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.

Researchers identify gene used to recognize pathogens

Researchers have identified a gene in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito's DNA that is central to the insect's ability to defend against infectious pathogens, including Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

20 Jun 2006

Night blindness is a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease

"This is a new observation, a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease," said Levin, head of the Laboratory of the Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Levin and colleagues report their findings in the March 2006, issue of the FASEB Journal.

1 Mar 2006

Controlling neglected diseases will boost fight against HIV, TB and Malaria

Achieving success in the global fight against the "big three" diseases - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which together account for 5.6 million deaths a year - may well require a concurrent attack on the world’s most neglected tropical diseases, says a team of researchers in the international open access journal PLoS Medicine.

2 Feb 2006

New combination treatment that could dramatically shorten the length of tuberculosis treatment

The clinical results of a new combination treatment that could dramatically shorten the length of tuberculosis treatment were presented at a recent scientific conference in the USA. This virulent disease of the lungs still infects millions every year, with a notable resurgence in Europe, especially in the East.

10 Jan 2006

Polyphosphate speeds blood clotting and helps clots last longer

A serendipitous comparison prompted by an old scientific image and involving an ancient but understudied molecule may lead to a new treatment strategy for injuries or illnesses in which blood clotting is paramount to survival.

9 Jan 2006

New drug shows promise in fighting Tuberculosis (TB)

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined how a promising drug candidate attacks the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). Published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding may help scientists optimize the drug candidate, PA-824, which targets Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb).

28 Dec 2005

New drug shows promise in fighting Tuberculosis (TB)

28 Dec 2005

Tamiflu may not be as effective as hoped against bird flu

The stockpiles of bird flu drug Tamiflu, accumulated by governments around the world as the first line of defense against a flu pandemic, may prove to be useless.

22 Dec 2005

Tiny worms provide clues to new treatments for diabetes, asthma and hay fever

University of Edinburgh scientists, who have discovered that helminth parasites can exploit an 'Achilles heel' in our immune system, now hope to mimic the worms' survival tactics in a bid to beat infection.

7 Nov 2005

Harmless bacteria may provide natural protection against deadly MRSA

Can it be that the stress on the use of antiseptics and antibiotics in hospitals is actually putting patients at a greater risk of suffering fatal bacterial infection?

3 Nov 2005

Wellcome Trust awards £8.1 million to tackle tropical diseases

The Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest medical charities, has awarded £8.1 million over 5 years to a team of six scientists at the University of Dundee to help discover new drugs to treat some of the world’s most neglected tropical diseases.

25 Oct 2005

Tropical diseases such as sleeping sickness, schistosomiasis, river blindness, hookworm, elephantiasis, and blinding trachoma are being ignored

"The big three" infections AIDS, TB and malaria have caught the world's attention but other disabling and fatal infectious diseases in Africa are being ignored, say three eminent tropical disease researchers in the international health journal PLoS Medicine.

11 Oct 2005

Wet combing four times more effective than chemical treatments for head lice

Fine combing of wet hair is far more effective than current over the counter chemical treatments for eliminating head lice, shows research published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) today.

4 Aug 2005

What caused leprosy?

What caused leprosy - a widely dreaded disease in medieval Europe - to fade from the scene? By the 16th century, the scourge had practically disappeared there.

2 Aug 2005

Report highlights importance of research into diseases in developing countries

Better drugs and vaccines are needed to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria and other tropical diseases. Pharmaceutical research has typically focussed on developing drugs, vaccines and other interventions for diseases prevalent in developed countries, where people can afford to buy treatments; it has tended to overlook those disorders that predominantly affect developing countries.

30 Jun 2005

Vietnam reports another bird flu death

A death of a man from bird flu in Vietnam's Northern Province, has brought the total deaths in the country since late 2003 to 38.

23 May 2005

Bird flu pandemic a real possibilty

According to the the World Health Organization (WHO), the pattern of human bird flu infections in Vietnam suggests the H5N1 virus that causes the illness is evolving in ways that makes it more contagious.

18 May 2005

Simple drug has the potential to save many lives threatened by malaria

A simple drug, given to children with severe malaria before they reach hospital, has the potential to save many lives, say researchers in this week's BMJ.

10 Feb 2005

Malaria experts to unveil top-flight research during international conference

Some of the world’s leading authorities on tropical diseases and parasitic infections will gather for an international conference at The University of Nottingham to discuss the latest breakthroughs in research and treatments.

3 Feb 2005

Diagnosis of tuberculosis in young children can be confirmed by a straightforward sputum test

Diagnosis of tuberculosis is difficult in infants and young children and can be complicated by HIV infection. Heather Zar (School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa) and colleagues studied 250 children aged 1 month to 5 years who were admitted for suspected pulmonary tuberculosis in Cape Town. Sputum induction and gastric lavage were done on three consecutive days according to a standard procedure.

7 Jan 2005