CURRENT TOPICS IN TROPICAL MEDICINE Edited by Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales Current Topics in Tropical Medicine Edited by Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Vedran Greblo Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published March, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Current Topics in Tropical Medicine, Edited by Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0274-8 Contents Preface IX Part 1 Tropical Diseases Due to Bacteria and Viruses 1 Chapter 1 Rickettsiosis as Threat for the Traveller 3 Aránzazu Portillo and José A. Oteo Chapter 2 Human Ehrlichioses and Rickettsioses in Cameroon 25 Lucy Ndip, Roland Ndip, David Walker and Jere McBride Chapter 3 Leptospirosis: Epidemiologic Factors, Pathophysiological and Immunopathogenic 43 Marcia Marinho Chapter 4 Bartonella Infections in Rodents and Bats in Tropics 51 Ying Bai and Michael Kosoy Chapter 5 Social Networking in Tuberculosis: Experience in Colombia 67 Diana M. Castañeda-Hernández and Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales Chapter 6 Molecular Characterization of Dengue Virus Circulating in Manaus, the Capital City of the State of Amazonas, Brazil 81 Regina Maria Pinto de Figueiredo Chapter 7 Genetic Diversity of Dengue Virus and Associated Clinical Severity During Periodic Epidemics in South East Asia 91 E. Khan, R. Hasan, J. Mehraj and S. Mahmood Chapter 8 Lassa Fever in the Tropics 109 Ute Inegbenebor Chapter 9 The Re-Emergence of an Old Disease: Chikungunya Fever 117 Bordi Licia, Meschi Silvia, Selleri Marina, Lalle Eleonora, Castilletti Concetta, Carletti Fabrizio, Di Caro Antonino and Capobianchi Maria Rosaria VI Contents Part 2 Tropical Diseases Due to Protozoa and Helminths 137 Chapter 10 Malaria Chemoprophylaxis for the International Traveler, Current Options and Future Possibilities 139 Ross Parker and Kevin Leary Chapter 11 Effects of Irrigated Rice Fields and Seasonality on Plasmodium Transmission in West Africa, Particularly in Central Côte d’Ivoire 155 Benjamin G. Koudou, Marcel Tanner and Juerg Utzinger Chapter 12 Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Vaccine Perspectives 169 Oscar Bruna-Romero, Dulcilene Mayrink de Oliveira and Valter Ferreira de Andrade-Neto Chapter 13 Screening of the Prevalence of Antibodies to the Tick Hyalomma lusitanicum in a Province of Northern Spain 185 Consuelo Giménez Pardo and Lourdes Lledó García Chapter 14 Amoebiasis in the Tropics: Epidemiology and Pathogenesis 201 A. Samie, A. ElBakri and Ra’ed AbuOdeh Chapter 15 Retrospective Analysis of Leishmaniasis in Central Tunisia: An Update on Emerging Epidemiological Trends 227 Akila Fathallah Mili, Fatma Saghrouni, Zeineb BenSaid, Yusr Saadi- BenAoun, Ikram Guizani and Moncef BenSaid Chapter 16 Current Advances in Computational Strategies for Drug Discovery in Leishmaniasis 253 Andrés F. Flórez, Stanley Watowich and Carlos Muskus Chapter 17 Advances in Serological Diagnosis of Chagas’ Disease by Using Recombinant Proteins 273 Iván S. Marcipar and Claudia M. Lagier Chapter 18 Echinococcosis/Hydatidosis 299 Antoni Soriano Arandes and Frederic Gómez Bertomeu Chapter 19 A Programme to Control Taeniosis-Cysticercolsis (Taenia solium) in Mexico 323 Aline S. de Aluja, Julio Morales Soto and Edda Sciutto Chapter 20 Antischistosomal Natural Compounds: Present Challenges for New Drug Screens 333 Josué de Moraes Chapter 21 Control of Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Prospects 359 Louis-Albert Tchuem Tchuenté Contents VII Chapter 22 Hyperinfection Syndrome in Strongyloidiasis 377 Cristiane Tefé-Silva, Eleuza R. Machado, Lúcia H. Faccioli and Simone G. Ramos Chapter 23 Molecular Diagnosis and Monitoring of Benzimidazole Susceptibility of Human Filariids 397 Adisak Bhumiratana, Apiradee Intarapuk, Danai Sangthong, Surachart Koyadun, Prapassorn Pechgit and Jinrapa Pothikasikorn Chapter 24 Lymphatic Filariasis Transmission and Control: A Mathematical Modelling Approach 425 Asep K. Supriatna and N. Anggriani Part 3 Other Tropical Infectious and Non-Infectious Conditions 443 Chapter 25 Novel Molecular Diagnostic Platform for Tropical Infectious Diseases 445 Yasuyoshi Mori, Norihiro Tomita, Hidetoshi Kanda and Tsugunori Notomi Chapter 26 Sexually Transmitted Infections in the Tropics 457 John C. Meade and Denise C. Cornelius Chapter 27 Re-Emergence of Malaria and Dengue in Europe 483 Rubén Bueno Marí and Ricardo Jiménez Peydró Chapter 28 Neonatal Thermoneutrality in a Tropical Climate 513 Hippolite O. Amadi Chapter 29 Associations Between Nutritional Indicators Using Geoadditive Latent Variable Models with Application to Child Malnutrition in Nigeria 545 Khaled Khatab Preface Tropical medicine research holds a special place as an important activity that as a consequence of multiple factors, such as globalization and migration has extended and reaffirms its importance not only in tropical developing countries but also in non- endemic areas in the developed world. The update on different aspects related to the practice of tropical medicine and their multiple components needs to be frequently visited. Three of the most