Protozoa: Trypanosoma: Sleeping Sickness & Chagas Disease

[Jo]

Hi peeps! sorry this it so much info. Just stumbled on it and did a bit of diggin

Trypanosoma: Sleeping Sickness & Chagas Disease


Most of the trypanosomes are effectively destroyed by the host's natural defences, but some trypanosomes manage to evade the immune system by modifying their surface membrane, a process known as antigenic variation. The trypanosome can express thousands of variants, multiplying with each new surface change.

At first, the main clinical signs of human trypanosomiasis are high fever, weakness and headache, joint pains and pruritus (itching). Gradually, the immune defence mechanisms and the patient's resistance are exhausted. As the parasite develops in the lymph and blood of the patient, the initial symptoms become more pronounced and other manifestations such as anaemia, cardiovascular and endocrine disorders, abortion, oedema and kidney disorders appear.

In advanced stages of disease, the parasite invades the central nervous system. The patient's behaviour changes; they can no longer concentrate and become indifferent to their environment. Sudden and unpredictable mood changes become increasingly frequent, giving rise to lethargy with bouts of aggressiveness.
http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/WWW/224/Trypano.html

Recent findings indicate that the parasite is unable to survive in the bloodstream without its flagellum. This insight gives researchers a new angle with which to attack the parasite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_sickness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellum

Chagas' disease (also called American trypanosomiasis) is a human tropical parasitic disease which occurs in the Americas, particularly in South America. Its pathogenic agent is a flagellate protozoan named Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to humans and other mammals mostly by blood-sucking assassin bugs of the subfamily Triatominae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease

Triatomines characteristically leave 2 kinds of feces like strikes on walls of infected houses; one is white with uric acid, the other is dark (black) containing haem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triatominae

Natural Treatment of trypanosomes:
Garlic oil has broad-spectrum activity against Trypanosoma
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...d&uid=16099722

Link to an interesting post about this stuff from last year:
http://www.morgellons-disease-resear...sg3072#msg3072

The history of sleeping sickness and great parasite resourse:
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/


Why do so many diseases have Morg trates!! Couldnt find any mention of legions amongst this lot. Looks like the Trypanosoma would show up in amongst blood cells under a good scope....

Jo xxx

[niecy]

Jo, I had run up on Chaga's Disease early on in my research. Here are just a few links to lesions being involved. I have found oval shaped splatters of some kind of sticky fluid, with a black speck in the larger part all over the outside, and inside of my home, and also on all automobiles. I have also collected several of the "kissing" bugs. I have thought at times that moths were somehow involved also?? Some are at a university in Memphis with a professor of parasitology. He was very intruiged with my samples for some time, then he quit having contact....... xoNiecy

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi...ournalCode=ijd

http://www.cdfound.to.it/html/trip1.htm

http://www.dcp2.org/pubs/DCP/22/Section/3015


http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec14/ch18...tmlChagas' Disease
(American Trypanosomiasis
The Merck Manual Minute

Chagas' disease is infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, transmitted by Triatominae bug bites. Symptoms begin with a skin lesion or unilateral periorbital edema; progress to fever, malaise, generalized lymphadenopathy, and hepatosplenomegaly; in some, chronic cardiomyopathy, megaesophagus, or megacolon occurs. Diagnosis is by detecting trypanosomes in peripheral blood or aspirates from infected organs. PCR, serologic tests, and xenodiagnosis may be helpful. Treatment is with nifurtimox or benznidazole.

Etiology and Pathophysiology

T. cruzi is transmitted by Triatominae (reduviid, kissing, or assassin) bugs. While biting, infected bugs deposit feces containing metacyclic trypomastigotes on the skin. These infective forms enter through the bite wound or penetrate mucous membranes. The parasites then invade macrophages at the site of entry, transform into amastigotes that multiply by binary fission, and are released as trypomastigotes into the blood and tissue spaces, whence they infect other cells. Cells of the reticuloendothelial system, myocardium, muscles, and nervous system are most commonly involved. Reservoirs include dogs, cats, opossums, rats, and other animals. Infection can also be transmitted by blood transfusion, organ transplantation, or transplacentally.

Infected Triatominae are found in North, Central, and South America. More than 20 million people in the Americas are infected with T. cruzi, but the prevalence has been decreasing due to control measures. In some rural parts of South America, Chagas' disease has been a leading cause of death. Vector-borne disease is rare in the US, but some Latin American immigrants living in the US are chronically infected. These people are potential sources of transmission by blood transfusion or organ donation.

*SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS*

Acute infection is followed by a latent (indeterminate) period, which may remain asymptomatic or progress to chronic disease. Immunosuppression may reactivate latent infection, with high parasitemia and a 2nd acute stage, *skin lesions*, or brain abscesses. Congenital transmission occurs in 1 to 5% of pregnancies and results in abortion, stillbirth, or chronic neonatal disease with high mortality.

Acute infection in endemic areas usually occurs in childhood and can be asymptomatic. When present, symptoms start 1 to 2 wk after exposure. An indurated, erythematous skin lesion (a chagoma) appears at the site of parasite entry. When the inoculation site is the conjunctiva, unilateral periocular and palpebral edema with conjunctivitis and preauricular lymphadenopathy are collectively called Romaña's sign. Acute Chagas' disease is fatal in a small percentage of patients due to acute myocarditis with heart failure or acute meningoencephalitis. In the remainder, symptoms subside without treatment. Primary acute Chagas' disease in immunocompromised patients, such as those with AIDS, may be severe and atypical, with skin lesions and brain abscesses, although the latter are rare.

Chronic disease develops in 20 to 40%, after a latent phase that may last years or decades. Chronic cardiomyopathy leads to flaccid enlargement of all chambers, apical aneurysms, and localized degenerative lesions in the conduction system, producing heart failure, syncope, sudden death due to heart block or ventricular arrhythmia, and thromboembolism. ECG may show right bundle branch or complete heart block. GI disease produces symptoms resembling achalasia or Hirschsprung's disease. Chagas' megaesophagus presents as dysphagia and may lead to pulmonary infections from aspiration or to severe malnutrition. Megacolon may result in prolonged periods of obstipation and intestinal volvulus.

Diagnosis

The number of trypanosomes in peripheral blood is high during the acute phase and readily detected by examination of thin or thick smears. In contrast, few parasites are present in blood during latent infection or chronic disease. Definitive diagnosis may be made by examination of aspirates from organs such as lymph nodes. Serologic tests are sensitive but may yield false-positive results in patients with visceral or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis or other diseases. Other diagnostic approaches include xenodiagnosis (by examining the rectal contents of laboratory-raised bugs after they take a blood meal from a suspected patient) and detecting PCR-amplified parasite DNA in blood or tissue fluids.

Treatment and Prevention

Treatment in the acute stage rapidly reduces parasitemia, shortens the clinical illness, and reduces risk of mortality but often does not eradicate the infection. Treatment of children and young adults with indeterminate infections has been recommended, but many are not cured. Treatment in the chronic stage is symptomatic. Chronic organ damage, which may be caused in part by host inflammatory responses, appears to be largely irreversible. Supportive measures include drugs for heart failure, pacemakers, antiarrhythmic drugs, cardiac transplantation, esophageal dilation, and GI tract surgery.

The only effective drugs are nifurtimox (2 to 2.5 mg/kg po qid for 3 to 4 mo in adults; 4 to 5 mg/kg qid for 3 mo in 1- to 10-yr-old children; 3 to 3.75 mg/kg qid for 3 mo in 11- to 16-yr-old children) or benznidazole (2.5 to 3.5 mg/kg po bid for 1 to 3 mo for adults; 5.0 mg/kg bid for children ≤ 12 yr). These long treatment courses are often associated with severe GI adverse effects, peripheral neuropathy, poor tolerance, and low compliance.

Plastering walls and replacing thatched roofs or repeated spraying of houses with residual insecticides can control Triatominae bugs. Infection in travelers is rare and can be avoided by not sleeping in such dwellings or by using bed nets if forced to do so.

Transfusion-induced Chagas' disease is a major health problem in endemic areas. A small number of cases have been reported in the US. Although screening for antibodies has been proposed,US blood banks currently rely on historical information to exclude potentially infected donors. Transfusion-induced Chagas' disease can also be prevented by adding gentian violet to blood in endemic areas if blood screening with serologic tests is not possible.

Originally Posted by Jo

Hi peeps! sorry this it so much info. Just stumbled on it and did a bit of diggin

Trypanosoma: Sleeping Sickness & Chegas Disease


Most of the trypanosomes are effectively destroyed by the host's natural defences, but some trypanosomes manage to evade the immune system by modifying their surface membrane, a process known as antigenic variation. The trypanosome can express thousands of variants, multiplying with each new surface change.

At first, the main clinical signs of human trypanosomiasis are high fever, weakness and headache, joint pains and pruritus (itching). Gradually, the immune defence mechanisms and the patient's resistance are exhausted. As the parasite develops in the lymph and blood of the patient, the initial symptoms become more pronounced and other manifestations such as anaemia, cardiovascular and endocrine disorders, abortion, oedema and kidney disorders appear.

