tropical diseases

(Public Library of Science) A partial dose of a commonly used vaccine against meningitis may be as effective as a full dose, according to new research published Dec. 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Fractional dosing would enable large-scale vaccination campaigns during epidemics, especially at a time of global vaccine shortages.

(Public Library of Science) According to a new analysis published Sep. 24 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, neglected tropical diseases as a group may have surpassed HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as the most prevalent infectious diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean.

(Public Library of Science) Persons infected with schistosomes, and possibly other parasitic worm infections, may be more likely to become infected with HIV than persons without worm infections, according to a study published July 23 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Researchers found that the infectious dose of an HIV-like virus necessary to infect rhesus macaques was 17-fold lower in animals with acute schistosomiasis than in controls.

(Public Library of Science) An analysis published June 25 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases highlights that diseases very similar to those plaguing Africa, Asia, and Latin America are also occurring frequently among the poorest people in the United States, especially women and children.

These diseases -- the "neglected infections of poverty" -- are caused by chronic and debilitating parasitic, bacterial, and congenital infections.

(Public Library of Science) In an editorial in this month's PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the journal's Editor in Chief, Professor Peter Hotez (George Washington University and Sabin Vaccine Institute) proposes that a modest $1 airline or cruise ship tax or a tax on tourist entry could provide a funding mechanism for the Caribbean countries to control these NTDs.

The health effects of one strain of schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease common in developing countries, are seven to 46 times greater than previously estimated, according to new Brown University research.

The study findings, which appear in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, may have major implications for global health policy.