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.

Researchers working to find faster way to treat sleeping sickness using oral drugs

Researchers at the University of Georgia are working to find the fastest way possible to treat and cure human African trypanosomiasis, long referred to as sleeping sickness. By working to improve chemical entities already tested in human clinical trials, they hope to have a faster route to field studies to treat the disease using drugs that can be administered orally to patients.

30 Aug 2016

Scientists discover novel African types of Salmonella linked to blood poisoning and death

The first global-scale genetic study of Salmonella Enteritidis bacteria, which is a major cause of blood poisoning and death in Africa and food poisoning in the Western World, has discovered that there are in fact three separate types.

22 Aug 2016

People with lymphatic filariasis more likely to acquire HIV infection, study shows

People infected with a parasitic worm called Wuchereria bancrofti in areas where HIV is endemic may be more likely to acquire HIV than people who are not infected with the worm, according to a new study in southwest Tanzania, published in The Lancet.

4 Aug 2016

Scientists reveal new transmission path for yaws

Lesions on arms and legs, deformed faces - yaws is a tropical disease that infects the skin, bones and cartilage. It is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue

3 Aug 2016

Griffith researchers create Malaria Box to advance drug discovery for major topical diseases

Griffith University tropical disease researchers have joined together with a host of international laboratories to advance drug discovery for major topical diseases through the creation and testing of the Malaria Box.

2 Aug 2016

Researchers uncover novel virulence strategies employed by Leishmania parasite

Professor Albert Descoteaux of INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier Research Centre and his team have discovered novel virulence strategies employed by the Leishmania parasite.

29 Jul 2016

Ecologists identify bat species with high potential to harbor Ebola and other filoviruses

An international team of ecologists has identified the bat species with the greatest potential to harbor filoviruses--a family that includes Ebola virus.

15 Jul 2016

Researchers identify mechanisms triggering hypergammaglobulinemia

Some autoimmune diseases and persistent infections are characterized by high levels of antibodies in the blood. But what are the causes of this hypergammaglobulinemia? A team headed by INRS's Professor Simona Stäger has successfully identified the mechanisms triggering the phenomenon.

12 Jul 2016

Wolbachia bacterium can prevent mosquitoes from transmitting Zika virus

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have confirmed that a benign bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis can completely block transmission of Zika virus in Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for passing the virus to humans.

1 Jul 2016

New and inexpensive technique could help meet global demands for malaria drug

A new and inexpensive technique for mass-producing the main ingredient in the most effective treatment for malaria, artemisinin, could help meet global demands for the drug, according to a study to be published in the journal eLife.

15 Jun 2016

FDA approves Vaxchora for prevention of cholera

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Vaxchora, a vaccine for the prevention of cholera caused by serogroup O1 in adults 18 through 64 years of age traveling to cholera-affected areas. Vaxchora is the only FDA-approved vaccine for the prevention of cholera.

13 Jun 2016

Cost-effectiveness tool can help guide decisions regarding proposed funds to combat Zika virus outbreak

A study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases presents a cost-effectiveness tool that can help guide decisions regarding resource allocation to fund interventions targeted at curtailing the ongoing Zika virus outbreak.

24 May 2016

Global life expectancy on the rise, but major health inequalities persist

Dramatic gains in life expectancy have been made globally since 2000, but major inequalities persist within and among countries, according to this year’s “World Health Statistics: Monitoring Health for the SDGs”.

20 May 2016

More neonatal infection research could drive forward measures to reduce infant deaths

No one knows how many newborns are dying each year due to antibiotic resistant infections, because of a lack of funding to research the issue fully, Professor Mike Sharland from St George's, University London said.

19 May 2016

Better education for patients, doctors on disease symptoms may help reduce leprosy in Brazil

Better education for both patients and doctors on how to spot the early symptoms of leprosy would help to reduce cases of the disease in Brazil, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Birmingham.

11 May 2016

Children infected with Cryptosporidium parasite more likely to suffer from stunted growth

Children infected even just once with a certain type of waterborne parasite are nearly three times as likely to suffer from moderate or severe stunted growth by the age of two than those who are not - regardless of whether their infection made them feel sick, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.

5 May 2016

Outbreak of tropical parasitic infection observed for first time in the Arctic

An outbreak of an intestinal parasite common in the tropics, known as Cryptosporidium, has been identified for the first time in the Arctic. The discovery was made in Nunavik, Quebec, by a team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, in collaboration with the Nunavik Department of Public Health, Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec and Health Canada. The discovery, which was documented in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, could have long-term implications for the health of children in Nunavik and Nunavut's communities.

29 Apr 2016

Zika virus present in Americas prior to first identification in Brazil

The Zika virus was present in Haiti several months before the first Zika cases were identified in Brazil, according to new research by infectious-disease specialists at the University of Florida.

27 Apr 2016

First-ever vaccine to combat Leishmaniasis under development

As scientists scramble to get a Zika virus vaccine into human trials by the end of the summer, a team of researchers is working on the first-ever vaccine to prevent another insect-borne disease - Leishmaniasis - from gaining a similar foothold in the Americas.