important infectious terminal diseases in the world that belong or significantly affect tropical areas are AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. These pathologies, together with other important ones, represent relevant public health problems, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America (Franco-Paredes et al. 2007a, Franco-Paredes et al. 2007b, Rodríguez Morales AJ et al. 2006, Rodríguez Morales AJ et al. 2008), secondarily affecting, due to travel, Europe, North America and other areas of the world (Franco-Paredes et al. 2007c). Diseases and conditions as object of the study of tropical medicine are diverse in organ compromise as well as in etiology, including infectious and non-infectious agents. With these concepts in mind, this book includes different topics of tropical medicine of current international interest, trying to update the most significant research in many of them as well as offer a multinational perspective on different relevant conditions. This book has been organized in three major sections: I. Tropical Diseases due to Bacteria and Viruses; II. Tropical Diseases due to Protozoa and Helminths; and III. Other Tropical Infectious and Non-Infectious Conditions. Section I includes topics covering bacterial diseases such as rickettsiosis, ehrlichiosis, leptospirosis, bartonellosis and tuberculosis; as well on viral diseases such as dengue, Lassa fever and Chikungunya. Section II includes topics covering protozoan diseases such as malaria, toxoplasmosis, amebiasis, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease; as well on helminthic diseases such as echinococcosis/hidatidosis, taeniosis/cysticercosis, schistosomiasis, filariasis, strongyloidiasis and soil-transmitted helminths. Section III includes topics on multiple-etiology conditions such as sexually transmitted diseases, new diagnostic tools for tropical diseases and vector-borne diseases; also includes non-infectious conditions particularly related to childhood health in the tropics. This books does not intend to be an exhaustive compilation and this first edition has included not just multiple different topics but also a wide geographical participation from many countries where tropical medicine is of interest. Its online availability allows it to reach a worldwide audience. X Preface I would like to give my thanks to InTech, and particularly to Mr. Vedran Greblo, for the opportunity to edit this interesting and important book. I want to dedicate this book to my family and particularly to my lovely wife, Diana, who actually represents my engine for every activity I made in my professional career up until now, also to my friends and my students around Latin America. We hope our readers enjoy this publication as much as I did reading the chapters of Current Topics in Tropical Medicine. References Franco-Paredes C, Jones D, Rodriguez-Morales AJ, Santos-Preciado JI. 2007a. Commentary: improving the health of neglected populations in Latin America. BMC Public Health 7:11. Franco-Paredes C, Von A, Hidron A, Rodriguez-Morales AJ, Tellez I et al. 2007b. Chagas disease: an impediment in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Latin America. BMC Int. Health Hum. Rights 7:7. Franco-Paredes C, Dismukes R, Nicolls D, Workowski K, Rodriguez-Morales A, Wilson M, Jones D, Manyang P, Kozarsky P. 2007c. Persistent and Untreated Tropical Infectious Diseases among Sudanese Refugees in the U.S. Am J Trop Med & Hyg 77: 633-635. Rodríguez-Morales AJ, Barbella RA, Case C, Arria M, Ravelo M, Perez H, Urdaneta O, Gervasio G, Rubio N, Maldonado A, Aguilera Y, Viloria A, Blanco JJ, Colina M, Hernández E, Araujo E, Cabaniel G, Benitez J, Rifakis P. 2006. Intestinal Parasitic Infections among Pregnant Women in Venezuela. Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol 14:23125. Rodríguez Morales AJ, Lorizio W, Vargas J, Fernández L, Durán B, Husband G, Rondón A, Vargas K, Barbella RA, Dickson SM. 2008. Malaria, Tuberculosis, VIH/SIDA e Influenza Aviar: ¿Asesinos de la Humanidad? Rev Soc Med Quir Hosp Emerg Perez de Leon 39:52-76. Prof. Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales MD, MSc, DTM&H, FRSTMH(Lon), FFTM RCPS(Glasg), PhD(c). Editor, Current Topics in Tropical Medicine Infection and Immunity Research Group, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia Immunoparasitology Section, Tropical Medicine Institute, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela Instituto José Witremundo Torrealba, Universidad de Los Andes, Trujillo, Venezuela . study of tropical medicine are diverse in organ compromise as well as in etiology, including infectious and non-infectious agents. With these concepts in mind, this book includes different topics. CURRENT TOPICS IN TROPICAL MEDICINE Edited by Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales Current Topics in Tropical Medicine Edited by Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales. Editor, Current Topics in Tropical Medicine Infection and Immunity Research Group, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia Immunoparasitology Section, Tropical Medicine Institute,