Browsing by Author "Richter, Joachim"
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- Commentary: Human Liver FlukesPublication . Botelho, Monica Catarina; Almeida, Francisco; Richter, Joachim; Sarmento, AntónioWe read with interest the paper by Harrington et al. on “human liver flukes,” recently published in the Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. They report that the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica in the inner Porto area of Portugal is 3.2%. These authors also state that this is a notably high prevalence. Fascioliasis, as a neglected tropical disease, commonly affects poor people from developing countries and occurs sporadically in Europe. In 1996, Dias et al. reported a case of chronic fascioliasis in a patient with a 6-year history of intermittent biliary colic after having ingested uncooked wild watercress. Our group has performed a search in the database of Centro Hospitalar de S. João (CHSJ), from 1997 to 2017. CHSJ is the biggest hospital in the North of Portugal. This hospital is located in the city of Porto and serves a population of 1,700,000 inhabitants distributed by an approximate area of 2,040 km2. The results we have obtained diverge from the figures reported by Harrington et al.: during the last 20 years only four cases of fascioliasis have been recorded: one case in 1998, one case in 2003, and two cases in 2014.
- Editorial: Parasites and CancerPublication . Botelho, Monica C.; Richter, JoachimEmerging evidence indicates that certain parasites such as the blood fluke Schistosoma haematobium, and small liver flukes Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis are causative agents of malignancies such as bladder cancer caused bv schistosomes and cholangiocarcinoma by liver flukes. In many endemic regions these helminths are responsible for the majority of cancer cases. Parasites, other than helminths, are also associated with cancers, such as Theileria, an intracellular eukaryotic parasite. On the contrary, some parasite infections or molecules seem to display protective effects on some cancers, such as is the case with Echinococcus. Therefore, understanding how these parasites cause/promote or hinder oncogenesis in humans will aid to develop novel strategies for controlling the parasitosis and for preventing and treating the infection-associated malignancy. The Infectious Diseases—Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment section of the journal Frontiers in Medicine, in partnership with the journal Frontiers in Public Health, hosted the first Research Topic on Parasites and Cancer with the aim to facilitate global parasites infectionassociated cancer elimination through scientific advances. Nearly 40 authors, representatives from Australia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Germany, Portugal, United States, and Thailand, participated in this Research Topic covering all continents of the world. Some of these authors are the most cited in the field of parasites and cancer: Ross H. Andrews, Paul Brindley, Michael H. Hsieh, Alex Loukas, Donald McManus, Trevor N. Petney, Paiboon Sithithaworn, and Puangrat Yongvanit. (...)
- Parasites in Forensic Science: a historic perspectivePublication . Cardoso, Rita; Alves, Helena; Richter, Joachim; C. Botelho, MonicaParasites show a great potential to Forensic Science. Forensic Science is the application of any science and methodology to the legal system. The forensic scientist collects and analyses the physical evidence and produce a report of the results to the court. A parasite is an organism that lives at the expense of another and they exist in any ecosystem. Parasites are the cause of many important diseases. The forensic scientists can use the parasites to identify a crime scene, to determine the murder weapon or simply identify an individual. The applications for parasites in the Forensic Science can be many and more studies should be made in Forensic Parasitology. The most important parasites in Forensic Science are helminths specifically schistosomes. Through history there are many cases where schistosomes were described in autopsies and it was related to the cause of death. Here we review the applications of parasites in Forensic Science and its importance to the forensic scientist.