Taenia solium cysticercosis is a zoonotic neglected disease responsible for severe health disorders such as seizures and death. Understanding the epidemiology of human cysticercosis (HCC) in endemic regions will help to expose critical information about the transmission of the disease, which could be used to design efficient control programs. This review gathered serological data on apparent prevalence of T. solium circulating antigens and/or seroprevalence of T. solium antibodies, apparent prevalence of human taeniasis and risk factors for HCC from endemic communities in order to understand the differences in exposure to the parasite and active infections with T. solium metacestodes in endemic areas around the world. Three databases were used to search sero-epidemiological data from community-based studies conducted between 1989 and 2014 in cysticercosis endemic communities worldwide. The search focused on data obtained from T. solium circulating antigen detection by monoclonal antibody-based sandwich ELISA and/or T. solium antibody seroprevalence determined by Enzyme-linked Immunoelectrotransfer Blot (EITB). A meta-analysis was performed per continent. A total of 39,271 participants from 19 countries, described in 37 articles were studied. The estimates for the prevalence of circulating T. solium antigens for Africa, Latin America and Asia were: 7.30% (95% CI [4.23–12.31]), 4.08% (95% CI [2.77–5.95]) and 3.98% (95% CI [2.81–5.61]), respectively. Seroprevalence estimates of T. solium antibodies were 17.37% (95% CI [3.33–56.20]), 13.03% (95% CI [9.95–16.88]) and 15.68% (95% CI [10.25–23.24]) respectively. Taeniasis reported prevalences ranged from 0 (95% CI [0.00–1.62]) to 17.25% (95% CI [14.55–20.23]). A significant variation in the sero-epidemiological data was observed within each continent, with African countries reporting the highest apparent prevalences of active infections. Intrinsic factors in the human host such as age and immunity were main determinants for the occurrence of infections, while exposure was mostly related to environmental factors which varied from community to community. Human cysticercosis is a neglected zoonotic disease caused by the larval stage of the parasite Taenia solium. This disease is responsible for severe health disorders such as seizures, and in some cases even death. T. solium cysticercosis is endemic in countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia where conditions such as inadequate hygiene, poor sanitary conditions, open defecation, free roaming pigs and poverty permit the transmission of the disease. Diagnostic tools are capable of detecting exposure to eggs and infection levels in a population through antibody and antigen detection, respectively. This review focused on gathering epidemiological data from endemic communities in Africa, Latin America and Asia in order to understand the causes of the observed variations in exposure/infection patterns in endemic regions. Similar antibody seroprevalences were observed worldwide while infection prevalences varied significantly within each region. Intrinsic factors such as age and immunity were determining factors for the occurrence of infections, while exposure was related to environmental factors which varied from region to region. Understanding the epidemiology of cysticercosis in endemic regions will help expose information on the transmission, which could in turn be used to design appropriate control programs.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a serious public-health problem throughout the world. Escherichia coli, the most common Gram-negative microorganism, has developed different resistance mechanisms, making treating infections difficult. Colistin is considered a last-resort drug in the treatment of infections caused by E. coli. Plasmid-mediated mobile-colistin-resistant (mcr) genes in E. coli, now disseminated globally, are considered a major public-health threat. Humans, chickens, and pigs are the main reservoirs for E. coli and the sources of antibiotic resistance. Hence, an up-to-date and precise estimate of the global prevalence of mcr resistance genes in these reservoirs is necessary to understand more precisely the worldwide spread and to more effectively implement control and prevention strategies. Methodology: Publications were identified in the PubMed database on the basis of the PRISMA guidelines. English full-text articles were selected from December 2014 to March 2021. Descriptive statistics and a meta-analysis were performed in Excel and R software, respectively. Colistin resistance was defined as the molecular-genetic detection of the mcr genes. The crude and estimated prevalence were calculated for each host and continent. The studies were divided into two groups; community-based when they involved isolates from healthy humans, chickens, or pigs, and clinical studies when they involved only hospital, outpatient, or laboratory isolates. Results: A total of 1278 studies were identified and 218 were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis, divided into community studies (159 studies) and clinical studies (59 studies). The general prevalence of mcr-mediated colistin-resistant E. coli (mcrMCRE) was 6.51% (n = 11,583/177,720), reported in 54 countries and on five continents; Asia with 119 studies followed by Europe with 61 studies registered the most articles. Asia reported the major diversity of mcr-variants (eight of nine, except mcr-2). Worldwide, chickens and pigs proved to be the principal reservoir of mcr with an estimated prevalence of 15.8% and 14.9%, respectively. Healthy humans and clinical isolates showed a lower prevalence with 7.4% and 4.2% respectively. Conclusions: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the worldwide prevalence of mcr in E. coli isolated from healthy humans, chickens, and pigs was investigated. A wide prevalence and distribution of mcr genes was demonstrated on all continents in E. coli isolates from the selected reservoirs. Understanding the epidemiology and occurrence in the reservoirs of mcr in E. coli on different continents of the world facilitates tracing how mcr genes are transmitted and determining the infection risks for humans. This knowledge can be used to reduce the incidence of zoonotic transmission by implementing the appropriate control programs.

