Listen, Look and Feel Your Way..

But all is not lost — honey bees have evolved a way to fight back: hygienic behavior where diseased or parasitized larvae are removed from their brood cells, and Varroa-sensitive hygienic behavior which they use to reduce the number of reproductive mites on remaining larvae.

Bees! Finally fighting back!

aamukherjee:

Parasite and Personality

Ever had a friend unexpectedly change from the calmest person on the face of the Earth into a reckless socialite? 

They may in fact have toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by the microscopic parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates has infected about 22.5 percent of Americans older than 12 years old. Researchers have found that T. gondii produces an enzyme which can increase the production of dopamine (a neurotransmitter which affect mood, sociability and attention span) within a patient’s brain causing them to be more extroverted.

It may seem appealing to some to have higher dopamine levels, but the infected population has a slightly higher rate of traffic accidents and also risks suffering from various psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. The effects are however, largely subtle for people with healthy immune systems so no need to be too worried if you are diagnosed with toxoplasmosis.

Although, if you begin to have delusions of grandeur and wake up with no recollection of where you have been for the past few days, I would recommend booking a doctor’s appointment…

(via scinerds)

Nothing says “I love you” more than being joined together in permanent copulation.

Syngamus trachea

Host: certain bird species

Pathogenesis: adults found in trachea of birds —> occlusion —> respiratory distress

Treatment: Benzimidazole, levamisole

mothernaturenetwork:

‘Cat lady’ parasite linked to suicide attempts
Women who were infected with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite were 1.8 times more likely to attempt suicide by violent means than uninfected women.

This is why you should change the litter box EVERY day and why pregnant women are recommended against touching cat litter.

Toxoplasma gondii is excreted in feline faeces in its unsporulated, noninfective form. It sporulates (become infective) in the environment within 2-4 days. Cleaning the litter box daily prevents zoonotic infection and reinfection of your cat.

Upon entering a non-feline host, T. gondii enters the circulatory system through the intestines and gets distributed all over the body. When the immune system kicks in, they go into “hibernation mode” and encyst in brain, skeletal and heart muscle. They stay dormant until your immune status drops (stress, another infection) then break out of their cysts to  infect other tissue, including the foetus. Foetal infection results in abortions, stillborns and congenital abnormalities (eg with the brain).

T. gondii infections are lifelong so proper hygiene and litter disposal should always be practiced.

(via zombiepoo)

Burn baby, BURN!

hidingerections:

The Brain Hidden Epidemic: Tapeworms Living Inside People’s Brains

“Nobody knows exactly how many people there are with it in the United States,” says Nash, who is the chief of the Gastrointestinal Parasites Section at NIH. His best estimate is 1,500 to 2,000. Worldwide, the numbers are vastly higher, though estimates on a global scale are even harder to make because neurocysticercosis is most common in poor places that lack good public-health systems. “Minimally there are 5 million cases of epilepsy from neurocysticercosis,” Nash says.

(via scinerds)

laboratoryequipment:

Malaria on the Rise Because of Funding Cuts

Funding cuts for malaria control are the single most common reason for the resurgence of the deadly disease, according to a new study that has linked overall weakened malaria control programs to the majority of global resurgences since 1930. The study, published in the open-access Malaria Journal, analyzed the causes of 75 documented episodes of malaria resurgence throughout the world over the past 80 years, both in countries that were close to eliminating the disease and those with higher transmission rates that were attempting to control it.

Among those resurgences, 91 percent — or 68 out of the 75 — were caused at least in part by weakened malaria control programs, with 39 of the 68 tied to funding constraints, according to the research led by the Clinton Health Access Initiative, in conjunction with the Univ. of California, San Francisco Global Health Group and the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Malaria-on-the-Rise-Because-of-Funding-Cuts-042612.aspx