In advanced stages of disease, the parasite invades the central nervous system. The patient's behaviour changes; they can no longer concentrate and become indifferent to their environment. Sudden and unpredictable mood changes become increasingly frequent, giving rise to lethargy with bouts of aggressiveness.
http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/WWW/224/Trypano.html

Recent findings indicate that the parasite is unable to survive in the bloodstream without its flagellum. This insight gives researchers a new angle with which to attack the parasite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_sickness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellum

Chagas' disease (also called American trypanosomiasis) is a human tropical parasitic disease which occurs in the Americas, particularly in South America. Its pathogenic agent is a flagellate protozoan named Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to humans and other mammals mostly by blood-sucking assassin bugs of the subfamily Triatominae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease

Triatomines characteristically leave 2 kinds of feces like strikes on walls of infected houses; one is white with uric acid, the other is dark (black) containing haem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triatominae

Natural Treatment of trypanosomes:
Garlic oil has broad-spectrum activity against Trypanosoma
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...d&uid=16099722

Link to an interesting post about this stuff from last year:
http://www.morgellons-disease-resear...sg3072#msg3072

The history of sleeping sickness and great parasite resourse:
http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/


Why do so many diseases have Morg trates!! Couldnt find any mention of legions amongst this lot. Looks like the Trypanosoma would show up in amongst blood cells under a good scope....

Jo xxx

[Jo]

Hi ya Niecy, great work!!

Maybe you should give that professor a call??

I wonder if there's a link between chagas and moths...I havent found anything yet.

However, I did find a 'say no to GMO' site which mentions genetically modified moths that were injected with jellyfish genes....

The researchers were testing the breeding ability of hundreds of genetically modified pink bollworms. The moths contained a jellyfish gene that makes them glow green. The glowing gene is a common "marker gene" that tests the moth's ability to mate; any offspring have a glow that's easy to spot.

Eventually, the researchers hope to substitute the harmless jellyfish gene with a lethal one, taken from a bacterium, that will kill the moth's larvae. The gene alters the larvae's metabolism to make them reliant on a chemical unavailable in the wild. The researchers hope genetically modified moths will compete successfully with fertile moths in the race for mates, and will decimate the population by producing larvae that can't survive outside a lab.
http://www.saynotogmos.org/insects.htm

Jo xxx

[Kritters]

Anyone wanna bet that the people on this forum will get to the bottom of more diseases than people who are paid to do it?



xoxo
Kritts

[Cindi]

http://iier.isciii.es/mmwr/preview/m...l/mm5607a2.htm

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...icial%26sa%3DN

[niecy]

Jo, I was wondering if the moths, jellyfish, kissing bugs, and bryozoa might have some kind of connection? The link you posted about the moths, being injected with germs from jellyfish, made me think of Steve's Hypothesis. This is a post I sent him awile back about the jellyfish, and the ascariasis. Ascariasis doesn't have skin lesions, but if jellyfish were present when you got infected you can get skin lesions. I will find the link if anyone needs me to. Then your link about the bollworms in the moths, and bollworms kill cotton, and they spray agrobacterium on cotton fields, which I live in the middle of thousands of acres of......My house was full of moths, and kissing bugs, and the tiny flies...............just food for thought. Oh, and someone, I can't remember if it was you, or Tara, or Cindy, or maybe Kritters, asking where the bugs that were genetically modified at Stanford went when the study was over??
xoNiecy


Steve Hi! and congratulations on your win!!!! Good luck with your work. I was just reading some of your posts and this caught my attention. The CDC has a page on Ascariasis on their site. I found it when I first started trying to figure out what was wrong with me, besides DOP of course......It says that Ascariasis is endemic on the Gulf Coast in the USA. I am not good at searching, saving, posting or anything so I will have to just tell you what I found, I'm sure you already know this........Ascariasis could explain most of my internal problems, but there wasn't anything that could explain the lesions. I typed in the search bar something like, "can you get skin lesions with Ascariasis?" There was a link that came up about jellyfish, and that if they were present when you were infected it could cause skin lesions. I have tried to the best of my ability to find that link. I can't find anthing now about the jellyfish and the lesions, but the day I was searching for it there was about three links that came up. I guess I am wanting to know if you have ran across that in your investigation?? I live in north MS, but I had been to Florida in February and April, I had the first lesions in Ausust...just wondering if you have any info about that in particular. thanks! Niecy


I'm excited that you are making these correlations Neicy, your inquiry has encouraged me to put forth my theory in respects to the apparent involvement of several other Phylums in this disease. This is an area I have dwelled on considerably, what I am going to propose is radical to say the least, but truth be known, I must take this stand.

I need to acknowledge Bill Gibson(aka William the Great) in this theory since, coincidently, we were both following the same path and came to the same conclusion, independently, and at about the same time, strange isn't it.