Background: Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease endemic to Latin America caused by the parasiteTrypanosoma cruzi, currently affects 6–7 million people and is responsible for 12,500 deaths each year. No vaccine exists at present and the only two drugs currently approved for the treatment (benznidazole and nifurtimox), possess serious limitations, including long treatment regimes, undesirable side effects, and frequent clinical failures. A link between parasite genetic variability and drug sensibility/efficacy has been suggested, but remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated associations betweenT.cruzigenetic variability andin vitrobenznidazole susceptibility via a systematic article review and meta-analysis.Methodology/Principal findings: In vitronormalized benznidazole susceptibility indices (LC₅₀and IC₅₀) for epimastigote, trypomastigote and amastigote stages of differentT.cruzistrains were recorded from articles in the scientific literature. A total of 60 articles, which include 189 assays, met the selection criteria for the meta-analysis. Mean values for each discrete typing unit (DTU) were estimated using the meta and metaphor packages through R software, and presented in a rainforest plot. Subsequently, a meta-regression analysis was performed to determine differences between estimated mean values by DTU/parasite stage/drug incubation times. For each parasite stage, some DTU mean values were significantly different, e.g. at 24h of drug incubation, a lower sensitivity to benznidazole of TcI vs. TcII trypomastigotes was noteworthy. Nevertheless, funnel plots detected high heterogeneity of the data within each DTU and even for a single strain.Conclusions/Significance: Several limitations of the study prevent assigning DTUs to differentin vitrobenznidazole sensitivity groups; however, ignoring the parasite’s genetic variability during drug development and evaluation would not be advisable. Our findings highlight the need for establishment of uniform experimental conditions as well as a screening of different DTUs during the optimization of new drug candidates for Chagas disease treatment.

Human cysticercosis is a zoonotic disease causing severe health disorders and even death. While prevalence data become available worldwide, incidence rate and cumulative incidence figures are lacking, which limits the understanding of the Taenia solium epidemiology. A seroepidemiological cohort study was conducted in a south-Ecuadorian community to estimate the incidence rate of infection with and the incidence rate of exposure to T. solium based on antigen and antibody detections, respectively. The incidence rate of infection was 333.6 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: [8.4–1,858] per 100,000 person-years) contrasting with a higher incidence rate of exposure 13,370 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: [8,730–19,591] per 100,000 person-years). The proportion of infected individuals remained low and stable during the whole study year while more than 25% of the population showed at least one antibody seroconversion/seroreversion during the same time period. Understanding the transmission of T. solium is essential to develop ad hoc cost-effective prevention and control programs. The estimates generated here may now be incorporated in epidemiological models to simulate the temporal transmission of the parasite and the effects of control interventions on its life cycle. These estimates are also of high importance to assess the disease burden since incidence data are needed to make regional and global projections of morbidity and mortality related to cysticercosis. Human cysticercosis is a neglected zoonotic parasitic disease causing severe health disorders such as epilepsy and even death. Cysticercosis is related to poverty, inadequate hygiene conditions and traditional pig farming. The present study describes the dynamic nature of human Taenia solium larval infections in an Ecuadorian endemic community. In this study we report for the first time incidence rate and cumulative incidence figures of human T. solium larval infections in Latin America. The simultaneous use of antibody and antigen serological detections allowed estimating both parasite exposure and infection rates, respectively. While about 13% of the inhabitants were exposed to T. solium eggs, less than 1% of the population became yearly infected with the parasite. This contrast between exposure and infection may be linked to an effective resistance to the parasite acquired through long-term exposure of the population and differs from the African situation, where much higher levels of infection have been observed. These estimates are of high importance to understand the epidemiology of T. solium in order to develop ad hoc cost-effective prevention and control programs. They are also essential to assess the burden of T. solium cysticercosis since longitudinal data are needed to make regional and global projections of morbidity and mortality related to cysticercosis.

Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBD) are constraints to the development of livestock and induce potential human health problems. The worldwide distribution of ticks is not homogenous. Some places are ecologically suitable for ticks but they are not introduced in these areas yet. The absence or low density of hosts is a factor affecting the dissemination of the parasite. To understand the process of introduction and spread of TTBD in different areas, and forecast their presence, scientists developed different models (e.g., predictive models and explicative models). This study aimed to identify models developed by researchers to analyze the TTBD distribution and to assess the performance of these various models with a meta-analysis. A literature search was implemented with PRISMA protocol in two online databases (Scopus and PubMed). The selected articles were classified according to country, type of models and the objective of the modeling. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy available data of these models were used to evaluate their performance using a meta-analysis. One hundred studies were identified in which seven tick genera were modeled, with Ixodes the most frequently modeled. Additionally, 13 genera of tick-borne pathogens were also modeled, with Borrelia the most frequently modeled. Twenty-three different models were identified and the most frequently used are the generalized linear model representing 26.67% and the maximum entropy model representing 24.17%. A focus on TTBD modeling in Africa showed that, respectively, genus Rhipicephalus and Theileria parva were the most modeled. A meta-analysis on the quality of 20 models revealed that maximum entropy, linear discriminant analysis, and the ecological niche factor analysis models had, respectively, the highest sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve effect size among all the selected models. Modeling TTBD is highly relevant for predicting their distribution and preventing their adverse effect on animal and human health and the economy. Related results of such analyses are useful to build prevention and/or control programs by veterinary and public health authorities.

Thyroid cancer is the most frequent endocrine neoplasia worldwide. Information from Andean countries is scarce. In Ecuador there is no reports available of the epidemiology of this type of cancer. The aim of this study is to present the epidemiology and the burden of disease of thyroid cancer. This is a cross-sectional population-based analysis of thyroid cancer epidemiology in Ecuador from 2001 to 2016. The variables studied were the overall mortality rate, socio-demographics characteristics of the hospitalized patients, geographical trends and the burden of thyroid cancer in Ecuador. All the data was obtained from the official records reported by the Ministry of Public Health’s and retrieved from the public databases of the Vital Statistics Deaths and Births Databases and the National Institute of Census and Statistics (INEC). In Ecuador, over a period of 16 years from 2001 to 2016 a total of 23,632 hospital admissions were reported, which caused 1539 deaths due thyroid cancer. Data demonstrated an annual mean of 1477 cases, which caused 96 deaths per year in average. The annual incidence fluctuated from 3 in 2001 to 22 in 2016 per 100,000 inhabitants. Women were 5 times more likely than men to have thyroid cancer. The average length of stay for both sexes were 4 days. The mortality attributable to thyroid cancer represent less than 0.3% of all cancer deaths. Ecuador has one of the highest rates of thyroid cancer in Latin America, ranking first among women in Latin America. Although this cancer is frequent, mortality rate is relatively low. As this is the first national report of thyroid cancer in the country, a further analysis of the pathological variants and the grading of this neoplasia is needed.