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Norman FF, Gonzalez-Sanz M. Pulmonary infections in the returning traveler. Curr Opin Pulm Med 2024; 30:243-251. [PMID: 38323419 DOI: 10.1097/mcp.0000000000001051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shaped the epidemiology of other infectious diseases globally. International tourist arrivals are increasing and recovering to prepandemic levels. This review focuses on respiratory infections in travelers, highlighting the characteristics of the main imported viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections with pulmonary involvement. RECENT FINDINGS A recent systematic review estimated a prevalence of respiratory symptoms in travelers of around 35%, increasing to nearly 65% in the context of mass gatherings. Common viral and bacterial pathogens account for the majority of respiratory infections with an identified cause; however, recent data focus on the need for surveillance of emerging infections such as MERS-CoV, henipaviruses and multidrug resistant bacteria, which may be spread through travel. Fungal and parasitic respiratory infections are less common, and acquisition is usually associated with specific risk factors or exposure in endemic areas. Special risk groups, such as immunocompromised travelers, may be particularly vulnerable, presenting with severe disease or reactivation of latent infections. SUMMARY The next significant international epidemic could involve another new infectious agent causing respiratory disease and spreading via mobile populations. Official protocols should be adhered to, and public health interventions implemented for effective control. Continued and globally coordinated investments in research for new vaccines, therapeutic agents, disease modeling, and digital tracking strategies are essential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca F Norman
- National Referral Unit for Tropical Diseases, Infectious Diseases Department, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, IRYCIS
- Universidad de Alcalá
- CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marta Gonzalez-Sanz
- National Referral Unit for Tropical Diseases, Infectious Diseases Department, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, IRYCIS
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2
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Yeh MY, Aggarwal S, Carrig M, Azeem A, Nguyen A, Devries S, Destache C, Nguyen T, Velagapudi M. Strongyloides stercoralis Infection in Humans: A Narrative Review of the Most Neglected Parasitic Disease. Cureus 2023; 15:e46908. [PMID: 37954715 PMCID: PMC10639005 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.46908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Strongyloidiasis is a helminth infection affecting 613.9 million people annually, mainly in the tropics and subtropics. The reported seroprevalence in the United States is 4% with most of the cases reported in immigrants. Human T-lympho-tropic virus 1 (HTLV-1) infections, hypogammaglobulinemia, immunosuppressant use - particularly steroid use, alcoholism, and malnutrition have been associated with an increased risk of strongyloidiasis. Recently, cases of strongyloidiasis hyperinfection syndrome have been described in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients treated with steroids as well. This brief review discusses the epidemiology, clinical features, management, and prevention of strongyloidiasis including some facts about the infection in pregnancy, transplant recipients, and COVID-19 patients. We conducted an online search using the PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. Strongyloidiasis can be asymptomatic or present with mild symptoms. Strongyloides stercoralis is known to cause autoinfection. In immunocompromised individuals, it can present with severe symptoms, hyperinfection, or disseminated disease. Reported mortality in cases of disseminated Strongyloidiasis is 87.1%. Serology and detection of larvae in stool by direct microscopy are the most commonly used methods to diagnose strongyloidiasis. The drug of choice for the treatment is ivermectin. However, the use of ivermectin in human pregnancy is not well studied, and its teratogenic risks are unknown. Proactive screening of strongyloidiasis is necessary in immunocompromised individuals to prevent severe disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Y Yeh
- Internal Medicine, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, USA
| | - Sanjana Aggarwal
- Medicine, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi, IND
| | - Margaret Carrig
- Internal Medicine, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, USA
| | - Ahad Azeem
- Infectious Diseases, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, USA
| | - Anny Nguyen
- Internal Medicine, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, USA
| | | | - Chris Destache
- Pharmacy Practice, Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Omaha, USA
| | - Toan Nguyen
- Internal Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA
| | - Manasa Velagapudi
- Infectious Diseases, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, USA
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3
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Movahedi Nia Z, Bragazzi NL, Ahamadi A, Asgary A, Mellado B, Orbinski J, Seyyed-Kalantari L, Woldegerima WA, Wu J, Kong JD. Off-label drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: topic modelling and sentiment analysis of ivermectin in South Africa and Nigeria as a case study. