Monthly Archives: August 2022

Holy Helminths! Augustinian friars and their parasites.

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Anouk Gouvras

A study in Cambridge investigated and compared the worm burden of friars living in a monastery in medieval England with that of towns people in the local parish. The surprising findings suggest that despite having better infrastructure, nutrition and life expectancy, the Augustinian friars had a higher prevalence of helminths compared to the local population. The reason could be due to farming practices.

Health Medicine

Increasing tick-borne diseases: Better information and enhanced protection for outdoor workers

Gemeine_Holzbock_Ixodes_ricinus_2

Daniel Parsons

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs), caused by parasites, bacteria and viruses, constitute over 17% of all infectious diseases, and are responsible for more than 700,000 deaths annually. Many VBDs are some of the most transmissible and deadly of the infectious diseases, such as the tick-borne Coxiella burnetiid bacterium (causative agent of Q fever). As a result of anthropogenic-driven changes to the environment, VBDs are increasing globally and expanding into new areas, and thus pose an increasing threat to animal and human health, particularly to those working in high-risk occupations.

Biology Health Open Access