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.

Parasitic flatworm schistosomiasis much more debilitating than previously thought

In a new study, published March 5 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers calculate that the impact of symptoms associated with schistosomiasis japonica is 7 to 46 times greater than current global estimates.

6 Mar 2008

New malaria drug also treats toxoplasmosis

A new drug that will soon enter clinical trials for treatment of malaria also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine in the current gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a related parasite that infects nearly one-third of all humans—more than two billion people worldwide.

6 Mar 2008

Young children bear the brunt of cholera

A new study of the burden of cholera in three impoverished regions of the world, published February 20 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, found that young children bear the brunt of the disease.

20 Feb 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

Columbus brought syphilis to Europe

Did Columbus and his men introduce the syphilis pathogen into Renaissance Europe after contracting it during their voyage to the New World?

15 Jan 2008

New way to screen for chagas disease in children

A new targeted screening strategy could make the diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease more feasible in low-resource settings, concludes a new study, publishing on December 26, 2007, in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

28 Dec 2007

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

Does treating worms in people with HIV slow progression to AIDS?

Of the 25 million people infected with HIV-1 in Africa, as many as half are thought to be co-infected with worms (helminths), and there is evidence that these worms may result in a more rapid progression of HIV infection to AIDS.

20 Dec 2007

Dengue fever health education is "insufficient, under-funded, and irregular" in Cambodia

Health education regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of dengue fever is "insufficient, under-funded, and irregular" in Cambodia, according to a new study published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

5 Dec 2007

Lymphatic filariasis causes devastating social and economic losses

Sri Lankans infected with lymphatic filariasis (also known as elephantiasis) experience severe loss of income, social isolation, and devastating stigma resulting in emotional distress, delayed diagnosis, and avoidance of treatment.

22 Nov 2007

Novel approach to discovering drugs for Chagas disease

Mexican researchers highlight a novel approach to discovering drugs for Chagas disease in a laboratory study reported in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

31 Oct 2007

Potential new drugs for tropical disease leishmaniasis

The fight against the deadly tropical disease Leishmaniasis, also known as black fever, has been boosted by scientists at the University of Durham, whose new screening system has raised the possibility of new, safer drugs.

3 Oct 2007

New understanding of tropical disease schistosomiasis

Researchers have provided new details about the inner workings of a parasitic worm that causes a tropical disease called schistosomiasis, which leads to itchy skin, fever, chills, muscle aches, and liver disease that, in some cases, can be fatal.

13 Sep 2007

Ivermectin is causing genetic selection in river blindness parasite

Ivermectin, the standard drug for treating river blindness (onchocerciasis), is causing genetic changes in the parasite that causes the disease, according to a new study by Roger Prichard (McGill University, Canada) and colleagues, published on August 30, 2007 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Aug 2007

Mummies provide clues to combat hepatitis B

Mummies that have recently been unearthed in South Korea may provide clues on how to combat hepatitis B, according to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

26 Jul 2007

Warning on Chikungunya virus

Fever, arthritis, and other symptoms occurring in people to who have recently traveled to islands in the Indian Ocean may signal infection with an imported virus called "chikungunya," reports a study in the May/June issue of the journal Medicine, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

9 Jul 2007

Elimination of Chagas disease by 2010

A new effort to eliminate Chagas disease by 2010 will be launched tomorrow at a WHO meeting of disease experts and partners.

3 Jul 2007

WHO-based tropical disease research programme to focus on emerging diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) based Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) has adopted a new strategy for strengthening and expanding research to prevent and control 'infectious diseases of poverty.'

22 Jun 2007

Vietnam on alert after latest human bird flu death

Authorities in Vietnam have confirmed the death of a man from bird flu, the country's 43rd victim of the deadly virus.

18 Jun 2007

Human antibodies protect mice from H5N1 avian influenza

An international team of scientists, including researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), report using antibodies derived from immune cells from recent human survivors of H5N1 avian influenza to successfully treat H5N1-infected mice as well as protect them from an otherwise lethal dose of the virus.

30 May 2007