Tropical Disease News and Research

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Tropical diseases encompass all diseases that occur solely, or principally, in the tropics. In practice, the term is often taken to refer to infectious diseases that thrive in hot, humid conditions, such as malaria, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, Chagas disease, African trypanosomiasis, and dengue.

WHO launches new ethics guidance to protect rights of TB patients

New tuberculosis (TB) ethics guidance, launched today by the World Health Organization, aims to help ensure that countries implementing the End TB Strategy adhere to sound ethical standards to protect the rights of all those affected.

25 Mar 2017

Zika continues to plague babies in Rio’s sprawling urban slums even after Olympics

Many international travelers to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, openly considered skipping the games to avoid the threat of Zika.

24 Mar 2017

UCL scientists develop way to use MRI scans for identifying HIV in the brain

Scientists at UCL have developed a way to use MRI scans to help identify when HIV is persisting in the brain despite effective drug treatment.

13 Mar 2017

GW researchers develop way to test potency of recombinant hookworm vaccines

Researchers at the George Washington University have developed a way to test recombinant vaccines for their ability to stay effective after years of storage.

10 Mar 2017

Researchers develop testing program to study potency of vaccines for neglected tropical diseases

A new generation of vaccines for neglected tropical diseases is moving into clinical trials, and understanding the long-term stability and effectiveness of these vaccines over periods of storage is key to their success.

1 Mar 2017

Researchers discover promising target for treatment of leishmaniasis

Each year, about 2 million people contract leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of a sand fly. The cutaneous form of the disease results in disfiguring skin ulcers that may take months or years to heal and in rare cases can become metastatic, causing major tissue damage.

24 Feb 2017

New compound kills whipworm more effectively than existing drugs

The human whipworm, which infects 500 million people and can damage physical and mental growth, is killed at egg and adult stage by a new drug class developed at the Universities of Manchester and Oxford and University College London.

From The University of Manchester 22 Feb 2017

Naturally occurring protein shows promise as biocontrol weapon against schistosomiasis

A naturally occurring protein has been discovered that shows promise as a biocontrol weapon against schistosomiasis, one of the world's most prevalent parasitic diseases, Oregon State University researchers reported today in a new study.

15 Feb 2017

Researchers find explanation for link between persistent infection and long-term immunity

Many infectious diseases are one and done; people get sick once and then they are protected from another bout of the same illness.

17 Jan 2017

Gambian sleeping sickness could be eliminated in six years in DRC, research reveals

Gambian sleeping sickness - a deadly parasitic disease spread by tsetse flies - could be eliminated in six years in key regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to new research by the University of Warwick.

22 Dec 2016

USP researchers develop new platform to detect 416 viruses from tropical regions

Researchers from the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto in Brazil have developed a platform that analyzes clinical samples from patients to diagnose infection by 416 viruses found in the world's tropical regions.

1 Dec 2016

Improving innovation uptake in the NHS

I think innovation is one of those rather slippery terms that means different things to different people. First of all, I would make a distinction between innovations that are essentially about a new, physical product and innovations that are more to do with services or processes.

24 Nov 2016

WHO acknowledges eradication of trachoma in Morocco

Today, the World Health Organization acknowledged the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Morocco.

18 Nov 2016

Researchers confirm long persistence of Zika virus in semen and reveal its presence within spermatozoa

Recent work has shown that Zika virus persists in semen for up to 6 months after infection. In a correspondence published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the researchers, in addition to confirming its long persistence in semen (in this case for more than 130 days, i.e., over 4 months), reveal the presence of the virus even within spermatozoa.

4 Oct 2016

WHO, OIE and FAO reiterate call for world free from dog-mediated human rabies deaths by 2030

The World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are reiterating their call for a world free from human rabies transmitted by dogs by 2030.

30 Sep 2016

New approach bolsters protein in blood vessels to protect against cerebral malaria

Boosting a protective protein to stabilize blood vessels weakened by malaria showed improved survival beyond that of antimalarial drugs alone in pre-clinical research.

30 Sep 2016

Experts receive $5.2 million NIH grant to develop affordable test for diagnosing Chagas disease

An international team of researchers led by infectious disease experts at the University of Georgia has received $5.2 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop a more accurate, affordable diagnostic test for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that kills more than 50,000 people each year in Central and South America.

21 Sep 2016

Review highlights progress made in addressing chronic pandemic of neglected tropical diseases

The Lancet published a review of the progress made in addressing, as lead author David Molyneux calls it, the chronic pandemic of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

15 Sep 2016

Heat shock proteins may play role in triggering Schistosoma invasion

A protein known for helping cells withstand stress may also act as a switch that triggers free-swimming Schistosoma larvae to begin penetrating the skin and transforming into the parasitic flatworms that burden more than 240 million people worldwide with schistosomiasis.

9 Sep 2016

New mathematical model could help predict potential outbreaks of Ebola and Lassa fever

Potential outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola and Lassa fever may be more accurately predicted thanks to a new mathematical model developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

2 Sep 2016