Objective To analyzed the genetic diversity, genetic differences between populations and differentiation time of Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis of Qinghai isolates, in order to provide scientific basis for species tracing and prevention and control of Echinococcus in Qinghai Province, China. Methods For genetic analysis, 50 liver lesion samples were collected from hospitalized echinococcosis patients in the Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University to extract genomic DNA and amplify mitochondrial dehydrogenase 1 gene (nad1). Sequence multiple alignment was performed using Clustal X v2.0 software. Geographic informatics mapping of patients’ residence was constructed using ArcGIS software. Sequence haplotype analysis was made with DnaSP v6 software. Modeltest 3.7 software and PAUP*4.0B10 software were used to calculate the minimum optimal nucleic acid evolution model. The Bayesian’s phylogenetic evolution tree was constructed with MrBayes-3.2.7 software. The differentiation time of each node in the phylogenetic tree was estimated with the Bayesian method using BEAST v2.6.3 software. Results We successfully identified 48 Echinococcus lesion samples specimen and obtained the full length of complete nad1 gene of 894 bp. Among them, 13 samples were identified as the G1 genotype of E. granulosus, and 35 samples as E. multilocularis. All the sequences showed > 99% similarity to those in GenBank. Four haplotypes were identified as H1-H4 in the two species respectively; H3 was the dominant haplotype in E. granulosus samples(10/13), which is present in Xining, Guoluo, Yushu, Haidong, Haibei and Huangnan. H2 haplotype was found dominant in E. multilocular samples (51.4%,18/35), which is present in Xining, Guoluo, Yushu, and Haidong. The phylogenetic tree showed that E. granulosus and G1 genotype clustered into one branch, and E. multilocularis and Asian strain clustered into one branch. The results of differentiation time showed that the nearest common ancestor of E. granulosus, E. multilocularis, E. vogeli and E. oligarthrus was about 5.5 Mya (95% confidence interval 4.5-6.5 Mya), and the differentiation time of E. granulosus and E. multilocularis was about 2.5 Mya (95% confidence interval 2.3-4.1 Mya). Conclusion Both human E. granulosus and E. multilocularis in Qinghai Province show high genetic diversity. E. granulosus was found of G1 genotype, with H3 as the dominant haplotype, while in E. multilocularis samles H2 is the dominant. The two speies are widely distributed throughout Qinghai Province. The two species of Echinococcus exhit closer genetic relationship and differentiation timing.

CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/(CRISPR-associated protein 9) is an efficient genome editing system for targeted gene disruption, site-specific insertion of foreign DNA, gene repair, etc., which provides an innovation platform of technology for functional analysis of parasite genes and selection of drug targets and vaccine candidates. Here, we review the mechanism of CRISPR/Cas9 and some recent findings on the use of CRISPR/Cas9 in parasite research, particularly in studies of Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium, Trypanosoma and Leishmania. The challenges and optimization strategies of the CRISPR/Cas9 system at the present stage are also discussed.

Along with the further development of biological science and technology, the taxonomy of organisms as well as classification of parasites have been modified and improved. However the taxonomic system of parasites used in China nowadays was established 25 years ago. This paper outlined the advances of biological taxonomy and introduces the Cox′s new classification of parasites so as to promote parasitological research.

