Gideon Ibrahim Joseph

African trypanosomes exhibit significant genetic diversity but share similar morphological characteristics, making effective surveillance and diagnosis challenging with conventional microscopy and other detection methods. While polymerase chain reaction (PCR) offers enhanced specificity and sensitivity, it requires DNA extraction, making it time‐consuming and costly, especially for resource‐limited regions such as ours (Africa). Additionally, amplification using DNA from the host's whole blood often fails due to the presence of polymerase inhibitors or low parasite DNA, particularly during chronic infections. This study introduces a novel PCR method that overcomes these challenges by using purified trypanosome cells as templates, bypassing the need for DNA extraction. Trypanosoma brucei brucei cells were isolated from mice blood using DEAE–cellulose anion‐exchange chromatography and directly used in PCR amplification of the ITS‐1 ribosomal RNA gene. Successful amplification was achieved with as few as 1.25 × 10⁵ isolated trypanosome cells, while gDNA extracted from parasitized blood failed to amplify. This cost‐effective and highly sensitive method improves species differentiation and enhances diagnostic capabilities, especially in cases of low parasitemia. The approach represents a significant advancement in trypanosome diagnosis, offering a faster, affordable, and reliable alternative to traditional methods. These findings support improved epidemiological surveillance and may contribute to the World Health Organization's goal of eliminating African trypanosomiasis, a disease that continues to present major economic and public health challenges in Africa. A graphical abstract of this study is presented in Figure 1. © 2026 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1 : Isolation of Trypanosoma brucei brucei from parasitized blood Basic Protocol 2 : PCR characterization of isolated T. brucei brucei

Human schistosomiasis, caused by the Schistosoma trematode, is a neglected parasitic disease affecting over 250 million people worldwide. There is no vaccine, and the single available drug is threatened by drug resistance. This study presents a computational approach to designing multiepitope vaccines (MEVs) targeting the cercarial (CMEV) and schistosomular (SMEV) stages of schistosomes, and identifies potential schistosomicidal compounds from the Medicine for Malaria Ventures (MMV) and SuperNatural Database (SND) libraries. The designed vaccines (CMEV and SMEV) are engineered to provoke robust immune responses by incorporating a blend of T- and B-cell epitopes. Structural and immunoinformatics evaluations predicted robust interactions of CMEV and SMEV with key immune receptors and prolonged immune responses. In addition, molecular docking identified several compounds from the MMV and SND libraries with strong binding affinities to vital Schistosoma cathepsin proteases, indicating their potential as schistosomicidal agents. Our findings contribute to the potential development of effective vaccines and drugs against schistosomiasis.

Aim: This work aims to contribute toward development of preventive measures for the control of monkeypox (mpox) virus disease through computational design of a multiepitope vaccine. Methods: To acc... Plain language summary The recent outbreak of mpox virus presents a significant public health threat with no treatment available. While the use of smallpox vaccines remains the current strategy for... Graphical abstract Graphical abstract illustrating the workflow of a multiepitope vaccine design against mpox virus. (A) Prediction of the transmembrane protein with identification of the extracell...