Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Tropical Diseases News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/tropical_diseases/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170091.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170091.php In a session at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, experts discussed the tools required to eradicate the disease and highlighted insecticide and drug resistance in some parts of the world, Xinhua reports. Tropical Diseases Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170097.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170097.php Child Mortality In Kenya Still High, Survey Shows "The most current data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics under the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) launched on Wednesday shows mortality among children under five years stands at 7.4 percent, while that of infants is at 5.2 percent," Business Daily reports. Pediatrics / Children's Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170000.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170000.php Antigenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN) today indicated that GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) Phase III malaria vaccine clinical trial, containing Antigenics' QS-21 Stimulon® adjuvant, has enrolled more than 5,000 children to date and is expected to involve up to 16,000 children. The pivotal efficacy study of RTS,S, the world's most clinically advanced malaria vaccine, is ongoing in seven African countries. Tropical Diseases Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169957.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169957.php Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has reemerged as a global killer. Outbreaks typically occur once a year in Africa and Latin America. But in Bangladesh the epidemics occur twice a year - in the spring and again in the fall. Tropical Diseases Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169930.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169930.php The growing threat of the H1N1 pandemic and West Nile virus -- as well as other emerging zoonotic, food, or waterborne diseases and environmental changes -- has prompted experts to look for solutions to the increasingly integrated problems among animal, human, and environmental health. In turn, the nonprofit One Health Commission was created to develop a strategy for improved collaboration across human, animal, and ecosystem health sciences. Swine Flu Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169920.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169920.php Subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) under the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria (AMFm) program will be available in select countries "in two week's time," Tropical Diseases Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169810.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169810.php By 2031 developing countries could need an estimated $35 billion to fight HIV/AIDS - three times the amount currently spent, according to a Health Affairs study published Tuesday, the New York Times reports. HIV / AIDS Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169815.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169815.php Researchers Highlight 'Troubling Increase' In Breast Cancer In Developing Countries "International cancer specialists meet this week to plan an assault on a troubling increase of breast cancer in developing countries, where nearly two-thirds of women aren't diagnosed until it has spread through their bodies," the Associated Press reports. Breast Cancer Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169809.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169809.php On Tuesday at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, scientists and global health experts focused on malaria eradication, Agence France-Presse reports. "Key among the strategies ... is the development of an effective anti-malaria vaccine, a project scientists have been researching since the late 80s. ... Tropical Diseases Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169697.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169697.php Research firms in developing countries have a medicine cabinet full of affordable and innovative drugs, diagnostics and vaccines on shelves or in development to address "neglected tropical diseases" but need help to get such products to more potential users. Tropical Diseases Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169698.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169698.php Responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and tackling so-called neglected tropical diseases are the focus of the November/December 2009 edition of Health Affairs. The articles, by leading global health experts from around the world, show that although these challenges differ dramatically, rising to meet them could save millions of lives. HIV / AIDS Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169699.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169699.php A pivotal efficacy trial of RTS,S, the world's most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, is now underway in seven African countries: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The trial, which is expected to involve up to 16,000 children, is on schedule, with more than 5,000 children already enrolled, researchers announced Tuesday at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Malaria Conference. Tropical Diseases Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169711.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169711.php IVCC will showcase its new Malaria Decision Support System (MDSS) at the 5th Pan-African Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) conference in Nairobi, Kenya, 1-6 November 2009. A symposium a symposium to disseminate the latest advances in monitoring and evaluation of vector control programmes will also be held. Tropical Diseases Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169657.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169657.php Marking its tenth anniversary year, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) unveiled a new strategy that sets the stage for an aggressive push targeting the long-term goal of eliminating and eradicating malaria. Malaria is one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, killing nearly 900,000 people a year, most of them children in sub-Saharan Africa. Tropical Diseases Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169620.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169620.php The 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Conference "kicked off in Nairobi late Sunday with a call for substantial and sustained support for research to guide evidence-based policies and the development of new malaria tools, which together could save countless lives," Xinhua reports (11/2). Tropical Diseases Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169624.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169624.php Fistula Hospital Plan Is A Great Investment For American Foreign Aid In a New York Times opinion piece, columnist Nicholas Kristof examines a new plan to tackle obstetric fistula, "a childbirth injury, often suffered by a teenager in Africa or Asia whose pelvis is not fully grown. Women's Health / Gynecology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169623.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169623.php As part of its ongoing "Federal Player of the Week" series with the Partnership for Public Service, the Washington Post examines the role of Richard Greene, the head of USAID's Office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition in the Bureau of Global Health. Aid / Disasters Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169582.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169582.php ACTwatch, a research project led by PSI, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has released evidence that indicates that artemisinin combination therapy, the most effective medicines for treating malaria, continue to have a significantly low presence on the market among populations considered to be most at risk. Announcing the results at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Malaria Conference in Nairobi, Dr. Tropical Diseases Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169479.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169479.php WHAT: Although malaria has been controlled in many local and regional populations, the permanent elimination of malaria parasites throughout the world remains an elusive goal, and the disease continues to claim nearly one million lives each year. In 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates called for a renewed effort to eradicate malaria worldwide. Some skeptics have questioned the feasibility of doing so because of failed attempts to eradicate malaria in the 20th century. Tropical Diseases Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169284.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169284.php GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty said Wednesday the company would ensure that if an experimental malaria vaccine works, it would be priced reasonably, Reuters reports. "The vaccine, called Tropical Diseases Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169248.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169248.php Scientists at LSTM have developed a tool to support the development of appropriate age-based dosing regimens for malaria drugs. Weight-based dosing is challenging in many malaria endemic countries because access to formal health services is limited, functioning scales may be scarce and many treatments are given at home using antimalarials bought from shops and street vendors. In these settings, drug doses are calculated using a patient's age to estimate their body weight. Tropical Diseases Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169099.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169099.php Professor Albert Descoteaux's team at Centre INRS Institut Armand-Frappier has gained a better understanding of how the Leishmania donovani parasite manages to outsmart the human immune system and proliferate with impunity, causing visceral leishmaniasis, a chronic infection that is potentially fatal if left untreated. This scientific breakthrough was recently published in PLoS Pathogens. Some 350 million people live in areas where leishmaniasis can be contracted. Tropical Diseases Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169131.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169131.php As part of a "major push to convince the United States to maintain government spending on worldwide health initiatives, despite the financial crisis and a soaring U.S. budget deficit," the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is urging U.S. policymakers to commit to cutting "the number of child deaths each year, from 9 million to 5 million" by 2025, Pediatrics / Children's Health Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168968.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168968.php Bill and Melinda Gates are expected to ask Washington officials on Tuesday to "continue funding global health initiatives despite the recession and to commit to nearly halve the number of child deaths worldwide by 2025," the Washington Post reports. At a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation event in Washington, D.C., Bill Gates will address "members of Congress, the U.S. HIV / AIDS Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168975.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168975.php U.S. Grants Uganda $246M In Aid To Improve Agricultural, Health Systems The U.S. Embassy in Uganda announced a grant of $246 million in new aid for improving the Uganda's agricultural and health systems, Reuters reports. Water - Air Quality / Agriculture