Thread by @Rojelio

In preparation for the upcoming World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day on January 30, I will tweet about the different countries that we are researching the devastating effects of NTDs. @mebottazzi @PeterHotez #NTD #WorldNTDDay

First up is my home country of the United States of America. The USA has areas of poverty and issues with sanitation that allow the spread of tropical diseases.

theguardian.com/us-news/2017/s…

npr.org/sections/goats…

newyorker.com/magazine/2020/…

vice.com/en/article/pa5…

Our Alabama study detected a third of Alabamians that have poor access to proper sanitation had hookworm, a dangerous parasite causing blood loss. @MckennaMeg1 @patriciaebryan @RebeccaJeun @mebottazzi @PeterHotez @CathFlowers

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…

Next in Central Texas we detected 16.5% of people with inadequate sanitation were infected with Strongyloides stercoralis, a parasite that can migrate into multiple organs causing death. @SingerSays @TeenaXuMD @nicosherrera @villarmj96 @PeterHotez

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…

In Houston, Texas we associated Strongyloidiasis with activation of eosinophils and subsequent intestinal inflammation in solid-organ transplant patients. @EvaClarkMD @Strongylady @karlajbautista_ @a5hi5h

academic.oup.com/cid/article/71…

Also in Texas, we reported our experience diagnosing and treating patients with the brain parasite, Taenia solium, that causes neurocysticercosis. @BCM_TropMed

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…

Heading north to Maryland, we detected 25% of people living with HIV were co-infected with the Strongyloides parasite, we also showed that eosinophilia is a good biomarker for strongyloidiasis and for post-treatment test of cure.

tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.117…

In neighboring Washington D.C. we detected 5% of clinic patients infected with Strongyloides. I was honored to work with Mary’s Center, a hub that combines health,
social and educational services to a large group of immigrants. @Grace_Ostera @RebeccaJeun

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Also in the DMV region, we started our work on perilesional edema that occurs in calcifications in neurocysticercosis. Indicating an immune mediated response to residual parasite antigen.

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…

Also in Maryland, we were able to describe one of the first stem cell transplant contaminated with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. This parasite causes malaria and kills hundreds of thousands a year.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111…

In Chicago, we detected 12% of an at-risk population was infected with a pathogenic parasite. Intersting we also found the presence of Blastocysits, a heterokont parasite that is a marker of exposure.

link.springer.com/article/10.100…

and most recently in New York City, we associated Toxocara contamination in city parks with poorer boroughs. The parasite Toxocara can cause blindness, pulmonary, and neurological problems. @ToxocaraProject @dwmccormick @PeterHotez

link.springer.com/article/10.100…

These 10 publications are the beginning of our work in the USA. NTDs are a major problem in the USA and are unmasking a deeper issue with inadequate sanitation and marginalization of our population.

Special thanks to all the co-authors, collaborators, and friends on these studies. A big thank you to @mcuban @alexosh @costplusdrugs that are helping to solve these issues alongside @BCM_TropMed.

The next county for World NTD day is Ecuador! A diverse climate and environment with coastal, mountain, and tropical area. Ecuador is my main research site and i have traveled there 10 times in the last 10 years for our work on the impact of parasites on children.

In rural Ecuador, we developed our low-cost high sensitive/specific DNA testing for intestinal parasites. In 1 year old children we detected high levels poly-parasitism with Ascaris, Trichuris, hookworms, and Giardia. @yossvicuna

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…

From this Ecuador cohort, we investigated the immune polarization of Ascaris and Giardia co-infections in 3-year-old children. Having a helminth infection decreases the Th1 cytokine response and may impair the ability to eradicate Giardia. @JillWeather

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…

Next from Ecuador, we researched the association of household environmental exposure and infection in children. We used our novel environmental testing for 11 parasites!

parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

And recently @patriciaebryan published her dissertation on growth delays in Ecuadorian preschool age children.
Great work Dr. Bryan! @PeterHotez @UTHealth @CizikNursing

digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthson_etd/50/

In neighboring Colombia, we just published are preliminary findings of urban versus rural helminth and protozoa infections. A surprising number of parasites in urban slum children. @patriciaebryan @mimasaji1

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…

In rural Honduras, we detected high prevalence of Trichuris infections even with scheduled albendazole MDA. This likely shows resistance and will be our next research project in the area. @Naceanc @JoseA_Gabrie @mebottazzi @AnaSanchezPhD

ajtmh.org/view/journals/…