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.

Sustainability of ongoing interventions key to successful schistosomiasis control

A decade after the conclusion of a schistosomiasis control program in Mali, prevalence of the disease had regressed to pre-intervention levels, according to a study published May 5 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

4 May 2009

Australia's Dengue risk driven by human adaptation to climate change

'Drought-proofing' Australia's urban regions by installing large domestic water tanks may enable the dengue mosquito Aedes aegypti to regain its foothold across the country and expand its range of possible infections, according to a new study published May 5 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

4 May 2009

Global health organizations are doing too little to support health system strengthening

Existing health systems in the developing world are fragile and many are unable to provide effective health services - and so there is growing consensus that the success of global health initiatives will depend on "health system strengthening" (a recent buzzword in global health).

30 Apr 2009

Malaria diagnostic tests differ in performance

The largest-ever independent, laboratory-based evaluation of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria has shown that some tests on the market perform exceptionally well in tropical temperatures and can detect even low parasite densities in blood samples, while other tests can detect parasites only at high densities.

26 Apr 2009

New insights into how to combat avian flu

An in-depth analysis of blood from patients recovering from the H5N1 avian influenza virus has provided important insights into how to combat the potentially lethal virus.

22 Apr 2009

New updated clinical guidelines for HIV-associated opportunistic infections

The first complete update in five years of the U.S. guidelines for preventing and treating HIV-associated opportunistic infections has been released by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in cooperation with the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

16 Apr 2009

Coartem tablets approved in U.S. to treat malaria

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Coartem tablets (artemether and lumefantrine) for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated malaria infections in adults and children weighing at least five kilograms (approximately 11 pounds).

8 Apr 2009

Intestinal parasites significantly reduce immune response to the cholera toxin

Cholera patients also infected with parasitic intestinal worms have a significantly reduced immune response to the cholera toxin, according to a report published March 31st in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Mar 2009

Community spread of trachoma could be stopped by treating all household members

All members of the household need to be treated for trachoma in order to prevent rapid re-infection, according to a new study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Mar 2009

River blindness under control in Escuintla, Guatemala

An international team of researchers led by Rodrigo Gonzalez of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala reports that the transmission of onchocerciasis or river blindness has been broken in Escuintla, Guatemala, one of the largest endemic areas in the Western Hemisphere to date to stop the transmission of the parasitic disease.

30 Mar 2009

Lethal risks associated with preparing dog meat

Eating dog meat is common in many Asian countries, but research conducted as part of the South East Asian Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Network has discovered a potentially lethal risk associated with preparing dog meat: rabies.

16 Mar 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

Sequella, Inc. drug compound SQ109 selected for phase 1B clinical trial program

Sequella, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on diseases of epidemic potential, announced today that SQ109, its lead drug candidate for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), was the first drug approved for evaluation in a newly awarded clinical program contract to Dynport Vaccine Company LLC and Quintiles Transnational.

6 Jan 2009

Remote sensing helps tackle tropical disease schistosomiasis in southern China

Scientists are looking to outer space for help in their attempt to prevent new outbreaks of the tropical disease schistosomiasis in southern China.

18 Dec 2008

Biomarkers in blood could aid diagnosis of two severe and debilitating forms of malaria

Canadian researchers have identified protein biomarkers that shed new light on the development of two severe and debilitating forms of malaria.

8 Dec 2008

Fractional dose of scarce meningitis vaccine may be effective in outbreak control

A partial dose of a commonly used vaccine against meningitis may be as effective as a full dose, according to new research published December 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

1 Dec 2008

New tuberculosis test reveals patients at risk

A recently introduced blood test can reveal which patients may develop active tuberculosis (TB) much more precisely than the 100-year old TB skin test, according to a new study published today in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

20 Oct 2008

Contact lenses are home to pathogenic amoebae

Contact lenses increase the risk of infection with pathogenic protozoa that can cause blindness. New research, published in the November issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology, shows that a high percentage of contact lens cases in Tenerife are contaminated with Acanthamoeba that cannot be killed by normal contact lens solution.

20 Oct 2008

Tribendimidine shows promise for intestinal worm infections

Researchers have reported positive results from a safety and efficacy study pertaining to tribendimidine, a broad-based treatment for intestinal worm infections.

14 Oct 2008

Free treatment program against Buruli ulcer in Cameroon not working

Researchers have found that the fight against Buruli ulcer, a tropical skin disease, has hit a bump in Central Cameroon. Even as organizations provide free-of charge hospitalization care, patients' economic and social costs are preventing and delaying the treatment. Their study results are published October 15 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

14 Oct 2008