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.

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

G8 nations commit $5B for maternal, child health; Additional $2.3B committed from other countries, foundations

G8 nations, plus other countries and private organizations, have committed at total of $7.3 billion to improve maternal and child health in the developing world, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday at the group's summit in Canada's Muskoka region, All Headline News reports (6/26).

29 Jun 2010

Foreign Policy examines GHI, PEPFAR

Foreign Policy examines reactions to the priorities set forth in President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative (GHI) and what they might mean for PEPFAR.

29 Jun 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

U.S. releases statement on Global Health Initiative

The U.S. government continues to lay the groundwork for efforts under the U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI), announcing the first round of "GHI Plus" countries, as well as the program's governance structure. GHI is a six-year, $63 billion initiative to help partner countries improve measurable health outcomes by strengthening health systems and building upon proven results. It places a particular focus on improving the health of women, newborns and children.

19 Jun 2010

Research on evolution of malaria parasite to develop improved control strategies

An international team, led by researchers at Imperial College London, have found that the potentially deadly tropical disease evolved alongside anatomically modern humans and moved with our ancestors as they migrated out of Africa around 60-80,000 years ago. The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

18 Jun 2010

Antwerp ITM calls for change in WHO guidelines on Buruli ulcer

Buruli ulcers, one of the 'neglected tropical diseases' left aside by big pharma and governments alike, are reasonably well treatable, also in poor regions. But then more attention has to be paid to early diagnosis and correct treatment. This means the rules of the World Health Organization urgently need to be changed. So say scientists of the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), based on ten years of research in Congo.

18 Jun 2010

USPTO awards Alnylam Notice of Allowance for patent covering methods of inhibiting expression of mutant genes

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded a Notice of Allowance for the "John et al." patent (Application No. 10/384,463), which covers methods of inhibiting mutant genes with double-stranded RNAs from 19 to 30 nucleotides in length.

18 Jun 2010

Capitol Hill briefing addresses neglected tropical diseases

At a Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) briefing, held in conjunction with the Congressional Malaria and NTD Caucus in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, "U.S. researchers, pharmaceutical companies and government officials [said] they are making progress in an effort to curb [NTDs], but that they need more money and outside help," VOA News.

14 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

LSTM designated WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence Synthesis for Infectious and Tropical Diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO), in consultation with the government of the United Kingdom, has designated the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence Synthesis for Infectious and Tropical Diseases.

11 Jun 2010

Anti-Dengue drug candidates demonstrate efficacy in preliminary cell culture studies

NanoViricides, Inc. reports that its anti-Dengue drug candidates demonstrated significant efficacy in the recently completed preliminary cell culture studies. The studies were performed in the laboratory of Dr. Eva Harris, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of California, Berkeley.

2 Jun 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Leading Edge article examines the history of the global efforts to control polio and the challenges associated with targets to globally eradicate the disease. "The eradication of polio seems imminent, but with so few cases, there is a temptation to think an acceptable level of infection has been achieved. Not so.

29 May 2010

Wall Street Journal examines GSK's open-source development for drug discovery plan

The Wall Street Journal examines GlaxoSmithKline's plan to share its database of compounds that could treat tropical diseases. The initiative will test how well "open-source principles work for developing new drugs," the newspaper reports.

28 May 2010

Research finding may offer future alternative to antibiotics

A team of scientists from government, academia and private industry has developed a novel treatment that protects mice from infection with the bacterium that causes tularemia, a highly infectious disease of rodents, sometimes transmitted to people, and also known as rabbit fever. In additional experiments with human immune cells, the treatment also demonstrated protection against three other types of disease-causing bacteria that, like the tularemia bacteria, occur naturally, can be highly virulent, and are considered possible agents of bioterrorism.

28 May 2010

EPO rules in favor of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ Kreutzer-Limmer '945 patent

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the Board of Appeals of the European Patent Office (EPO) has ruled that claims of the Kreutzer-Limmer '945 (EP 1214945) patent meet needed requirements under European patent law. The '945 patent comprises broad claims covering the length and certain structural requirements for siRNAs that are important for advancement of RNAi therapeutics.

20 May 2010

WHO Director-General pushes for sustained commitment to MDGs at World Health Assembly

During her opening address to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called for increased global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports. Chan also set-up several global health challenges to be addressed during the five-day meeting, according to the news service.

19 May 2010

Opinions: Gender-based violence and HIV; AIDS vaccine; Global NTDs; Responses to NYT HIV/AIDS articles

"Gender-based violence is a world-wide pandemic and directly affects the spread of HIV/AIDS. Fear of violence limits the ability of women and girls to choose their partners; to find out about a partner's HIV status or disclose their own; and to get medical or counseling services," according to a U.S. government editorial in VOA News.

19 May 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

As the 193 WHO member states gather at next week's World Health Assembly (WHA) "a draft global code of practice on the international recruitment of health personnel will be on the agenda. Negotiation and adoption of a WHO code of practice is an unprecedented opportunity to advance global consensus to address the critical challenges of migration of health workers and its effect on health systems worldwide," the authors of a Lancet Comment write.

15 May 2010

MIT, South Africa announce plans to join patent pool for 'neglected diseases'

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) will join the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases, Science|Business reports.

10 May 2010

Tropical Disease News and Research

Further Reading

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

G8 nations commit $5B for maternal, child health; Additional $2.3B committed from other countries, foundations

Foreign Policy examines GHI, PEPFAR

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

U.S. releases statement on Global Health Initiative

Research on evolution of malaria parasite to develop improved control strategies

Antwerp ITM calls for change in WHO guidelines on Buruli ulcer

USPTO awards Alnylam Notice of Allowance for patent covering methods of inhibiting expression of mutant genes

Capitol Hill briefing addresses neglected tropical diseases

Global Programme seeks to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis by 2020

LSTM designated WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence Synthesis for Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Anti-Dengue drug candidates demonstrate efficacy in preliminary cell culture studies

Recent releases in Global Health

Wall Street Journal examines GSK's open-source development for drug discovery plan

Research finding may offer future alternative to antibiotics

EPO rules in favor of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ Kreutzer-Limmer '945 patent

WHO Director-General pushes for sustained commitment to MDGs at World Health Assembly

Opinions: Gender-based violence and HIV; AIDS vaccine; Global NTDs; Responses to NYT HIV/AIDS articles

Recent releases in Global Health

MIT, South Africa announce plans to join patent pool for 'neglected diseases'

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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