The Chinese Journal of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases had its first issue in 1983. Over the past 40 years, the journal witnesses the remarkable achievements in prevention and control of important parasitic diseases in China, marked by effective control of schistosomiasis (2015) and elimination of lymphatic filariasis (2007) and malaria (2021), and has been playing an important role providing academic exchange platform for research and control programs of parasitic diseases and parasitology, promoting domestic and international scientific exchanges. With the guidance of each editorial board, the journal strictly abides by the academic standards and perseveres the concept of presenting high-quality publication. The national and international impact of the journal has continuously increased. It has been included in important international databases such as Medline, Scopus, and Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD) (Class C) since 1989. It has been selected as one of Chinese Science and Technology Core Journals since 1987, Core Journals in Chinese since 1992 and the World Journal Clout Index Report Scientific & Technological Periodicals (WJCI) since 2020, and was included in the High-Quality Scientific and Technological Journal Classification Catalog for Preventive Medicine and Health (2021 edition). It was also awarded as one of “the 100 Outstanding Chinese Academic Journals” (in 2009), “the First Prize of Excellent Medical and Health Journals of the Ministry of Health” (in 2005), “the First Prize of Excellent Journals of the National Health and Family Planning Commission” (in 2013), the First Prize and the Excellent Journal of “the Journal series of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association” and “the Excellent Journal Award in East China Region”. In 2021, its core impact factor reached 1.743, the highest in its history, and continues its first rank among 31 core journals in medicine. The network informatization has been constructed since 2006, with "WeChat" platform established in 2016, which has raised the journal’s dissemination, service capacity and impact to a higher level. This article summarizes the 40-year history of the Chinese Journal of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, and prospects its future development direction.

The paper includes a comprehensive review of the present status of kala-azar in China and the advances in relevant investigations and studies since I960. The disease was practically eradicated in most of the endemic areas in 1958 by means of mass treatment, sandfly control and destruction of infected dogs in areas with prevalence of canine leishma-niasis. Through relentless and sustained efforts in the control of the disease, no more fresh cases of kala-azar occurred in the provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hebei and Eastern Shaanxi over the past decade. In the meantime, the density of sandfly vector, Phlebotomus chinensis was greatly reduced, and in many villages completely eliminated. The results of leishmanin dermal test are all negative among the people under 15 years of age. During the last three years, only a few sporadic cases have been reported from the mountainous and desert areas in the northwest, including Xinjiang, Gansu, northern Shaanxi, Nei Mongol, Shanxi and Sichuan. Since 1964, epidemiological investigations have suggested the existence of natural nidus of visceral leishmaniasis in the deserts of Xinjiang and Nei Mongol, with Phlebotomus major wui as the vector. A large number of wild animals have been examined, but so far the reservoir hosts have net yet been ascertained. In addition, studies on epidemiology, sandfly vectors, special clinical manifestations and immunodiagnosis of kala-azar have been made with much progress. For ultimate control of kala-azar in China, suggestions are put forward on further control measures and research work.

Objective To establish a rapid staining method for facilitating initial identification of Legionella pneumophila in amoebal trophozoite. Methods Acanthamoeba polyphaga and Legionella pneumophila were co-cultured under laboratory condition. At consecutive time points during the culture, smears of the cultured products were made on glass slides for staining purposes. Different types of stainings including Gram′s staining, Gimenez staining, Giemsa staining and immunofluorescence were used to determine the best method for the identification of amoebal pathogens. Results Gimenez staining technique is simpler and yields better results as compared with the other three stainings. Gimenez stain gives the best color and contrast for amoeba and amoebal Legionella Amoeba trophozoites and/or cysts showed a distinct purplish blue with amoebal Legionella in red. Amoebal Legionella can be distinguished clearly at an earlier time of co-culture, providing a proper sensitivity. It takes only 10 minutes to finish the operation. The other techniques require the use of expensive reagents, are relatively time-consuming, and involve complex staining procedures. Conclusion Gimenez staining is of value for the initial identification of amoebal pathogens, and it is suitable for laboratory diagnosis.

Achievements for schistosomiasis control have been gained by implementation of integrated control strategies according to local conditions since the founding of the People′s Republic of China. By the end of 2008, 5 of the 12 provinces reached the criteria of transmission interruption. Among 454 endemic counties, transmission was interrupted in 265 counties while 97 counties reached the criteria of transmission control. The number of schistosomiasis cases decreased from 10 million in history to 413 000. Currently, there still left 92 counties where the disease is endemic and mainly distributed in lake and mountainous regions. Limited by the environmental and socio-economic factors, integrated control strategies could not be carried out in these places. Although the strategies based on reducing the roles of humans and cattle as resources of infection decreased the infection rate and intensity quickly, re-infection occurred frequently due to the spread of snails and numerous animal reservoirs. Chemotherapy alone could not interrupt the transmission. By changing the traditional biomedical control model, applying integrated control strategy mainly with social measures, integrating disease control with local social and economic development programs, changing the traditional life styles and agricultural production patterns, and eliminating the risk factors for schistosmiasis transmission, schistosomiasis control can be developed sustainably and reach the criteria of transmission interruption finally.