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20230200. [PMID: 37700708 PMCID: PMC10498353 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2023.0200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Although rejected by the World Health Organization, the human and even veterinary formulation of ivermectin has widely been used for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. In this work we leverage Twitter to understand the reasons for the drug use from ivermectin supporters, their source of information, their emotions, their gender demographics, and location information, in Nigeria and South Africa. Topic modelling is performed on a Twitter dataset gathered using keywords 'ivermectin' and 'ivm'. A model is fine-tuned on RoBERTa to find the stance of the tweets. Statistical analysis is performed to compare the stance and emotions. Most ivermectin supporters either redistribute conspiracy theories posted by influencers, or refer to flawed studies confirming ivermectin efficacy in vitro. Three emotions have the highest intensity, optimism, joy and disgust. The number of anti-ivermectin tweets has a significant positive correlation with vaccination rate. All the provinces in South Africa and most of the provinces of Nigeria are pro-ivermectin and have higher disgust polarity. This work makes the effort to understand public discussions regarding ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic to help policy-makers understand the rationale behind its popularity, and inform more targeted policies to discourage self-administration of ivermectin. Moreover, it is a lesson to future outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z. Movahedi Nia
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - N. L. Bragazzi
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - A. Ahamadi
- Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid-response Simulation (ADERSIM), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Faculty of Computer Engineering, K.N. Toosi University, Tehran, Iran
| | - A. Asgary
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid-response Simulation (ADERSIM), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - B. Mellado
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- School of Physics, Institute for Collider Particle Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - J. Orbinski
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - L. Seyyed-Kalantari
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - W. A. Woldegerima
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - J. Wu
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - J. D. Kong
- Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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4
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Barkati S, Greenaway C, Libman M. Strongyloidiasis-related lung involvement: too much of a bad thing. Curr Opin Infect Dis 2023; 36:203-208. [PMID: 37093059 DOI: 10.1097/qco.0000000000000915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Strongyloidiasis is a soil-transmitted helminthiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects 300-900 million individuals globally. Strongyloides stercoralis is associated with cutaneous, respiratory, and gastrointestinal clinical manifestations. Chronicity is due to an autoinfective cycle, and host immunosuppression can lead to severe and fatal disease. Lung involvement is significant in severe strongyloidiasis, and Strongyloides has a complex association with a number of lung diseases, which will be discussed in this review. RECENT FINDINGS The treatment of chronic lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with corticosteroids is an important risk factor for Strongyloides hyperinfection syndrome (SHS)/disseminated strongyloidiasis. The use of corticosteroids in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and potentially COVID-19-induced eosinopenia are risk factors for severe strongyloidiasis. Recent findings have demonstrated a significant immunomodulatory role of Strongyloides in both latent and active pulmonary tuberculosis associated to an impaired immune response and poor outcomes in active pulmonary tuberculosis. SUMMARY Strongyloides lung involvement is a common finding in severe infection. Prompt recognition of Strongyloides infection as well as prevention of severe disease by screening or presumptive treatment are important goals in order to improve Strongyloides outcomes in at-risk population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sapha Barkati
- J.D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal
| | - Christina Greenaway
- J.D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine
- Centre for Clinical Epidemiology, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Michael Libman
- J.D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal
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Strongyloides and COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities for Future Research. Trop Med Infect Dis 2023; 8:tropicalmed8020127. [PMID: 36828543 PMCID: PMC9967524 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8020127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil transmitted helminth endemic to tropical and subtropical areas that can persist for decades in immunocompetent human hosts as a chronic asymptomatic infection. The use of corticosteroids, a mainstay of treatment for patients hospitalized with severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19), can trigger a life-threatening Strongyloides hyperinfection syndrome and disseminated disease. We identified 22 previously published cases of strongyloidiasis occurring in individuals with COVID-19, with one death reported among the seven patients who had Strongyloides hyperinfection syndrome. A total of seventeen patients had previously received corticosteroids, and of the five with no prior corticosteroid use, one presented with hyperinfection syndrome. We identify the key challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of Strongyloides within the context of COVID-19, including our imprecise knowledge of the global distribution of Strongyloides, the overlapping symptoms and signs of COVID-19 and Strongyloides hyperinfection syndrome, the limited utility of eosinophilia as a clinical marker for strongyloidiasis in this setting, the lack of validated algorithms to screen for Strongyloides prior to corticosteroid use, and the paucity of treatment options for critically ill patients with COVID-19 who cannot take oral ivermectin. Future research should focus on improved diagnostic methods and population prevalence estimates, optimizing the approaches for Strongyloides screening in persons with COVID-19 (including clinical trial participants and strategies for resource-limited settings) and better defining the role of pre-emptive treatment.
