This book covers all details for a successful control and elimination strategy against propagation of deadly liver and intestinal flukes of the genus Schistosoma in China. Cancer due to schistosomiasis is still common in subtropical countries and affords hundred thousands of human and animal deaths per year. Expert authors play close attention to the biology and morphologic aspects of Schistosoma species as well as the history and status quo of schistosomiasis epidemiology. In a unique way, the present work illustrates the need to involve strategic measurements, and to control both adult worms and larval parasite stages. With a special focus on Jiangxi Province, the authors present an effective management plan, ranging from intermediate host snail control to diagnostic tools, medical aid, as well as public health education. This approach from China can be used as blueprint in other countries hit by the same worm infections. The contents of this book will thus be meaningful for academics and practitioners in the fields of parasitology, public health, as well as human and veterinary medicine.
Offering an example for transnational cooperation and successful reduction of a neglected tropical disease, this volume shows how Chinese scientists and local physicians controlled schistosomiasis in Zanzibar. Over a four-year study, local medical specialists and the population of Zanzibar were taught how to diagnose the parasitosis caused by flukes (trematode worms) of the genus Schistosoma. Furthermore, methods to eliminate the disease and prevent new infections were established. The developed control system will avoid repeated increase of human schistosomiasis, which is still prevalent in the tropics and subtropics. Rural populations and poor communities lacking access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation are most affected. This book is a blueprint of activities urgently needed to combat schistosomiasis in countries with low medical impact. The strategies outlined are particularly relevant to parasitologists and professionals in public health, physicians, medical personnel and also governmental, healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions.
Schistosomiasis Control, the latest edition in the Advances in Parasitology series first published in 1963, contains comprehensive and up-to-date reviews on all areas of interest in contemporary parasitology. The series includes medical studies of parasites of major influence, such as Plasmodium falciparum and trypanosomes. The series also contains reviews of more traditional areas, such as zoology, taxonomy, and life history, which help to shape current thinking and applications. The 2014 impact factor is 6.226, with a thematic issue focus on Schistosomiasis Control. - Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field of parasitology - Includes medical studies of parasites of major influence, such as Plasmodium falciparum and trypanosomes - Contains contributions from leading authorities and industry experts
The book focuses on the iodine deficiency, endemic fluorosis, endemic arsenic poisoning, Kashin-Beck disease and Keshan disease which are five kinds of national key endemic diseases, a total of six chapters, comprehensively systematically introduces the information of five kinds of endemic diseases, including the epidemic characteristics, clinical manifestation, diagnosis standards, and the current control situation, preventive strategy, working experience, and successful control cases, etc. Endemic disease is confined to certain areas, of which there are dozens in Chinese inland, in which there are eight types been listed in the national key control endemic diseases. Endemic diseases are serious in China, and have wide distribution, weight illness and a large threatened population. China has made great achievements on the endemic diseases prevention and control, and also has accumulated rich experiences of the prevention and treatment, summed up some complete and effective preventive strategy, which based on the characteristics of endemic diseases epidemic and prevention work. Dr. Dianjun Sun is the Director of Center for Endemic Disease Control,Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin, China. He is also a professor of Harbin Medical University, China.
In 1949, the Communist Party of China pledged that its approach to health care would differ markedly from that of the former Nationalist government and the "imperialist" West. For the next thirty years, under Mao's leadership, the People's Republic of China made improving the health of the entire population a central pillar of its policy. International health stakeholders came to view it as a statistical outlier in its ability to achieve better health outcomes with limited resources. The People's Health is the first systematic study of health care and medicine in Maoist China. Drawing on hundreds of files from rarely seen party archives and oral testimonies from experts, local cadres, and villagers across China, Zhou Xun shifts her historian's gaze away from official statistics towards the records of local institutions and personal memories that reflect and give voice to lived experiences. Through the everyday interactions of policy makers, national and local administration, and communities, Zhou illustrates the dynamic relationship between politics and health, and between individual lives and the political system. Presenting case studies of internationally acclaimed public health initiatives in the PRC - the anti-schistosomiasis campaign and the Barefoot Doctor program - this book offers the first thorough, politically neutral analysis of their background, execution, and national and international repercussions. Opening a unique window into the lives - and health care - of individuals living under communism, The People's Health examines the links between local interest, cultural sensibilities, resources, and abilities, exploring the often unforeseeable consequences of political planning and social engineering.
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.
“Rich insights into how one country has dealt with perhaps the most central issue for any human society: the health and wellbeing of its citizens.” —The Lancet This volume examines important aspects of China’s century-long search to provide appropriate and effective health care for its people. Four subjects—disease and healing, encounters and accommodations, institutions and professions, and people’s health—organize discussions across case studies of schistosomiasis, tuberculosis, mental health, and tobacco and health. Among the book’s significant conclusions are the importance of barefoot doctors in disseminating western medicine; the improvements in medical health and services during the long Sino-Japanese war; and the important role of the Chinese consumer. This is a thought-provoking read for health practitioners, historians, and others interested in the history of medicine and health in China.
