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.

Scientists create new models of tropical eye worm for development of anti-filarial drugs

Researchers at the LSTM's Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics, and University of Buea, Cameroon have developed new models of the tropical eye worm, Loa loa for the development of new drugs against filariasis.

30 Mar 2019

WHO guidelines for chronic hepatitis B fail to detect half of the patients in Ethiopia needing treatment

Current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) fail to detect half of the patients in need of treatment in Ethiopia, report scientists in the Journal of Hepatology, published by Elsevier.

29 Mar 2019

Global warming will raise risk of Mosquito borne diseases globally

Because of global warming, it is estimated that there will be a major surge in mosquito-transmitted diseases which would kill half a billion more people over the next three decades.

29 Mar 2019

New survey indicates need of attention to neglected tropical diseases

Although neglected diseases account for 11% of the global disease burden, they are targeted by only a small proportion of the new drugs developed every year.

22 Mar 2019

Study confirms sensitivity of microbiological cultures for detecting cholera

Recently, the sensitivity of fecal microbiological cultures for detecting cholera has come under question. Researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases investigated this claim using a ‘vaccine probe’ analysis of a completed cholera vaccine cluster randomized trial to support the sensitivity of conventional microbiological culture for cholera.

15 Mar 2019

Shorter treatment for Chagas disease found to be effective and safer than standard treatment

A two-week treatment course for adult patients with chronic Chagas disease showed, when compared to placebo, similar efficacy and significantly fewer side effects than the standard treatment duration of eight weeks, according to the results of a clinical trial in Bolivia led by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative.

14 Mar 2019

FIND launches new schistosomiasis program within neglected tropical diseases portfolio

The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics announced today the launch of a new schistosomiasis programme within its neglected tropical diseases portfolio.

14 Mar 2019

New sensing tool could aid in early detection of Dengue virus

Dr Paulo Rocha from the University of Bath's Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering is developing a low-cost integrative sensing tool for early detection of Dengue virus, using a novel platform containing electrical sensors to investigate the behavior of human cells infected with Dengue virus.

12 Mar 2019

Researchers unravel how the immune system responds to diffuse cutaneous leishmanisis

In diffuse cutaneous leishmanisis, a rare form of leishmaniasis, parasites grow uncontrolled in skin lesions across the body.

8 Mar 2019

New analysis highlights economic burden of dengue fever

Dengue fever is a major public health concern in many parts of South-East Asia and South America and its prevalence in Africa is thought to be expanding. Researchers have now conducted an analysis of the economic burden of dengue fever in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Cambodia.

4 Mar 2019

New 'electronic nose' is 95% accurate in identifying deadly disease

Fewer dogs in Brazil may be euthanized unnecessarily after researchers showed that a new test is 95% accurate in identifying the deadly disease Leishmaniasis.

1 Mar 2019

New WHO strategy aims to reduce the impact of snakebite

A new World Health Organization strategy aims to halve the impact of snakebite, which affects 5.4 million people globally each year, kills up to 138 000 and leaves 400 000 suffering permanent physical and psychological disabilities.

23 Feb 2019

Biologist uses new grant to find ways to eliminate schistosomiasis

A biologist at The University of Texas at Arlington is using a new grant to look for ways to finish off a disease that has stubbornly resisted all attempts to eradicate it.

22 Feb 2019

Study: IL10 receptor critical to prevent uncontrolled infection and gut damage

A new study has identified the master regulator that maintains a healthy gut and limits damage by parasitic whipworms.

1 Feb 2019

New drug for sleeping sickness approved in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Marketing authorization of fexinidazole for the treatment of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), more commonly known as sleeping sickness, has been granted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

31 Jan 2019

Combination therapy shows high efficacy in treating people with leishmaniasis and HIV

The results of clinical trials conducted in Ethiopia by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières, the University of Gondar, and Addis Ababa University, open the way for more effective and safer treatments for people with both HIV and visceral leishmaniasis, a group of patients who have historically suffered from poor treatment options.

18 Jan 2019

DZIF scientists reveal problems with available diagnostics for Zika and chikungunya virus

Millions of people have contracted Zika and chikungunya virus infections since the outbreaks that have been striking Latin America since 2013. Particularly Zika-related malformations in newborns warrant reliable diagnostics.

18 Jan 2019

New research detects mosquito known to transmit malaria for the first time in Ethiopia

A type of mosquito that transmits malaria has been detected in Ethiopia for the first time, and the discovery has implications for putting more people at risk for malaria in new regions, according to a study led by a Baylor University researcher.

16 Jan 2019

Researchers use gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to limit impact of parasitic diseases

For the first time, researchers at the George Washington University, together with colleagues at institutes in Thailand, Australia, the U.K. and the Netherlands, and more, have successfully used the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to limit the impact of parasitic worms responsible for schistosomiasis and for liver fluke infection, which can cause a diverse spectrum of human disease including bile duct cancer.