A retrospective survey on side-effects for pyquiton was made among 25,693 cases of schistosomiasis japonica treated in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi Provinces and Shanghai Municipality. Teams were sent separately to the fields for on-the-spot investigation which included briefings and meetings with local medical workers responsible for pyquiton treatment, reviewing of case records, visiting to the patients when necessary and filling of a unified survey questionnaire prepared beforehand.Apart from 500 acute cases, 1,175 advanced cases and 10 cases of cerebral schistosomiasis, the majority were chronic cases. The main dose-schedule used was the 2-day pyquiton regime with a total dose of 60mg/kg (70mg/kg for children).It was supported by findings during the field survey, and agreed upon unanimously by all medical workers that pyquiton was definitely the drug of the first choice in treating schistosomiasis on account of its high efficacy and low toxicity. However, some comparatively serious side-effects did happen though with very low incidence, which included syncope (14 cases), psychotic disorder (5), relapse of schizophrenia (6), hysteria (3), epileptic s izures (8), flaccid paralysis in lower limbs (2), ataxia (1), frequent premature beats (22), auricular fibrillation (3), heart rate below 50 per minute (4), supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia (2), first degree atrioventricular block (5), attacks of angina pectoris (1), jaundice (2), hepatic coma in advanced cases with ascites (2), serious skin rashes (18) and some delayed reactions (29). However, most of the side-effects were transient and reversible and no fatality was directly associated with the drug.

Objective To assess the efficacy of single，multiple or combined oral doses of tribendimidine，artesunate，artemether and praziquantel against Clonorchis sinensis in rats. Methods A total of 147 rats，each infected with 50 C. sinensis metacercariae，were used in experimental chemotherapy. All the drugs used were administered intragastrically 42-44 d after infection. ① Sixty infected rats were randomly divided into 11 groups（4-5 rats per group）and the following drug dose-schedules were applied，i.e. under the same total dose tribendimidine or praziquantel was given at a single dose of 150 mg/kg，or given at smaller divided doses of 75 mg/kg（qd for 2 d），50 mg/kg（qd for 3 d），25 mg/kg（tid for 2 d）; artesunate or artemether was given at a single dose of 75 mg/kg，or given a half dose of 37.5 mg/kg daily for 2 days. ②Eighty-seven infected rats were randomly divided into 15 groups（4-6 rats per group） for combined treatment with the following drug administration regimens，i.e. artesunate or artemether 30 mg/kg plus praziquantel 150 mg/kg or tribendimidine 50 mg/kg and 75 mg/kg，respectively; tribendimidine 50 mg/kg plus praziquantel 150 mg/kg；tribendimidine 75 mg/kg plus praziquantel 187.5 mg/kg. A single dose of each drug mentioned above was also involved. Untreated C. sinensis-infected rats served as control. Rats were killed 14 days post-treatment，worms recovered from the bile duct and the liver tissue，mean worm burden reduction calculated and mean worm burden compared between the groups using non-parametric method（Mann-Whitney test）. Results Rats infected with C. sinensis and treated at a single 150 mg/kg dose of either tribendimidine or praziquantel resulted in a worm reduction of 57.2% and 63.8%，respectively. Whilst administration of tribendimidine at smaller but multiple doses given within 2-3 days at the same total dosage resulted in a slightly higher worm reduction（77.1%-79.4%），the opposite trend was observed for praziquantel（50.6%-54.2%）. However，for both tribendimidine and praziquantel，the difference of mean worm burden lacked statistical significance between single and multiple doses. Infected rats administered either artesunate or artemether at a single dose of 75 mg/kg or a daily dose of 37.5 mg/kg for 2 days，the worm reduction was 100% and 90.4%-98.5%，respectively. Combined treatment with low doses of tribendimidine(50 mg/kg or 75 mg/kg)plus praziquantel(150 mg/kg or 187.5 mg/kg)resulted in a worm reduction of 74.9%-100%, which were higher than those of 26.9%-79.6% obtained from a single dose of each drug used. High worm reduction of 74.4%-97.9% was also observed when administering a low dose of artesunate or artemether（30 mg/kg）plus a low dose of tribendimidine（50 mg/kg or 75 mg/kg）or praziquantel（150 mg/kg）. Mean worm reduction of 24.8%-79.6% were seen when drugs used at single doses. Conclusion The investigation confirmed that tribendimidine，artesunate，artemether and praziquantel are all efficacious against C. sinensis，and that drug combination acts synergistically.

