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| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2016 | Volume
: 6
| Issue : 2 | Page : 99 |
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Protozoans of tissue and blood: A changing paradigm
Subhash Chandra Parija
Director, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India
| Date of Acceptance | 29-Aug-2016 |
| Date of Web Publication | 19-Sep-2016 |
Correspondence Address:
Subhash Chandra Parija
Director, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2229-5070.190810
How to cite this article:
Parija SC. Protozoans of tissue and blood: A changing paradigm. Trop Parasitol 2016;6:99 |
A very warm welcome to all our readers.
We are pleased to bring out the second issue for the year 2016 which primarily focuses on blood and tissue dwelling protozoans. Toxoplasmosis, a long known zoonotic disease of humanity which was once feared for causing congenital infection, is now gaining significance in other patient groups. With the advent of HIV pandemic and rise in the number of organ transplants performed, this pathogen is increasingly being noted for its role in causing opportunistic infection. Post-transplant toxoplasmosis is a serious complication with devastating outcome. [1] The symposium section of the present issue discusses the recent trends in congenital toxoplasmosis and also sheds light on critical issues in transplant-related toxoplasmosis. Hydatid disease is yet another long known scourge to humanity, which is now being easily detected and treated. Radiology forms the mainstay modality in arriving at a preliminary diagnosis of this cystic disease. [2] The review article in this issue sums up all the conventional and recent radiological diagnostic techniques that are useful in detecting this parasitic disease.
Cryptosporidium species are yet another group of intestinal protozoans, which are currently increasingly found due to the advent of the HIV pandemic. The guest commentary written on this organism provides the reader a clear insight into the problems posed by this protozoan in a developing country like India. This issue also has an original article evaluating the various diagnostic procedures employed by a common microbiological laboratory for the detection of this coccidian parasite. Also presented are original research works on the diagnosis and clinical outcome of other intestinal parasites, Plasmodium and Trypanosoma.
When it comes to publishing, one of the most notorious actions widely known in the scientific community is "plagiarism." However, there are numerous other ulterior motive actions which can adversely affect the quality of publication. The "Ethics in series" section in this issue elaborately describes the various unethical actions that can be performed by both the authors and the editors.
In this issue, we have interviewed Dr. Nadira Karunaweera, the Head of the Parasitology Department and Faculty of Medicine at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and also a visiting scientist, School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA. In the "Face-to-Face" section, Dr. Karunaweera vividly discusses the various aspects of vector-borne diseases such as leishmaniasis and malaria in the epidemiological perspective. The book "Blastocystis: Pathogen or Passenger? An evaluation of 101 years of research" edited by Heinz Mehlhorn, Kevin S. W. Tan, and Hisao Yoshikawa is reviewed in this issue. The book is an interesting compilation of a century's research on the protist. The dispatches and letter to the editor sections provide various interesting reports of uncommon manifestations of parasitic infections.
We hope that this informative issue will be a treat to the knowledge of hungry readers.
 References | |  |
| 1. | Gajurel K, Dhakal R, Montoya JG. Toxoplasma prophylaxis in haematopoietic cell transplant recipients: A review of the literature and recommendations. Curr Opin Infect Dis 2015;28:283-92.  [ PUBMED] |
| 2. | Brunetti E, Kern P, Vuitton DA; Writing Panel for the WHO-IWGE. Expert consensus for the diagnosis and treatment of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis in humans. Acta Trop 2010;114:1-16. [ PUBMED] |
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