Strongyloidiasis and Culture-Negative Suppurative Meningitis, Japan, 1993-2015.

Community-acquired Enterobacteriaceae infection and culture-negative meningitis are rare and atypical subtypes of meningitis in adults. Of 37 patients who had atypical suppurative meningitis during 1993-2015 in Okinawa, Japan, 54.5% had strongyloidiasis, of which 9.1% cases were hyperinfections and 3.0% dissemination. Strongyloidiasis should be considered an underlying cause of atypical suppurative meningitis.

Finding ancient parasite larvae in a sample from a male living in late 17th century Korea.

Parasitological examination of samples from tombs of the Korean Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) could be helpful to researchers in understanding parasitic infection prevalence in pre-industrial Korean society. Whereas most of our previous parasitological studies revealed the presence of ancient parasite eggs in coprolites of Korean mummies, a sample from a man living in late 17th century Korea proved to be relatively unique in possessing what appeared to be several species of parasite larvae. The larvae identified included Strongyloides stercoralis and Trichostrongylus spp., along with eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and Paragonimus westermani. Since ancient parasite larvae retain enough morphology to make proper species identification possible, even after long burial times, the examination of parasite larvae within ancient samples will be conducted more carefully in our future work.

[Strongyloides stercoralis (Bavay, 1876) Stiles et Hassall, 1902 (Nematoda)--intestinal roundworm. I. History]. / Strongyloides stercoralis (Bavay, 1876) Stiles et Hassall, 1902 (Nematoda)--wegorek jelitowy. Czesc I. Rys historyczny.

The discovery of Strongyloides stercoralis, a parasite of human gastrointestinal system and lungs, was presented from the historical point of view. The sequence of achievements, in regard of explanation of the parasite's life cycle, determining its ways and invasion sites and discovering a different kind of autoinfection in strongyloidosis cycle, was described.

Cultural ecology of prehistoric parasitism on the Colorado Plateau as evidenced by coprology.

The study of coprolites (desiccated feces) is recognized as a viable method for analyzing parasitism of prehistoric peoples. Eight species of helminth parasites, including nematodes, cestodes, and acanthcephalans, have been recovered from archaeological sites on the Colorado Plateau. The comparative analysis of parasitological findings illustrates the effects of changing subsistence strategies and varying life-style on prehistoric human parasitism. This comparative study is based on the analysis of coprolites recovered from one Archaic hunter-gatherer site and two Anasazi agricultural villages. Hunter-gatherers are represented by coprolites from Dust Devil Cave in south-eastern Utah. Coprolites of prehistoric agriculturalists from Antelope House in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, and from Salmon Ruin in northwestern New Mexico were studied. The results demonstrate that helminth parasitism increased with the advent of agriculture. Between the agricultural sites, differences in patterns of excreta disposal, foraging behavior, and local ecology resulted in pronounced variations in both percentage of coprolites containing parasite remains and the number of parasite species represented.