Abstract
Effective control of parasitic diseases requires a multidimensional approach, including chemotherapy by drugs. Drug therapy needs to be supplemented with human behavioural education and public health measures. The available chemotherapeutic agents effective against pathogenic parasites can be conveniently classified into anti-protozoal, anti-helminthic and ectoparasiticidal drugs. Unlike bacterial agents, the armamentarium of antiparasitic agent consists of only a few drugs which have been in use for many decades. Relatively less research and finance investment has been made for the development of newer broader-spectrum antiparasitic agents with less toxicity. The emergence of drug-resistant parasite such as chloroquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum is a major cause for concern. Nevertheless, the drug development and discovery for parasitic diseases has gained more attention in the recent past.
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Further Readings
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Case Study
Case Study
A 19-year-old boy was admitted to casualty with severe abdominal pain, fever and bloody diarrhoea. On examination vitals were stable, and the patient was mildly dehydrated. The stool sample was sent for examination and it was positive for E. histolytica. The patient was admitted for 1Â day and discharged with advice to take metronidazole 750Â mg PO tid for 7Â days. On the fourth day of treatment, the patient returned with dizziness, throbbing headache, chest and abdominal discomfort but no diarrhoea. History of alcohol consumption was noted.
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Rationalize the cause for the symptoms presented on the fourth day of treatment.
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Suggest a suitable plan of management for the above case.
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What are the alternative drugs which can be used in this condition?
Research Questions
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How to improve the discovery of antiparasitic drugs which are limited in number and sometimes ineffective because of resistance?
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How is the incomplete knowledge of the mechanism of action of many antiparasitic agents leading to poor understanding of their toxicity and resistance pattern?
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How is the lack of availability of effective vaccines playing a challenging role in controlling parasitic infections?
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Subash, K.R., Padmavathi, S. (2022). Chemotherapy of Parasitic Infections. In: Parija, S.C., Chaudhury, A. (eds) Textbook of Parasitic Zoonoses. Microbial Zoonoses. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7204-0_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7204-0_8
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