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Parasitic infection describes the infection of a host with a particular parasite. Parasites are microorganisms that rely on other host organisms for their own survival. Many parasites do not cause any harm to their host, but some parasitic infections cause severe diseases, such as malaria.
The digestive form of Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) involves damage to the nervous system of the gastrointestinal tract and problems with peristalsis. Here, Khan et al show that infection causes damage to the colon that can be reversed if it is successfully treated early in the process.
A longitudinal study of the circulatory cellular immunity of individuals co-infected with recurrent visceral leishmaniasis and HIV suggests that T cell unresponsiveness underlies visceral leishmaniasis chronicity.
Intestinal helminths can increase the lethality of a subsequent coinfection with neurotropic flaviviruses by activating tuft cells and type 2 immune mechanisms in the gut.