Current therapeutic options for Chagas' disease are limited to benznidazole and nifurtimox, which have been associated with low cure rates in the chronic stage of the disease and which have considerable toxicity. Posaconazole has shown trypanocidal activity in murine models.

We describe a case of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy in a Colombian woman. She was infected in December 2015 while she was visiting her home country. At 9 weeks’ gestation, she had a self-limited maculopapular, nonconfluent rash for 3 days that affected her trunk, arms, and legs; she had no fever or other concurrent symptoms. She was screened for ZIKV and other flaviviruses.

Chagas disease, discovered in 1909 by the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, is a parasitic infection caused by the hemoflagellated protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi [¹ x 1 Chagas, C. Nova tripanozomiase humana. Estudos sobre a morfolojía e o ciclo evolutivo de Schizotrypanum cruzi n. gen., n. sp., ajente etiolójico de nova entidade mórbida do homen. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 1909; 1: 159–218 Crossref | Google Scholar See all References ]. Despite all the efforts to eradicate the disease, an estimated 10 million people are infected worldwide and 10 000 people die annually due to chagasic cardiomyopathy [² x 2 World Health Organization. Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). Data available on http://www.who.int. (Last accessed on 1st May 2013.) Google Scholar See all References ]. Originally, Chagas disease was an endemic disease of Latin America affecting rural and poor populations living in adobe houses. Progressive urbanization of this rural population since the 1940s has made Chagas disease an urban disease, causing an important change in the social groups affected by this disease [³ x 3 Coura, JR and Viñas, PA. Chagas disease: a new worldwide challenge. Nature. 2010; 465: S6–S7 Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (271) | Google Scholar See all References ]. The increase in mobility of populations during the last decades is the reason for the spread of Chagas disease outside endemic countries. As a consequence, Chagas disease has emerged as an important public health problem in other countries, mainly in Europe and North America [⁴ x 4 Schmunis, GA and Yadon, ZE. Chagas disease: a Latin American health problema becoming a world health problem. Acta Trop. 2010; 115: 14–21 Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (390) | Google Scholar See all References ].

Listeria monocytogenes is the third most frequent cause of bacterial meningitis. The aim of this study is to know the incidence and risk factors associated with development of acute community-acquired Lm meningitis in adult patients and to evaluate the clinical features, management, and outcome in this prospective case series.

Human infections by the gastrointestinal helminth Strongyloides stercoralis and the enteric protozoans Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp. and Blastocystis spp. are not formally included in the list of 20 neglected tropical diseases prioritised by the World Health Organization. Although largely underdiagnosed and considered of lower public health relevance, these infections have been increasingly demonstrated to cause significant morbidity and even mortality globally, particularly among children living in resource-poor settings. In this cross-sectional survey the prevalence, frequency and molecular diversity of S. stercoralis, G. duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp. and Blastocystis spp. were investigated in a school children population in the province of Benguela (Angola). A total of 351 stool samples were collected during January to June 2015. The presence of S. stercoralis and G. duodenalis was confirmed by qPCR methods. Giardia duodenalis assemblages and sub-assemblages were determined by multilocus sequence-based genotyping of the glutamate dehydrogenase and β-giardin genes of the parasite. Detection and identification of Cryptosporidium and Blastocystis species and subtypes was carried out by amplification and sequencing of a partial fragment of the small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene of both protozoan. Analyses of risk factors potentially associated with the transmission of these pathogens were also conducted. Prevalences of S. stercoralis, G. duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and Blastocystis spp. were estimated at 21.4% (95% CI: 17.1–25.7%), 37.9% (95% CI: 32.8–43.0%), 2.9% (95% CI: 1.1–4.5%) and 25.6% (95% CI: 21.18–30.2%), respectively. Overall, 64.1% (225/351) of the children were infected by at least one of the pathogens investigated. Sequence analyses of the 28 G. duodenalis isolates that were successfully genotyped allowed the identification of sub-assemblages AI (14.3%), AII (14.3%), BIII (7.1%) and BIV (25.0%). Discordant typing results AII/AIII and BIII/BIV were identified in 7.1% and 14.3% of the isolates, respectively. A total of five additional isolates (17.9%) were identified as assemblage B. Three Cryptosporidium species including C. hominis (70%), C. parvum (20%) and C. canis (10%) were found circulating in the children population under study. A total of 75 Blastocystis isolates were assigned to the subtypes ST1 (30.7%), ST2 (30.7%), ST3 (36.0%), ST5 (1.3%) and ST7 (1.3%), respectively. Children younger than seven years of age had significantly higher risk of infections by protozoan enteropathogens (PRR: 1.35, P < 0.01), whereas being underweight seemed to have a protective effect against these infections (PRR: 0.74, P = 0.005). The burden of disease attributable to human strongyloidiasis, giardiosis, cryptosporidiosis and blastocystosis in Angola is considerably higher than initially estimated in previous surveys. Surveillance and control of these infections should be jointly tackled with formally considered neglected tropical diseases in order to maximize effort and available resources. Our data also demonstrate the added value of using molecular diagnostic methods in high transmission areas.