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De l’Étoile-Morel S, Naeem F, Alghounaim M, Semret M, Yansouni CP, Libman MD, Barkati S. Evaluation of Strongyloides Awareness and Knowledge among Canadian Physicians Caring for Patients At Risk for Severe Strongyloidiasis: A National Cross-sectional Survey. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2022; 107:359-366. [PMID: 35895404 PMCID: PMC9393448 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
In Canada, a substantial proportion of migrants come from strongyloidiasis-endemic regions. Systematic screening for Strongyloides is not performed in immunocompromised patients in whom this infection could be potentially fatal. We aim to assess the level of Strongyloides awareness and knowledge among Canadian physicians caring for immunocompromised patients and identify factors currently associated with screening. Using an online survey distributed through Canadian medical associations, we collected information on physicians' demographics, practice setting, overall awareness and knowledge of Strongyloides, and current practices. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression models were performed to identify the factors associated with Strongyloides screening. Nineteen national and provincial medical associations agreed to participate. Between November 2020 and August 2021, 368 of 5,194 (7%) physicians that were contacted responded to our survey. Quebec (46%) and Ontario (24%) were the most responsive. Sixty-nine percent of respondents practiced medicine in academic settings. Infectious disease (ID) specialists/medical microbiologists (38%) followed by nephrologists (33%) were the most represented. Most respondents (95%) had heard about Strongyloides. However, 36% of non-ID specialists considered themselves unfamiliar. Forty percent of respondents did not or rarely performed screening for strongyloidiasis in high-risk populations. Screening was associated with younger-aged physicians (odds ratio [OR] 2.35; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-5.18), physicians who frequently served migrants (OR 3.33; 95% CI 1.44-7.66), or those who had training in global health and ID/medical microbiology (OR 3.71; 95% CI 1.21-11.34 and OR 46.42; 95% CI 15.89-135.59, respectively). Our survey suggests a general lack of knowledge of Strongyloides among Canadian physicians that is associated with low rates of screening in high-risk populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel De l’Étoile-Morel
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
| | - Faheel Naeem
- J. D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
| | - Mohammad Alghounaim
- The Montreal Children’s Hospital, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
| | - Makeda Semret
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
- J. D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
| | - Cedric P. Yansouni
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
- J. D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
| | - Michael D. Libman
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
- J. D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
| | - Sapha Barkati
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
- J. D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases at McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
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A Practical Approach to Screening for Strongyloides stercoralis. Trop Med Infect Dis 2021; 6:tropicalmed6040203. [PMID: 34941659 PMCID: PMC8704417 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed6040203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Strongyloides stercoralis, causative agent of a neglected tropical disease, is a soil-transmitted helminth which may cause lifelong persisting infection due to continuous autoinfection. In the case of immunosuppression, life-threatening hyperinfection and disseminated strongyloidiasis can develop. We propose a pragmatic screening algorithm for latent strongyloidiasis based on epidemiologic exposure and immunosuppression status that can be applied for any kind of immunosuppressive therapy. The algorithm allows the diagnosis of latent strongyloidiasis with optimal accuracy in a well-equipped setting, while for endemic settings where the complete testing array is unavailable, an empiric treatment is generally recommended. Accurate diagnosis and extensive empiric treatment will both contribute to decreasing the current neglect of strongyloidiasis.
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