Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37272973›Full record

ArticleParasitology research2023

What do we know about the epidemiology and the management of human echinococcosis in Albania?

Poleta Luga, Arben Gjata, Ilir Akshija, Ledina Mino, Valbona Gjoni, Arben Pilaca, Michael Zobi, Gabriela Equihua Martinez, Joachim Richter

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Parasitology research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. A Comprehensive Analysis ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Poleta LugaInstitute of International Health, Global Health Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Corporate Member of Freie and Humboldt University Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Arben GjataTirana/General & Digestive Surgery Department, University of Medicine, No. 3. Dibrës Str. 370, Tirana, Albania.
Ilir AkshijaStatistics Department, University Hospital Center "Mother Teresa", Tirana, Albania.
Ledina MinoPegasus Med Laboratory, Bulevardi "Zhan D'Ark", Tirana, Albania.
Valbona GjoniDepartment of National Reference Laboratories, Institute of Public Health, Aleksander Moisiu Str. 80, Tirana, Albania.
Arben PilacaInternational Hospital Tirana, Dritan Hoxha Str, Tirana, Albania.
Michael ZobiInstitute of International Health, Global Health Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Corporate Member of Freie and Humboldt University Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Gabriela Equihua MartinezInstitute of International Health, Global Health Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Corporate Member of Freie and Humboldt University Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
Joachim RichterInstitute of International Health, Global Health Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Corporate Member of Freie and Humboldt University Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 13353, Berlin, Germany. jockelri@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1930-2944
Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DEAcademy of Sciences of Albania · ALInstitute of Public Health · ALMother Teresa Hospital · ALUniversity of Medicine Tirana · AL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Echinococcosis is a life-threatening neglected zoonotic disease. Cystic echinococcosis (CE) due to Echinococcus (E.) granulosus usually involves livestock and dogs; alveolar echinococcosis (AE) due to E. multilocularis involves rodents and canines such as foxes and dogs. Human hosts are infected accidentally via hand to mouth and/or foodborne/waterborne pathways. Albania is deemed to be endemic for cystic echinococcosis (CE), but there is a scarcity of data to confirm this. A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Google Scholar, and in other medical sources. Because of the scarcity of existing information, data confirming CE cases were reviewed from the medical hospital records of Albania's largest Hospital, the Mother Teresa University Hospital (UHCMT) Tirana, and from a large private laboratory in Tirana (Pegasus laboratory). A total of eight eligible publications on 540 CE patients were found. Three hundred forty seven additional cases hospitalized in UHCMT from 2011 to 2020 were confirmed, as well as 36 laboratory cases and 10 Albanian cases notified in Germany. Taking all cases into account and considering 162 overlapping cases, 771 cases were documented from 2011 to 2020. The only case reported as AE was most likely a multi-organic CE. Surgery was the most frequent therapy approach used (84.7%). Autochthonous human CE seems to be widespread, and transmission is ongoing in Albania. CE patients in Albania undergo surgery more frequently compared with CE cases in other European countries. In order to establish a realistic estimate of prevalence and incidence of CE in Albania, mandatory notification should be reinforced. Stage-specific therapy can be used in CE to reduce therapy cost and diminish mortality by avoiding surgical overtreatment.

Indexed as

EchinococcosisEchinococcusEchinococcus granulosusAlbaniaAnimalsDogsHumansZoonosesAlbaniaEchinococcosisEchinococcus granulosusEchinococcus multilocularisZoonosis

Identifiers

PMID37272973
PMCPMC10348922
OpenAlexW4379375427

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.