brazil is one of the most important beef exporting countries and has one of the highest cattle population size in the world. In this country, bovine cysticercosis (BCC) remains the most frequent reported zoonosis detected during post-mortem inspection, resulting in costs for the beef sector and public health. We performed a systematic literature review regarding data about BCC epidemiology in Brazil and meta-analyses for its prevalence in different administrative regions and the distribution over time, and based on this discussed possible control strategies.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted to obtain data about BCC in Brazil using the words “bovine cysticercosis” and “Brazil” to construct the search phrase. The inclusion criteria used to select articles were: (i) published from 2000 to 2018; (ii) full text available online in Portuguese or English; and (iii) contain information at least regarding one of the following aspects of BCC in Brazil: prevalence, incidence, spatial distribution, risk-factors, economic burden and measures for control.

Results

A set of 42 articles was included, covering the prevalence of BCC in Brazil, ranging between 0.01–18.75%. Prevalence results of 40 articles were included in a meta-analysis per administrative region. The highest prevalence was found in the South (3.4%; 95% CI: 2.0–5.2%), followed by the Southeast (2.7%; 95% CI: 1.9–3.6%), Northeast (1.5%; 95% CI: 0.6–2.7%), Central-western (0.9%; 95% CI: 0.3–1.7%) and North (0.0%; 95% CI: 0.0–0.6%) region. In addition, a reduction in prevalence over time was observed in all the evaluated states except for Alagoas and Pará.

Conclusions

Besides the large availability of data, a critical lack of information about BCC epidemiology remains in Brazil. Nevertheless, the available data on prevalence, high risk-areas and risk factors should contribute to a better understanding of transmission and the formulation of recommendations for control. A One Health approach will be required to reduce T. saginata taeniosis/cysticercosis prevalence and the consequent economic burden for the beef sector in Brazil, one of the most important beef exporters in the world.

Effects of 'The Vicious Worm' educational tool on Taenia solium knowledge retention in Zambian primary school students after one year

BACKGROUND

Taenia solium is a neglected zoonotic parasite endemic throughout many low-income countries worldwide, including Zambia, where it causes human and pig diseases with high health and socioeconomic burdens. Lack of knowledge is a recognized risk factor, and consequently targeted health educational programs can decrease parasite transmission and disease occurrence in endemic areas. Preliminary assessment of the computer-based education program 'The Vicious Worm' in rural areas of eastern Zambia indicated that it was effective at increasing knowledge of T. solium in primary school students. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of 'The Vicious Worm' on knowledge retention by re-assessing the same primary school students one year after the initial education workshops.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Follow-up questionnaires were administered in the original three primary schools in eastern Zambia in 2017, 12 months after the original workshops. In total, 86 pupils participated in the follow-up sessions, representing 87% of the initial workshop respondents. Knowledge of T. solium at 'follow-up' was significantly higher than at the initial 'pre' questionnaire administered during the Vicious Worm workshop that took place one year earlier. While some specifics of the parasite's life cycle were not completely understood, the key messages for disease prevention, such as the importance of hand washing and properly cooking pork, remained well understood by the students, even one year later.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE

Results of this study indicate that 'The Vicious Worm' may be an effective tool for both short- and long-term T. solium education of rural primary school students in Zambia. Inclusion of educational workshops using 'The Vicious Worm' could be recommended for integrated cysticercosis control/elimination programs in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly if the content is simplified to focus on the key messages for prevention of disease transmission.