EGYPTIAN EOSINOPHILIC AND INFECTIOUS MENINGOENCEPHA- LITIS AND THEIR IMPACT ON PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS.

Meningoencephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain and spinal cord & their covering protective membranes. Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation's proximity to the brain and spinal cord; therefore, the condition is classified as a medical emergency. The commonest symptoms of meningitis are headache and neck stiffness associated with fever, confusion or altered consciousness, vomiting, and an inability to tolerate light (photophobia) or loud noises (phonophobia). Children often exhibit only nonspecific symptoms, such as irritability and drowsiness. If a rash is present, it may indicate a particular cause of meningitis; for instance, meningitis caused by meningococcal bacteria may be accompanied by a characteristic rash. A broad variety of allergic, infectious, neoplastic, and idiopathic diseases are associated with increased blood and/or tissue eosinophilia and range in severity from self-limited conditions to life-threatening disorders. Although accepted upper limits of normal blood eosinophil numbers vary somewhat, a value above 600 eosinophils /microL of blood is abnormal in the vast majority of cases. Generally speaking, there are several possible causes of eosinophils in the CSF; undoubtedly parasitic infection is one of the main causes.

MONITORING THE VIRAL LOAD IN HIV PATIENTS UNDER ANTI-RETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART).

Viral load monitoring is an important factor in managing HIV disease. Antiretroviral therapy is the recommended treatment for HIV patients, and the goal therapy is achieving viral suppression and reducing viral load below the level of detection. Viral load is an important parameter used to monitor the progression of HIV and critically regarding treatment decision. The results of present study revealed that there were statistical significant differences between patients maintained on treatment (GA) and patients without treatment (GB) regarding the viral load, and clearly indicated that adherence to ART playing a role in suppression the viral load supporting the immune system of HIV infected patients. The success of ART for someone living with HIV depends on, starting the treatment at the right time, choosing the right combination of (ART) and monitoring the effectiveness of the treatment through monitoring the vilral load.

THE ARTHROPOD-BORNE ONCHOCERCIASIS: IS IT DESERVED TO BE NEGLECTED?.

Onchocerciasis a filarial parasitic nematode, also known as river blindness and Robles disease, is a neglected tropical disease infecting more than 18 million people mainly in sub-Saharan of Africa, the Middle East, South and Central America and many other countries. Disease infectivity initiates from Onchocerca volvulus (Filarioidea: Onchocercidae) transmitted by the blackfly, Simulium sp. which introduces the infective stage larva with its saliva into the skin. Within human body, adult females (macrofilaria) produce thousands of larvae (microfilariae) which migrate in skin and eye. Infection results in severe visual impairment or blindness for about 2 million, as being the world's second-leading cause of blindness after trachoma, as well as skin onchocercomata.

African trypanosomiasis with special reference to Egyptian Trypanosoma evansi: is it a neglected zoonosis?

Trypanosomes (including humans) are blood and sometimes tissue parasites of the order Kinetoplastida, family Trypanosomatidae, genus Trypanosoma, principally transmitted by biting insects where most of them undergo a biological cycle. They are divided into Stercoraria with the posterior station inoculation, including T. cruzi, both an extra- and intracellular parasite that causes Chagas disease, a major human disease affecting 15 million people and threatening 100 million people in Latin America, and the Salivaria with the anterior station inoculation, mainly African livestock pathogenic trypanosomes, including the agents of sleeping sickness, a major human disease affecting around half a million people and threatening 60 million people in Africa. Now, T. evansi was reported in man is it required to investigate its zoonotic potential?

The tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Africa, Asia, Europe, and America: what about Egypt?

Globally, the recognized number of distinct and epidemiologically important diseases transmitted by ticks has increased considerably during the last 4 decades. Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease caused by an arbovirus, which was first recognized during a large outbreak among agricultural workers in the mid-1940s in the Crimean Peninsula. Humans become infected through the bites of ticks, by contact with haemorrhage from nose, mouth, gums, vagina, and injection sites of a CCHF patient during the acute phase or follow-up, or by contact with blood or tissues from viremic livestock. This paper reported three human Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever cases, one in Almaza fever hospital and two in Gharbia Governorate. No doubt, distribution of tick-vector (Hyalomma spp.) worldwide including Egypt and presence of CCHF in regional countries must be considered by the Health and Veterinary Authorities.