Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) may seem like faraway diseases in faraway places, but readers in the United States may be surprised to learn that many people grapple with these devastating diseases within our own borders. Not everyone is at risk of getting NTDs. These are diseases of poverty, and risk factors include inadequate housing and sanitation.
NTDs in Texas and neighboring Mexico are the subject of a paper coauthored by Sabin president Dr. Peter Hotez, which was published earlier this week in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The authors highlight the burden of NTDs in Texas and Mexico and call for increased surveillance, improved education for healthcare workers and new therapies to control the high rates of NTDs like Chagas disease, dengue fever, leishmaniasis and hookworm in the region. The paper also draws attention to new collaborations between The Carlos Slim Foundation, the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine, and the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, including a new tropical medicine clinic at Ben Taub Community Hospital in Houston. Continue reading