Human schistosomes (blood flukes) are digenetic trematodes that spend the adult part of their life cycle in humans and a further part in aquatic snails. Despite advances in chemotherapy, schistosomiasis is still a significant infection in the populations of several countries in the tropics. This book replaces a previous volume Schistosomiasis: Epidemiology, Treatment and Control (Heinemann, 1982) by Jordan and Webbe. All chapters have been rewritten by internationally renowned workers. Ultrasound, expected to aid identification of early disease in the field and increase our understanding of its evolution, is discussed in a new chapter. Others, each with an extensive bibliography, review the parasites and their snail intermediate hosts, epidemiology, clinical manifestations and pathology, diagnosis, immunology, drugs and patient management and control. Limitations of the role of chemotherapy in morbidity control are discussed and the need for flexibility in control interventions in the varied epidemiological situations is stressed. An interdisciplinary approach may be necessary to reduce transmission by appropriate measures against the snail intermediate host, and to implement public health measures, including the provision of safe water (with many other medical and social benefits) and health education. This comprehensive volume is for public health workers involved in the prevention and control of the disease, for physicians, and for students and teachers of many disciplines. It also provides a reference book for health planners, social anthropologists, health educators, water and sanitary engineers and others engaged in improving health in the tropics. Physicians in temperate countries will also find it a useful reference book as schistosomiasis, often acute, is being diagnosed more frequently in those returning from holidays in endemic areas.
A comprehensive guide to the technical and practical factors that need to be considered when designing and implementing programmes for the control of schistosomiasis. Noting the success of strategies focused on morbidity control, the report shows how the spectrum of programme goals can now be broadened to include reductions in the prevalence and intensity of established infections and decreases in the intensity of transmission. Throughout, emphasis is placed on knowledge and experiences that can help programme managers establish feasible goals and then select control options in line with the form of infection, its public health importance, the degree and type of morbidity, available resources, and integration into the primary health care system. Information is specific to the different types of schistosomiasis and the distinctive epidemiological features, clinical manifestations, and response to treatment of each. The report has three main parts. The first, which is devoted to strategies for control, gives programme managers a concise, yet complete review of all factors that need to be considered when establishing priorities and deciding on the most appropriate options for control. Emphasis is placed on the many recent advances, including experiences with praziquantel, that have strengthened the tools available for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. While noting the severe financial constraints faced in many endemic countries, the report cites recent findings and experiences that make it possible for each endemic country to take action against schistosomiasis, even when resources are scarce and health services limited. The second part gives specialists a detailed state-of-the-art review of all technical developments relevant to control. Separate sections describe the distinctive patterns of morbidity and mortality seen in each form of infection, update knowledge about the parasite and its mammalian hosts, and summarize what is known about the snail intermediate host and its susceptibility to control by molluscicides, biological agents, and environmental management. Other sections describe a range of advances in diagnostic tools, from hospital-based radiological investigations to the use of portable ultrasound equipment at the village level, and issue advice on treatmet and retreatment schedules for chemotherapy with praziquantel, metrifonate, and oxamniquine. The final part uses profiles of control programmes in 23 countries to document the feasibility of control and illustrate the diversity of approaches that can be applied according to different national conditions, forms and prevalence of infection, health care systems, and available resources.
This book intensively examines the efficacy of plant-derived products that have been used for over a thousand years by practitioners of so-called Traditional Chinese Medicine in the light of recent chemotherapeuticals. The chapters were written by renowned Chinese medical researchers and are supplemented by results obtained in German antiparasitic research projects. Parasites and emerging diseases are a major threat of our time, which is characterized by an enormous increase in the size of the human population and by an unbelievably rapid globalization that has led to the daily transport of millions of humans and containers with goods from one end of the earth to the other. Furthermore the slow but constant global warming offers new opportunities for many agents of diseases to become established in new areas. Therefore it is essential that we develop precautions in order to avoid epidemics or even pandemics in overcrowded megacities or at the large-scale farm animal confinements that are needed to secure a steady flow of food in the crowded regions of the world. Of course intensive research in the field of chemotherapy since 1900 has produced unbelievable breakthroughs in therapies for formerly untreatable and thus deadly diseases. However, a large number of untreatable diseases remain, as well as a constantly growing number of agents of disease that have developed resistances to standard chemical compounds. As such, it is not only worthwhile but also vital to consider the enormous amounts of information that have been obtained by human “high cultures” in the past. Examples from the past (like quinine) or present (like artemisinin, a modern antimalarial drug) show that plant extracts may hold tremendous potential in the fight against parasites and/or against vector-transmitted agents of diseases.