Early in my research I had no choice but to just ignore the numerous claims of morgellons and it's association with organisms from the Artropod, Ascariasis, and various other Phylums simply because they didn't appear to be pieces of this puzzle. I eventually came to the point where I needed to find out just what kind of associations these organisms had with the bryozoans and hydrozoans. When I collected the living, clearly alive, blob looking thing from my hair I was certain that it waa associated with "my" morgellons at a minmum. It wasn't exactly fitting the puzzle though since I could make little to no correlations between it and known descriptions of bryozoa/hydrozoa. Then after a little research there became no doubt in my mind that it was clearly a mite from the Arthropod phylum, but yet I knew it was somehow related to morgellons.

Many research hours later I was beginning to form a conclussion that was not at all in accordance with the current scientific understanding of bryozoans and their so called "associated organisms". The science world is apparently okay with their assumption that conditions described in this next article are commonplace amoungst these organisms and all is in order, I beg to differ.


Quote
Animals associated with Bryozoa

The colonies of Plumatelln repens, and especially the tubes that were not occupied by zooids, appeared to be attractive to many kinds of animals. This specimen was from a group of plant stems and was somewhat protected from fish. In the laboratory, the colony was torn apart and an attempt was made to pick out all of the animals associated with the bryozoa. No attempt was made to determine the number of organisms in the entire colony. The following groups of organisms were associated with the bryozoa and the list is not complete:

Protozoa
Platyhelminthes
Aschclminthes
Ncmatoda
Annelida
Arthropoda

Quantitatively, the chironomid larvae were dominant cohabitants of the Bryozoa.

The chironomid are a family of small flies. I suspect that if one were to make a list of all the different organisms that people with morgellons claim to find on or in their bodies that each and every one would fall within this groups. I say this because it is mine and Bill's belief that these associated organisms are not just inhabiting empty zooiciums(houses) within the bryozoan colony but that these organisms are a product of the bryozoa. Whether they are just mimicing these other organisms or if these other organisms are just another life form of the bryozoa I'm not certain, in either case what I'm claiming is pretty radical and will surely be met with extreme doubt.

I have much more to add to this topic and will try to do so in the days to come.

[Jo]

Hi Niecy,

I'm facinated with the associations with arthropods etc. Thanks for the reminder about Steve's post..I'd missed out the part where a disection of the colony took place which found all those different species inside. Moths are an arthropod afterall.

Marc Neumann and Omah Amin have mentioned such associations - but not linked with bryozoans. Anyone know of any other researchers that have mentioned multi organisms associated with Morgellons related work??

If you search from the home page on 'moths', quite alot of posts come up. Worth a look. I cant remember who asked you about Stanford bugs either. doh!

Through our experiences as sufferers, we know all too well the associations that we've found.
Just wanna know why and how....err..and what. Shucks, I know nothing.

Jo xxxx

- oh and thanks Cindi for the links. Great stuff.

[niecy]

Jo, it was a post by kmar, and it was Yale University, I got my schools mixed up I hope you are well, and everyone else I have been busy and haven't got to chat much lately.

I am curious as to whether anyone on the forum has any kind of software that would help me to fix a schedule for all of the meds on the Vanderbilt Protocol..........if anyone does please let me know, I would be forever grateful

Your friend, Niecy

Originally Posted by Jo

Hi Niecy,

I'm facinated with the associations with arthropods etc. Thanks for the reminder about Steve's post..I'd missed out the part where a disection of the colony took place which found all those different species inside. Moths are an arthropod afterall.

Marc Neumann and Omah Amin have mentioned such associations - but not linked with bryozoans. Anyone know of any other researchers that have mentioned multi organisms associated with Morgellons related work??

If you search from the home page on 'moths', quite alot of posts come up. Worth a look. I cant remember who asked you about Stanford bugs either. doh!

Through our experiences as sufferers, we know all too well the associations that we've found.
Just wanna know why and how....err..and what. Shucks, I know nothing.

Jo xxxx

- oh and thanks Cindi for the links. Great stuff.

[Cindi]

Anyone else had the parasitic wasp invasion? I have had the kissing bugs and moths as well. The wasp are the size of a period at the end of a sentence. Their wings are very transparent which makes them hard to see. They carry bacteria as well. Trichogramma I believe. I have pictures if anyone is interested.

Cindi

[niecy]

Cindi, of course I would love to see the pictures. If you can, please post a link, or pm them to me. Thanks, xxNiecy

Originally Posted by Cindi

Anyone else had the parasitic wasp invasion? I have had the kissing bugs and moths as well. The wasp are the size of a period at the end of a sentence. Their wings are very transparent which makes them hard to see. They carry bacteria as well. Trichogramma I believe. I have pictures if anyone is interested.

Cindi