[Diarrheal illnesses on the Ecuadorian coast: socio-environmental changes and health concepts]. / Males diarreicos en la costa ecuatoriana: cambios socioambientales y concepciones de salud.

The authors present an ethnoepidemiological study of diarrheal illnesses in 21 communities on the northern coast of Ecuador, where numerous social and environmental changes have taken place since 2001 due to a new highway. As communities realize that nature itself is changing, changes occur in their interpretations of health and disease, which the authors present through a taxonomic classification of diarrheal illnesses. Given the high incidence of diarrheal diseases, alternative concepts have emerged (as compared to those of biomedicine) in relation to causes, symptoms, and treatments. The non-biomedical and biomedical systems overlap, with mixtures of coexistence and resistance. Recognizing this reality means understanding a series of challenges for the official health system, including the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, non-use of health services for some diseases, and perceived relations between environmental contamination and the efficacy of modern and traditional medicines.

Males diarreicos en la costa ecuatoriana: cambios socioambientales y concepciones de salud / Diarrheal illnesses on the Ecuadorian coast: socio-environmental changes and health concepts

Presentamos una etnoepidemiologia de las enfermedades diarreicas en 21 pueblos de la costa norte del Ecuador, zona en la cual hay muchos cambios sociales y ambientales desde 2001 por la presencia de una nueva carretera. Con percepciones de que la misma naturaleza esta cambiando, vienen cambios en interpretaciones de lo que es salud y enfermedad, que presentamos en forma de una taxonomia de males diarreicos. Ante la fuerte incidencia de las enfermedades diarreicas, existen concepciones alternativas a la biomedicina en cuanto a sus causas, sintomas y tratamientos. Hay superposiciones entre sistemas no-biomedicas y biomedicos, en donde hay mezclas de coexistencia y resistencia. Reconocer esto es entender una serie de desafios para el sistema de salud oficial, incluyendo el uso indiscriminado de antibioticos, el no uso de servicios de salud para algunos males, y relaciones percibidas entre contaminacion ambiental y la eficacia de las medicinas moderna y tradicional.

The authors present an ethnoepidemiological study of diarrheal illnesses in 21 communities on the northern coast of Ecuador, where numerous social and environmental changes have taken place since 2001 due to a new highway. As communities realize that nature itself is changing, changes occur in their interpretations of health and disease, which the authors present through a taxonomic classification of diarrheal illnesses. Given the high incidence of diarrheal diseases, alternative concepts have emerged (as compared to those of biomedicine) in relation to causes, symptoms, and treatments. The non-biomedical and biomedical systems overlap, with mixtures of coexistence and resistance. Recognizing this reality means understanding a series of challenges for the official health system, including the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, non-use of health services for some diseases, and perceived relations between environmental contamination and the efficacy of modern and traditional medicines.

Hepatitis B surface antigen immunopurification using a plant-derived specific antibody produced in large scale.

This paper provides an evaluation of a plant-derived HBsAg-specific antibody in the immunopurification of the recombinant HBsAg for vaccine purposes. This plant-derived antibody was obtained from different batches of 100-200kg of tobacco leaves and coupled to Sepharose CL-4B with high efficiency. The plant-derived antibody immunoaffinity matrix purification behavior (elution capacity, antigen purity, purification cycles, and ligand leakage) was comparable to that of its mouse-derived monoclonal antibody homolog. This result supports the feasibility of using this plant-derived antibody for the immunopurification of the Hepatitis B surface antigen for human use, opening a new possibility to overcome the constrain of monoclonal antibody production in mice.