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.

Chagas disease could pose threat similar to other global pandemics, experts warn

"Researchers are warning that the little-known Chagas disease could pose a threat similar to other global pandemics," Fox News reports, noting Chagas disease "is a parasitic illness that is most commonly transmitted by the so-called 'kissing bugs,' a subfamily of blood-sucking insects, through the parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi" (5/31).

2 Jun 2012

Officials at 65th World Health Assembly adopt resolutions on broad range of health issues

"The 65th World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues," a WHO press release reports.

30 May 2012

Huffington Post series of opinion pieces examines NGO priorities for G8

The Huffington Post is running "a series of blogs by leading NGOs to call attention to a range of issues that should be raised at the G8 summit at Camp David in rural Maryland from May 18-19," according to the news service. The following summarizes some of the posts published this week.

18 May 2012

Biologists engineer algae to produce potential candidates for malarial vaccine

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria, an achievement that could pave the way for the development of an inexpensive way to protect billions of people from one of the world's most prevalent and debilitating diseases. Initial proof-of-principle experiments suggest that such a vaccine could prevent malaria transmission.

17 May 2012

Researchers barcode different strains of influenza virus and HRSV

Dr Julian Hiscox and Dr John Barr of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences are working with the Health Protection Agency Porton (HPA) to build a bank of molecular signatures that will help identify the severity of virus infection from characteristic changes seen in cells. Currently the team is barcoding different strains of influenza virus and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) - a virus associated with the onset of asthma in young children.

14 May 2012

Leishmaniasis vaccine trial begins in U.S., India

"A vaccine against one of the most neglected yet fatal tropical diseases is being tested for the first time in a clinical trial in India and the U.S.," IRIN reports. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), "also called kala-azar or black fever, infects an estimated half million persons or more annually," and "it is found most commonly in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil and Sudan," the news service notes.

10 May 2012

Blog examines fight against NTDs in Burundi

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog examines the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Burundi, writing, "In 2007, the Legatum Foundation, an international private investment organization that promotes sustainable development throughout the world agreed to fund the treatment of NTDs in Burundi and brought together several partners to assist Burundi's Ministry of Health."

8 May 2012

Chagas disease especially harmful for expectant mothers; New, better treatments needed

"Chagas disease -- a parasitic infection transmitted through an insect commonly known as the 'kissing bug' -- is one of the most common infections among pregnant women in the Western Hemisphere," Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and director of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

4 May 2012

Capitol Hill event highlights U.S. advancements in malaria science, technology

This post in Malaria No More's "Malaria Policy Center" blog reports on a two-part event held on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 25, World Malaria Day, titled, "U.S. Advancements in Science and Technology in Malaria: A Showcase of Domestic Research & Development to Save Lives and Keep Americans Safe."

30 Apr 2012

PLoS launches new collection on control, elimination of human helminthiases

"The April 2012 issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases features the launch of a new collection, 'A research agenda for the control and elimination of human helminthiases,'" the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog reports.

26 Apr 2012

Globe and Mail profiles former President Jimmy Carter, Carter Center's efforts to eradiacate guinea worm

The Globe and Mail profiles former President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center's decades-long efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease, also known as dracunculiasis. According to the newspaper, "In 2011, there were 1,060 cases of guinea worm disease identified in the world, in four countries," and "staff and volunteers from the Carter Center have visited every one of the 26,500 villages where guinea worm was identified" to provide education on prevention, as well as treatment.

25 Apr 2012

Honduras becomes first LAC country to launch national plan to combat NTDs

"A major milestone was achieved on April 12, when Honduras became the first country in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region to officially launch an integrated national plan to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)," the the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog reports.

20 Apr 2012

Strengthening collective voice, influence of biomedical researchers in global health field

In this post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog, guest blogger Jessica Taaffe, founder of Scientists for Global Health (SciGlo) and a postdoctoral fellow researching severe malaria immunopathogenesis at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, "discusses the importance of the biomedical community's contributions to improving health worldwide,"

18 Apr 2012

NTD experts push forward on plan to eradicate yaws

Yaws, a skin and bone disease caused by a treponematoses bacterium that can cause long-term deformities, "has recently been put on WHO's list of 17 so-called neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)" and, along with Guinea worm, is "slated for eradication," the Lancet reports.

16 Apr 2012

Dubai Cares makes $1M donation for deworming program in Angola

The philanthropic organization Dubai Cares has announced a $1 million donation to partner with The END Fund in the establishment "of a school-based deworming program that will treat children in Angola," according to the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' (NTD) "End the Neglect" blog.

12 Apr 2012

DNDi, AstraZeneca enter collaboration on drug-compound screening for NTDs

AstraZeneca and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) today announce an agreement to collaborate on drug-compound screening for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness, three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) which together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide.

12 Apr 2012

Shoes play vital role in protecting children's health, development

"As we have seen in our work in Haiti and around the world, shoes are a first level of defense when it comes to good health, and are a great complement to the Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Control program IMA World Health implements in Haiti," Rick Santos, president and CEO of IMA World Health, writes in the Huffington Post Blog, commemorating One Day Without Shoes, observed on Tuesday.

12 Apr 2012

Clemson researcher to continue African sleeping sickness study

Clemson University researcher James Morris received a $360,079 competitive renewal grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his study of Trypanosoma brucei, the single-celled parasite that causes African sleeping sickness.

3 Apr 2012

USAID NTD Program funding cut by nearly 25% in proposed FY13 budget

"The United States Government has played a major role in ensuring that patients with certain [neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)] receive urgently needed treatments through the [USAID] NTD Program, while simultaneously being the largest funder of basic research for NTDs through the National Institutes of Health,"

30 Mar 2012

Bringing together NTD and WASH sectors of public health

In this post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog, Stephanie Ogden -- a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and neglected tropical disease (NTD) consultant with Emory's Center for Global Safe Water, Children Without Worms, and the International Trachoma Initiative -- writes about a partnership among these organizations.

23 Mar 2012