After more than 70 years of effective control programme, China has made remarkable achievements in the control of key parasitic diseases, and is moving towards the goal of control and elimination. This paper analyzes the epidemic status and challenges of schistosomiasis, malaria, echinococcosis, leishmaniasis, clonorchiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis in recent years, and puts forward the future directions and key tasks of those diseases, in order to provide reference for accelerating the control and elimination programmes on key parasitic diseases in China.

This article deals with the determination of specific IgG, IgM and IgE to soluble egg antigen in schistosomiasis japonica to assess the therapeutic efficacy of antischistosomal drugs. It was found that 97.6% of the proved cases were positive by ELISA, while all of the sixty-five patients other than schistosomiasis were negative. Follow-up stool examinations of 131 patients for 6-8 months showed that 117 cases (89.3%) turned negative after pyquiton treatment, and 80.3% of the cases also revealed IgM negative. In this context, IgM negatives following chemotherapy of schistosomiasis meant an effective treatment. 48 out of 50 cases showed comparable results after simultaneous capillary and venous blood samples, so capillary method turned out to be one of the choices in field studies.

With the development of molecular biology， genomics research has been expanded from structural genomics to functional genomics, and from single gene to massive batch. This paper summarizes the progress of structural genomics of some zoonotic parasites and major technical methods.

The present paper reports on the result of an experimental study on the susceptibility of A. minimus and A. dims to two human Plasmodia: P. vivax and P. falciparum. 11 lots of A. minimus and A. dims were allowed to feed in vitro on the blood from 11 vivax malaria patients, and the feeding of the two species of mosquitoes was carried out simultaneously on one sample of blood. 10 lots of A. minimus became infected, the average gut and gland infection rate being 83.5% and 81.3% respectively, and the positive gland index 3.70. 11 lots of A. dims were all found infected, with an average gut infection rate of 88.2%, gland infection rate of 81.6% and a positive gland index of 2.98. Both species of the anophelines were shown to be highly susceptible to P vivax. So far as the gut and the gland infection rate was concerned, there was no significant difference in susceptibility between them. Although in most cases the number of oocysts on the stomach wall of A. dints apparently exceeded that of A. minimus, the mean diameter of differentiated oocysts of the latter was markedly larger and the intensity of the gland infection much higher. This probably indicated that A. minimus was a more appropriate host than A. dirus for the completion of the development of sporogonic cycle of P. vivax.Four lots of A. minimus and A. dirus were allowed to feed on the blood from 4 falciparum malaria patients. Three were successfully infected. The average gut infection rate of A. minimus and A. dirus was 65.8% and 66.2%, the oocyst index being 8.8 and 10.3 respectively; the average gland infection rate was 49.0% and 53.9%, and the positive gland index 2.31 and 2.46 respectively. These results showed high susceptibility to P. falciparum of the two anopheline species without any significant difference.The present study has experimently proved the high susceptibility of A. minimus to P. vivax and confirmed that in the mountainous areas of south China A. minimus is an important vector of the tertian malaria as well.