Latest Tropical diseases Stories
New research has revealed that immature malaria parasites are more resistant to treatment with key antimalarial drugs than older parasites, a finding that could lead to more effective treatments for a disease that kills one person every minute and is developing resistance to drugs at an alarming rate. University of Melbourne researchers have shown for the first time that malaria parasites (Plasmodium falciparum)in the early stages of development are more than 100 times less sensitive to...
Among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, intermittent preventive therapy for malaria with 3 or more doses of the drug regimen sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine was associated with a higher birth weight and lower risk of low birth weight than the current standard 2-dose regimen, according to a review and meta-analysis of previous studies published in the February 13 issue of JAMA. "Intermittent preventive therapy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine to control malaria during pregnancy is used in 37...
The disease's economic burden meets or exceeds that of rotavirus, Lyme disease and cervical cancer Today, The Lancet Infectious Diseases published a new report that examines the global economic burden of Chagas disease. In the first study of its kind, researchers measured the health and economic impact of Chagas disease and found that the total economic burden of Chagas disease matches or exceeds that of many more well-known diseases such as rotavirus, Lyme disease and cervical cancer....
An international collaboration of researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), Tunisia and France has demonstrated a high cure rate and remarkably few side effects in treating patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) with an investigational antibiotic cream. CL is a parasitic disease that causes disfiguring lesions, with 350 million people at risk worldwide and 1.5 million new cases annually, including U.S. military personnel serving abroad and the...
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC) will host its 2013 Annual Conference with state and national experts on hand to look at threats to public health and California's environment addressed by mosquito and vector control agencies across the state. Combating West Nile virus (WNV) remains a priority for public health officials. Based on statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
Fight against river blindness is successful and inexpensive A relatively inexpensive program set up to combat river blindness, an infectious disease, has resulted in major health improvements in Africa, shows a study conducted by Erasmus University Medical Center researchers. The study, due to be published January 31 in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows that US$250 million helped cure or prevent blindness, skin disease, severe itching, and other symptoms in millions of people. In...
The mosquitoes that spread dengue fever tap into the domestic networks of humans, along with their bloodstreams, finds a study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The data from Iquitos, Peru, shows that the trail of the most rapid transmission of human infections does not lead through large, public gathering places, as might be expected, but from house-to-house, as people visit nearby friends and relatives. “It’s common in a dengue fever...
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Republic of Germany announced today that it will contribute EUR 1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, enabling health workers to continue efforts to prevent and treat these three highly infectious diseases. The announcement was made by Dirk Niebel, Germany's Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development at a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, also attended by Bill...
Marking Progress in Advance of World Leprosy Day, Observed Jan. 27 SEATTLE and RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute), in conjunction with OrangeLife, a Brazilian diagnostic company, today announces the registration of a rapid diagnostic test for leprosy, offering new hope for early diagnosis and treatment. The test was registered through ANVISA, Brazil's regulatory authority. (Logo:...
EcoHealth Alliance Finds Evidence for Ebola Virus Infection in Fruit Bats in South Asia EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, released new research on Ebola virus in fruit bats in the peer reviewed journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases, a monthly publication by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found Ebola virus antibodies circulating in ~4% of the 276 bats scientists screened in Bangladesh. ...
Latest Tropical diseases Reference Libraries
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease with a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family. It is transmitted by the bite of female mosquitoes and is found in tropical and subtropical areas in South America and Africa, but not in Asia. Primates and a few kinds of mosquitoes are the only known hosts. The origin of the disease is most likely Africa. From there it was introduced to South America through the slave trade in the 16th century. There...
West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. It is part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses and is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It primarily infects birds but can infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, and other mammals. Humans are generally infected through the bites of mosquitoes and about 90% of West Nile Virus infections are without symptoms. The virion is 45-60 nm and covered with a relatively smooth protein surface. It is...
Marburg virus, or Marburg, is the standard name for the genus of viruses Marburgvirus which contains the species, Lake Victoria Marburgvirus. It causes Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever (MHF) which originated with primates. It originated in Africa and can infect humans and primates. It is in the same taxonomic family as Ebola and both are identical structurally although they elicit different antibodies. It was named after the location of the first outbreak in Marburg, Germany in 1967. The...
Lassa fever, first described in 1969 in Lassa, is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever. Clinical cases were known a decade before this but were not associated with this viral pathogen. It is endemic in West African countries and causes approximately 5,000 deaths. The Natal Multimammate Mouse is the primary animal host. The rodent is a source of protein but the virus is usually transmitted by the contact with the feces and urine of animals accessing grain stores in residences. The lassa virus...
Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), caused by the dengue virus, is among the spectrum of acute febrile tropical disease and is transmitted by mosquitoes. Occurring mainly in the tropics it can be life threatening and is caused by four closely related virus stereotypes of the genus Flavivirus. It was identified and named in 1779. It has a nickname of "breakbone fever" due to it causing sever generalized bodyache. It tends to be more prevalent in the urban districts of its range...
