Schistosomiasis News and Research

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Schistosomiaisis is a disease caused by parasitic worms. You become infected when your skin comes in contact with contaminated freshwater in which certain types of snails that carry schistosomes are living. Schistosomiasis is not found in the United States, but more than 200 million people are infected worldwide.

Geographers map internal migration across three continents to help combat infectious diseases

Geographers at the University of Southampton have completed a large scale data and mapping project to track the flow of internal human migration in low and middle income countries.

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

Texas Biomed scientists receive $23 million NIH grant to develop AIDS vaccine

To support a coordinated, innovative approach to the development of an AIDS vaccine, Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientists, together with a multi-institutional coalition of experts from the United States and Europe, have received a grant for $23 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

22 Jul 2016

Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly comes to end after approving many new resolutions

The Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly closed today after approving new resolutions on WHO's Framework for Engagement with Non-State Actors; the Sustainable Development Goals; the International Health Regulations; tobacco control; road traffic deaths and injuries; nutrition; HIV, hepatitis and STIs; mycetoma; research and development; access to medicines and integrated health services.

31 May 2016

Innovative HIV vaccine candidate generates protection against repeated AIDS virus exposures

Mymetics Corporation, a pioneer in the research and development of virosome-based vaccines to prevent transmission of human infectious diseases across mucosal membranes, announced today that its innovative HIV vaccine candidate has shown to generate significant protection in groups of twelve female monkeys against repeated AIDS virus exposures during part of the preclinical study.

11 Apr 2016

Parasitic flatworm rejuvenates its skin to survive in human bloodstream

A parasitic flatworm that infects hundreds of millions of people in the developing world is able to survive in the bloodstream for decades by constantly renewing its skin - a mechanism that could inform potential new treatments against infection.

23 Mar 2016

TTUHSC researcher gets $3.82 million NIH grant to prepare Schistosomiasis Vaccine for clinical trials

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center researcher Afzal A. Siddiqui, Ph.D., a Grover E. Murray Distinguished Professor at the TTUHSC School of Medicine, received a $3.82 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

7 Jan 2016

Study reveals promising mechanism for attacking Ebola virus

In late December, nearly two years after the epidemic began, the World Health Organization has declared the African country of Guinea to be free of Ebola virus infections. But, the race to find a cure and therapies to combat the disease are forging ahead as officials warn that inattention could lead to another epidemic.

5 Jan 2016

Praziquantel treatment safe for pregnant women after first trimester

A study by Rhode Island Hospital researchers confirmed that a drug used to treat a disease afflicting millions of people in developing countries is safe to give pregnant women following their first trimester. The finding could prove critical to the care of pregnant women and lactating women with schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic worm, who were denied the drug out of concern for their health and the health of their fetuses.

28 Oct 2015

Study sheds light on current and potential treatment options for schistosomiasis

In a special free issue of Future Medicinal Chemistry, leading experts explore current and potential new treatment options for the deadly neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis.

28 Jul 2015

WHO/UNICEF: Lack of progress on water and sanitation threatens to undermine child survival, health benefits

Lack of progress on sanitation threatens to undermine the child survival and health benefits from gains in access to safe drinking water, warn WHO and UNICEF in a report tracking access to drinking water and sanitation against the Millennium Development Goals.

1 Jul 2015

GHIT Fund expands investments in leishmaniasis, diagnostic tests

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, which in the last two years has funded almost $32 million for innovative tools to tackle global infectious diseases, today announced additional investments of nearly $11 million that bring its portfolio to approximately $43 million.

22 May 2015

Orange announces D4D Challenge Senegal winners

This year’s D4D Challenge Senegal was launched under the patronage of the Senegalese Ministry of Higher Education and Research and ran from 2014 to April 2015. In conjunction with Sonatel and Orange, anonymised data samples were extracted from Sonatel’s mobile network, under the recommendations of the Commission des Données Personnelles of Senegal (Privacy Protection Commission), and made available to over 250 international research laboratories.

15 Apr 2015

Discovery opens door to possible new ways to break transmission cycle of schistosomiasis

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a group of genes in one species of snail that provide a natural resistance to the flatworm parasite that causes schistosomiasis, and opens the door to possible new drugs or ways to break the transmission cycle of this debilitating disease.

25 Mar 2015

Researchers assess effectiveness of point of care tests for detecting Schistosomiasis infections

Researchers from the Cochrane Infectious Disease Group, hosted at LSTM, have conducted an independent review to assess how well point of care tests detect Schistosoma infections in people living in endemic regions.

12 Mar 2015

Africa's under-five children at greater risk of developing parasitic disease

Children under five living in sub-Saharan Africa are at greater risk than older children of developing a long-term parasitic disease, research suggests.

6 Mar 2015

WHO urges affected countries to increase investment in tackling neglected tropical diseases

WHO urges affected countries to scale up their investment in tackling 17 neglected tropical diseases in order to improve the health and well-being of more than 1.5 billion people. This investment would represent as little as 0.1% of current domestic expenditure on health in affected low and middle income countries for the period 2015-2030.

19 Feb 2015

QDREC software may help find effective treatment for schistosomiasis

For decades, scientists around the world have worked to develop a treatment for schistosomiasis, a debilitating water-born parasite that affects more than 200 million people worldwide. To aid this research, Rahul Singh, professor of computer science at San Francisco State University, has developed software that solves the key challenge of quantitatively assessing the impact of a drug on the parasite.

14 Jan 2015

COUNTDOWN research consortium focuses on neglected tropical diseases

The COUNTDOWN research consortium has been launched today following a £7 million grant allocation from the UK Department for International Development earlier in the year.

18 Dec 2014

Absorption Systems supports Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium led by Merck KGaA

Absorption Systems, a leader in preclinical contract testing of drugs, biologics, and medical devices, announces that it has been subcontracted by the German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA to work on a new pediatric formulation of praziquantel.

7 Oct 2014