Tag Archives: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

NTDs in the Heart of Darkness

Africa, ,

 

congo2

Flick user Julien Harneis/ CC

We often hear about the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the news. The country has suffered from nearly two decades of violence, resulting in more than 5 million lives lost and hundreds of thousands of refugees. The toll that violence exacts on DRC is devastating, but there’s another major issue that is rarely discussed in the media.

DRC is home to some of the highest levels of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the world, as reported in a new editorial published today in PLoS NTDs.

The paper was authored by Dr. Anne Rimoin, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health, and Dr. Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. They write that “despite the public health importance of DRC’s NTDs, there is much more that we do not know than we do know about both the high prevalence NTDs and the emerging viruses in the Congo Basin.”

Noteworthy points include:

  • There is strong evidence that DRC has some of the highest levels of intestinal helminth infections, elephantiasis and schistosomiasis on the African continent.
  • The country bears the greatest number of cases of leprosy in Africa, and African sleeping sickness (human African trypanosimiasis) globally.
  • There are only minimal reported surveillance activities in DRC, a nation that is nearly the size of Western Europe.

Drs. Rimoin and Hotez call for improved disease surveillance to understand the total reach and severity of NTDs in DRC, which they argue is a crucial first step for providing treatment to those that need it and which is currently lacking there.

Check out the editorial here for a more detailed look at “Neglected Tropical Diseases in the Heart of Darkness” and an exploration of current and planned measures for their control.

Chagas Disease Has Now Gone Global

Latin America and the Caribbean, , , ,

Photo courtesy of CDC

Chagas disease was once confined to exotic places and areas of Latin America. The disease, however, has now ventured into the developing world via travel and immigration. A new paper published by the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases talks about how Chagas has spread from Latin America to other parts of the world, take a read:

“Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, was once thought to be an exotic disease, confined to endemic areas of Latin America and hence of little importance to anyone outside of these endemic regions, including most physicians and scientists. The impact of the lack of physician awareness and lack of scientific attention is undefined, but may contribute to the continued neglect of Chagas disease and the affected populations. Despite historical evidence and growing recognition of the spread of Chagas disease, the prevention and control of this disease outside of Latin America is only now being addressed.”

Read more…

Issuing a Call for Action: Emerging Nations and NTD Control

Global Development, Global Health, NTDs, Public Health, , , , ,

Summarized by Franciscka Lucien

In an editorial in the August edition of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute Dr. Peter Hotez calls for emerging market economies to join the US, UK, and Japan as partners in neglected tropical disease (NTD) control efforts. Entitled “Neglected Tropical Disease Control in the ‘Post-American World,’” Dr. Hotez states that the US and UK have already started commitments of up to US$100 million annually for NTD control — with plans to possibly double this amount by 2011 — while Japan has provided additional funding for global parasite control. Still, successful control of NTDs requires new financial support to complement current control and elimination efforts by the US, UK, and Japan. Emerging market economies must now join in the control efforts and share this commitment.

NTDs disable and debilitate 1.4 billion people worldwide living on $1.25 a day who are often the poorest of the poor. These parasitic, viral, and bacterial infections are devastating. NTDs disproportionately impact the emerging world and exacerbate poverty by impairing child development, maternal health, and productivity.

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