The Ivermectin and Covid-19 conundrum
In conclusion, the above implications are basically saying there is lack of good evidence for IVM in Covid-19.
There is evidence also that IVM does not work for Covid-19. See this recent paper, highlighted by a Dobber:
Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
This analysis concluded “…in comparison to SOC or placebo, IVM did not reduce all-cause mortality, length of stay, respiratory viral clearance, adverse events and serious adverse events in RCTs of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. We did not find data about IVM effects on clinica...
Source: Malaysian Medical Resources - July 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Editor Tags: Miscellaneous covid-19 ivermectin SARS-cov-2 Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 644
This week ' s case is from Blaine Mathison and Marc Couturier at ARUP Laboratories. They partnered with Techcyte to develop and validate an exciting new system that uses artificial intelligence to identify parasites on digitally-scanned slides (see theirrecent article). Here is a case in which the following objects from a trichrome-stained stool specimen were identified by AI for the technologist ' s review. They measure approximately 8 to 9 micrometers in diameter. Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 28, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 644
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 644:Cyclospora cayetanensisoocysts on trichrome stain. Additional confirmatory testing (e.g., modified acid fast, UV autofluorescence) is recommended for confirmation. As I mentioned previously, the image from this case was the display screen from the Techcyte AI analysis of a digitally-scanned trichrome-stained slide. You can see that the digital algorithm did an excellent job identifying objects of interest and displaying them to the technologist for review. Use of AI platforms is the future of clinical parasitology, as it drastically reduces the time that technologists have t...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 27, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Rapid Diagnosis of Infectious Disease at Point of Care: Interview with Shawn Marcel, CEO of Torus Biosystems
Torus Biosystems, a medtech startup that spun out of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, has developed the Synestia system, a point of care diagnostic tool for infectious disease. The system aims to provide rapid, point-of-care identification of pathogens, and incorporates microarray and qPCR technology.
The company reports that the system allows a clinician to run multiple tests on one device to detect all the pathogens associated with a specific disease. The run-time is rapid, with the device providing results in as little as 30 minutes, and for each sample over 1000 targets can ...
Source: Medgadget - June 24, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Exclusive Medicine Public Health torusbiosystems Source Type: blogs
Rapid Diagnosis of Infectious Disease at Point of Care: Interview with Shawn Marcell, CEO of Torus Biosystems
Torus Biosystems, a medtech startup that spun out of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, has developed the Synestia system, a point of care diagnostic tool for infectious disease. The system aims to provide rapid, point-of-care identification of pathogens, and incorporates microarray and qPCR technology.
The company reports that the system allows a clinician to run multiple tests on one device to detect all the pathogens associated with a specific disease. The run-time is rapid, with the device providing results in as little as 30 minutes, and for each sample over 1000 targ...
Source: Medgadget - June 24, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Exclusive Medicine Public Health torusbiosystems Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 643
This week ' s case is one I ' ve previously shown before, but from many years ago. It ' s so cool looking that I thought it was worth showing again. The following object was found in a iodine-stained stool concentrate by Florida Fan. Any thoughts on what it is? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 21, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 643
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 643: Not a parasite; plant material. As mentioned by Idzi, Bernardino, and Phil G-J, this beautiful structure is apeltate trichome, possibly from an olive (Olea) leaf. Bernardino Rocha provided a greatlink to this open access article and the photos look just like what we are seeing. To obtain further insight, I contacted our knowledgeable botanist reader, Dr. Mary Parker, and was pleased to hear that she agrees with our assessment! She commented that this structure is definitely a peltate trichome and could quite possibly be from the lower epidermis of a leaf of an oli...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 20, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 642
It ' s time for our monthly case from Idzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. As always, Idzi has a great case for us - courtesy of Anna Rosanas and Pieter Guetens from ITM ' s Malariology Department: a patient with extensive recent travel - leaving Belgium to trek across rural areas of Peru, Niger, Mali, and finally the Philippines. He didn ' t take any malaria prophylaxis while traveling and now presents with fever and general malaise after being home for 3 weeks. The following are thick and thin Giemsa-stained blood films from this patient (pH 8.0). The percent parasitemia was calculated at 1%. Iden...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 7, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 642
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 642:Plasmodiumsp. infection with relatively high (1%) parasitemia; differential diagnosis includes mixedP. falciparum/P. malariaeinfection andP. knowlesiinfection. Recommend nucleic acid amplification testing for definitive identification.PCR testing confirmed that this wasP. knowlesiinfection!This interesting case highlights the difficulty in diagnosingP. knowlesiinfection, given that many of its key morphologic features in humans overlap with those ofP. falciparumandP. malariae. LikeP. falciparum,high parasitemias may be observed, and thin delicate rings - occasionally with dou...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 6, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 7th 2021
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
please visit:
https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/
Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 6, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
When Viruses Collide with Parasitic Worms
Infection with some parasitic worms may lead to an impaired immune response against pathogenic infections by other parasites, bacteria, and some viruses. (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - June 3, 2021 Category: Virology Authors: Gertrud U. Rey Tags: Basic virology Gertrud Rey flavivirus Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri helminth Hpb IL-4 parasites STAT6 succinate tuft cells type 2 immune responses West Nile virus WNV worms Source Type: blogs
The Highly Active Tsimane People Exhibit Slower Neurodegeneration with Age
You may recall the data on cardiovascular health published in recent years for the Tsimane population in Bolivia, characterized by a physically active lifestyle and a diet that lacks most of the problem components found in wealthier parts of the world. The rates of cardiovascular disease are far lower in the Tsimane than in US populations. While there are certainly inevitable processes of aging that can only be addressed by the development of new medical biotechnologies, it is also the case that a sizable fraction of cardiovascular and muscle degeneration in the wealthier populations of the world appears to be self-inflict...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 3, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 641
This week ' s case was generously donated by Dr. Alexander Fenwick and includes some beautiful images. The following objects were seen in a sputum specimen from a patient living in Eastern Kentucky. This patient was receiving corticosteroid therapy for poorly-controlled COPD. Identification?Gram stain (10x and 100x magnification)Wet mount: (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 1, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
June 2021: Mounting Evidence Supports Ivermectin for COVID-19
Ivermectin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 based on in vitro studies. It is currently FDA-approved for treating parasites (intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis) but not approved for COVID-19, though a large body of evidence supports its use in inpatients and outpatients. (Antiviral Res. 2020;178:104787; https://bit.ly/3bpeTrm.)Mechanism of ActionIvermectin is an antiparasitic agent that binds directly and has high affinity to the glutamate-gated chloride ion channels in invertebrate muscle and nerve cells of microfilaria. This causes the cell membrane to have increased permeability to chl...
Source: The Tox Cave - June 1, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 641
Answer to theParasite Case of Week 641:Strongyloides stercoralisL3 (filariform) larvae.As mentioned in the comments, other items on the differential diagnosis include larvae of the hookworms andAscaris lumbricoides.The larvae of these nematodes are only rarely seen during the initial stage of infection, in which larvae migrate to the lung before reaching their permanent destination in the intestinal tract. For that reason, it is very rare to identify them in clinical specimens. In comparison,S. stercoralishas an ongoing autoinfection cycle in humans which results in recurrent migration of L3 larvae through the lung. ...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 30, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
