Current Topics In Neglected Tropical Diseases

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is a diverse group of communicable diseases that prevail in tropical and subtropical conditions in 149 countries. NTDs affect more than one billion people and cost developing economies billions of dollars every year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), NTDs mainly affect populations living in poverty, without adequate sanitation, and in close contact with infectious vectors, domestic animals, and livestock. Migration, as well as climate change and variability, are key factors in NTD prevalence. Therefore, NTDs deserve more study. Recently, viruses transmitted by vectors (arboviruses) that affect not only people living in the tropics, but also travelers and migrating populations, have been causing epidemics. Examples of these viruses include Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika, Mayaro, and encephalitis viruses. These viruses emerge and reemerge in multiple regions of the world, as occurred in the Americas recently (2013-2017) with Chikungunya and Zika. This book aims to update the significant epidemiological and clinical research of NTDs in many aspects with a multinational perspective.

"The presence, or absence, of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) can be seen as a proxy for poverty and for the success of interventions aimed at reducing poverty. Today, coverage of the public-health interventions recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) against NTDs may be interpreted as a proxy for universal health coverage and shared prosperity - in short, a proxy for coverage against neglect. As the world's focus shifts from development to sustainable development, from poverty eradication to shared prosperity, and from disease-specific goals to universal health coverage, control of NTDs will assume an important role towards the target of achieving universal health coverage, including individual financial risk protection. Success in overcoming NTDs is a "litmus test" for universal health coverage against NTDs in endemic countries. The first WHO report on NTDs (2010) set the scene by presenting the evidence for how these interventions had produced results. The second report (2013) assessed the progress made in deploying them and detailed the obstacles to their implementation. This third report analyses for the first time the investments needed to achieve the scale up of implementation required to achieve the targets of the WHO Roadmap on NTDs and universal coverage against NTDs. INVESTING TO OVERCOME THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES presents an investment strategy for NTDs and analyses the specific investment case for prevention, control, elimination and eradication of 12 of the 17 NTDs. Such an analysis is justified following the adoption by the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly in 2013 of resolution WHA6612 on neglected tropical diseases, which called for sufficient and predictable funding to achieve the Roadmap's targets and sustain control efforts. The report cautions, however, that it is wise investment and not investment alone that will yield success. The report registers progress and challenges and signals those that lie ahead. Climate change is expected to increase the spread of several vector-borne NTDs, notably dengue, transmission of which is directly influenced by temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and climate variability primarily through their effects on the vector. Investments in vector-borne diseases will avoid the potentially catastrophic expenditures associated with their control. The presence of NTDs will thereby signal an early warning system for climate-sensitive diseases. The ultimate goal is to deliver enhanced and equitable interventions to the most marginalized populations in the context of a changing public-health and investment landscape to ensure that all peoples affected by NTDs have an opportunity to lead healthier and wealthier lives."--Publisher's description.

Tropical emerging diseases pose a significant risk for the circulation of old and new pathogens in areas previously unknown, also implying the possibility of new morbidities and mortalities and new consequences for naïve populations. Globalization, migration and travel are key factors for tropical diseases, and represent the need for integration of tropical medicine, travel medicine and epidemiology in the understanding of such complex situations. Neglected tropical diseases such as leprosy or Chagas disease, arboviral diseases, HIV, Ebola, and arenaviral infections are just a few examples. This book tries to update significant epidemiological and clinical research in many aspects with a multinational perspective.

Tropical emerging diseases pose a significant risk for the circulation of old and new pathogens in areas previously unknown, also implying the possibility of new morbidities and mortalities and new consequences for naïve populations. Globalization, migration and travel are key factors for tropical diseases, and represent the need for integration of tropical medicine, travel medicine and epidemiology in the understanding of such complex situations. Neglected tropical diseases such as leprosy or Chagas disease, arboviral diseases, HIV, Ebola, and arenaviral infections are just a few examples. This book tries to update significant epidemiological and clinical research in many aspects with a multinational perspective.

"One Health" is defined as an approach to achieve better health outcomes for humans, animals, and the environment through collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts. The One Health framework is increasingly being applied to the management, control, and even elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a set of infectious diseases that, collectively, affect more than one billion people across almost 150 countries. NTDs are some of the most common infections in the world; they cause substantial morbidity and mortality, particularly in regions with little access to medical care and other resources. Although there is increasing recognition of the major public health threat presented by NTDs, the ecological complexities of their transmission continue to pose challenges for their control and elimination. Some NTDs are zoonotic, meaning that they can be transmitted between humans and animals and, as such, present obstacles for public health and veterinary services in addition to concerns for wildlife conservation. Vector-borne NTDs necessitate measures that integrate consideration of the environment into public health strategies in order to sustainably reduce disease transmission. This book presents a collection of papers that explore various aspects of how the One Health concept is being applied to NTD control around the world, from genomics and diagnostic tools to improved surveillance and disease management. Encompassing research from Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, the collection emphasizes the diversity of NTDs as well as the critical importance of multisectoral collaboration for their control and elimination.

Over the past decade, global health has become a priority in U.S. foreign policy, and U.S. funding for related efforts has more than tripled. NTDs, an important focus of U.S. global health assist, may come under scrutiny as Congress debates spending levels for ongoing global health programs. NTDs are a group of 17 diseases found primarily among the poorest people in 149 countries. Some two billion people are at risk of contracting an NTD, of whom more than one billion people are afflicted with one or more. Contents of this report: Background; Prevalence; Control and Treatment Strategies; Advances in Tackling NTDs; U.S. Gov't. Responses to NTDs; Key Issues Related to NTD Control. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

This book provides an overview on the major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Leishmaniasis, Buruli Ulcer and Schistosomiasis. In well-structured chapters epidemiology and biology of these parasitic diseases will be discussed in detail. Further, diagnostics and therapeutic approaches as well as prevention strategies will be reviewed. The book will be of interest to basic researchers and clinicians engaged in infectious disease, tropical medicine, and parasitology, and a must-have for scientists specialized in the characteristics of the Sub-Saharan region.

This volume covers topics in infectious diseases in children and is intended for Pediatric Infectious Disease trainees, trainers, and all those who manage children with infections. There is a balance of clinical basic science. In response to numerous requests, additional tropical topics are covered in some depth. As in previous volumes, the emphasis is on hot topics of clinical relevance delivered by world class speakers.