Lymphatic Filariasis News and Research

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Lymphatic filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by microscopic, thread-like worms. The adult worms only live in the human lymph system. The lymph system maintains the body's fluid balance and fights infections. Lymphatic filariasis is spread from person to person by mosquitoes.

People with the disease can suffer from lymphedema and elephantiasis and in men, swelling of the scrotum, called hydrocele. Lymphatic filariasis is a leading cause of permanent disability worldwide. Communities frequently shun and reject women and men disfigured by the disease. Affected people frequently are unable to work because of their disability, and this harms their families and their communities.

MMV joins Pool for Open Innovation against neglected tropical diseases

The Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) today became the first product development partnership (PDP) to contribute intellectual property to the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases. MMV joins GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in contributing to the Pool, which is administered by BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH).

17 Aug 2010

Community-based lymphatic filariasis education increases treatment compliance up to 90%: Study

Community-based lymphatic filariasis education in Orissa State, India, increased treatment compliance from around 50% to up to 90%, according to a study published June 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. In their study, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with the Church's Auxiliary for Social Action, an India-based non-governmental organization, and IMA World Health, a US-based non-governmental organization, identified barriers to compliance with India's MDA program for LF, and suggest that timely educational and lymphedema management programs can reverse this trend.

1 Jul 2010

Merck proposes to initiate Phase II proof-of-concept clinical study of posaconazole for chronic Chagas disease

Merck today announced plans to initiate a Phase II investigational proof-of-concept clinical study to evaluate its oral antifungal agent posaconazole for the treatment of chronic Chagas disease. Chagas disease results from infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is spread by biting insects. The disease is estimated to affect approximately eight million people in Latin America, of whom approximately 30-40 percent will develop serious cardiac disease, digestive disease, or both as a result of this infection.

24 Jun 2010

Global Programme seeks to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis by 2020

Representatives from more than 50 countries attended the Sixth Meeting of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF) in Seoul last week, to review the progress of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (Global Programme), which seeks to eliminate the disease by 2020.

14 Jun 2010

GSK's 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report published online

In its 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report published online today, GSK reiterated its commitment to running its business responsibly and to making the company more responsive, more flexible and more open to the expectations of society.

19 Mar 2010

GSK to offer flexible drug pricing in middle-income countries

Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) "plans to bolster earnings by selling to more people in middle-income countries after cutting prices in the world's poorest nations," Bloomberg/BusinessWeek reports.

11 Mar 2010

Free online training Webinars to prepare nurses for continued relief efforts in Haiti launched

While disaster response is a highly technical and sensitive effort, the most qualified of disaster professionals require additional education or real-life experience to ensure that help is delivered effectively, safely and efficiently. To assist nursing professionals volunteering their services in Haiti, Chamberlain College of Nursing in cooperation with the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future, will provide free online training Webinars hosted on the Gannett Healthcare Group's newly launched Haiti Web page to prepare nurses physically, mentally and culturally for the continued relief efforts.

6 Mar 2010

Elephantiasis and river blindness: MSU researcher receives $2M for reformulating flubendazole

In an effort to eliminate the tropical diseases elephantiasis and river blindness, a Michigan State University researcher has been awarded $2 million to reformulate an existing drug that could stop the debilitating diseases in their tracks.

5 Feb 2010

More details on Obama's global health strategy expected along with budget release, Wall Street Journal reports

"The Obama administration is expected to propose in its fiscal 2011 budget Monday new funding to combat preventable and tropical diseases, malnutrition and other conditions afflicting the world's poor, as part of a strategy to broaden its approach to global health," the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Feb 2010

Global health community to be engaged in using resources of GSK and Alnylam IP Pool

BIO Ventures for Global Health, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Alnylam announced today that the organizations are partnering to engage the global health community in using the powerful resources of the GSK and Alnylam Intellectual Property (IP) Pool.

21 Jan 2010

UK DFID awards CNTD £10M in elimination of elephantiasis initiative

The Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases (CNTD) at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has been awarded £10 million by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to support endemic countries in tackling lymphatic filariasis (LF) - a crippling disease more commonly known as elephantiasis.

3 Dec 2009

Haiti, Dominican Republic leaders aim to eradicate malaria, lymphatic filariasis by 2020, funding unclear

Leaders from Haiti and the Dominican Republic "agreed Thursday to cooperate in a campaign aimed at eradicating the last vestiges of malaria from the islands of the Caribbean by 2020," but funding sources for the estimated $250 million effort are "uncertain," the Associated Press reports.

9 Oct 2009

Clinton Global Initiative to raise awareness and funding for NTD control and elimination

At the Clinton Global Initiative today, the Inter-American Development Bank joined with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases to announce their commitment to mobilize $30 million from the public and private sectors to raise awareness and funding for NTD control and elimination in the Americas, supported by technical assistance from the Pan American Health Organization, regional office of the World Health Organization for the Americas.

24 Sep 2009

DNA "barcodes" used to map mosquito species in West Africa that spread lymphatic filariasis

New biotechnologies that allow scientists to quickly and accurately distinguish species based on a simple DNA analysis are being creatively deployed for the first time in the war against a major global disease.

29 Apr 2009

Waging war on tropical diseases may be key to U.S. foreign policy

Stating that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) not only promote poverty but also destabilize communities, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Sabin Vaccine Institute President Peter Hotez call upon the public-health and foreign-policy communities to embrace medical diplomacy and NTD control as a means to combat terrorism in an article published January 27 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

27 Jan 2009

Mosquitoes smell DEET and stay away

Spray yourself with a DEET-based insect repellent and the mosquitoes will leave you alone. But why? They flee because of their intense dislike for the smell of the chemical repellent and not because DEET jams their sense of smell, report researchers at the University of California, Davis.

18 Aug 2008

More attention to neglected tropical diseases

An opportunity to contribute to a major initiative to alleviate poverty in the world's poorest populations.

28 May 2008

Doxycycline effective against filariasis in Southeast Asia

Doxycycline alone is more effective against the most common form of filariasis in Southeast Asia than the standard treatment, with significantly fewer side effects, according to a new study published in the May 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and currently available online.

10 Apr 2008

Study paves way for mass co-delivery of three antiparasitic drugs

Findings from a new study in Zanzibar, published January 23 in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, pave the way for the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend the mass co-delivery of three anti-parasitic drugs for the first time.

24 Jan 2008

Neglected tropical diseases, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis and schistosomiasis

Though little known to most Americans, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis and other so-called neglected tropical diseases are responsible for severe health burdens, especially among the world's poorest people.

28 Dec 2007