In the News
An update on topics in the news related to tropical medicine and
global health.
April 2010
As part of their 3D (Defeating Diarrheal Disease), PATH (Program for
Appropriate Technology in Health) has established a new website with
useful tools. See:
www.deafeatdd.org
One of the malaria vaccines that is currently in a Phase 2 efficacy
trial for children, is safe for this group, which was established in a
Phase 1 trial. The vaccine, FMP2.1/AS02(A), was developed
collaboratively by the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research, and
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. This was reported in PLoS One.
Safety and Immunogenicity of an AMA1 Malaria Vaccine in
Malian Children: Results of a Phase 1 Randomized Controlled
Trial/Published in PLoS One
A team from the Centre for Immunology and Infection, University of York,
has demonstrated that receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, normally used
in chemotherapy for cancer, has demonstrated that one such drug may be
useful in visceral leishmaniasis.
See Dalton et al, Journal of Clinical Investigation 2010;
120(4):1204–1216
ProMED reports that there may be resistance to artemisinin based
therapy (ACT) along the Thai-Myanmar border.
A team from the University of Dundee, Scotland, has discovered a new
molecular target for trypanosomiasis therapy, as reported in Nature. A
TbNMT inhibitor showed high efficacy for curing T. brucei brucei in a
mouse model. Since current treatments for African Trypanosomiasis are
toxic, this could be a major breakthrough in treatment of this neglected
tropical disease if clinical trials demonstrate efficacy and safety in
humans. See:
Frearson et al., Nature 2010:464:728 (the April 1 edition).
The Nile in Egypt has been extensively studied to assess the risk of
schistosomiasis. A short article in Emerging Infectious Diseases has
documented the risk of developing a serologic conversion among kayakers
in fast moving water in the Upper Nile in Uganda. Based on a convenience
sample, nearly 20% of the participants in a competitive kayaking event
were seropositive. A similar percentage of kayakers had
self-administered praziquantel during the event, based upon local advice
to use prazinquantel prophylactically. See: http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/16/5/866.htm
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases recently published an article on the
estimation of combined helminthic infection when the prevalence of only
one species is known. It is feasible to do this using a probability
model.
Using the Prevalence of Individual Species of Intestinal
Nematode Worms to Estimate the Combined Prevalence of Any
Species/Published in PloS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Thirteen members of Congress have sent a letter to USAID urging the
agency to increase spending on the control of neglected tropical
diseases.
Members of Congress Urge Spending Boost for Neglected
Diseases/Published in Voice of America News
Investigators from SRI International described the development of a new
dipstick test for the detection of Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and
trypanosomiasis. The paper was presented at the annual meeting of the
American Chemical Society (ACS).
Three parasitic diseases diagnosed using a simple
“dipstick” method appears promising/Published on
Examiner.com
A recent study in PLoS One has concluded that beer consumption increases
activation and orientation of An. gambiae. Whether beer’s alcohol
content, or another constituent is a question for future research.
Beer Consumption Increases Human Attractiveness to
Malaria Mosquitoes/Published in PLoS One
The National Epidemiology Center in the Philippines estimates that the
incidence of dengue has increased by 52% in the past year.
Dengue prevalent this year – DoH/Published in
Manila Bulletin
An article in PNAS suggests that the reason that lupus is more common in
people of Asian or African descent is that a SNP in the FCR2GB gene is
partially protective against malaria, yet it increases susceptibility to
lupus. The minor allele is found most frequently in descendants from
Africa or Asia.
See http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/03/30/0915133107.full.pdf+html
January 2010
The Lancet has begun a series on “Neglected Tropical
Diseases.” It begins with an article by David Molyneaux in the
January 1st edition. There is also an audiocast by him.
Raising the Profile of Neglected Tropical
Diseases/Published in The Lancet
The Central Highlands of Kenya has been intensively studied over the
past two decades as a case study of the relationships between climate
change and malaria prevalence. Previous results have been mixed. A
study, funded by Britain’s Department for International
Development (DFID), conducted at the Kenyan Medical Institute, shows
that malaria incidence has increased sevenfold in the last decade.
Moreover, the study argues that the prevalence of malaria has increased
around and on Mt. Kenya and has put an additional 4 million people at
risk for malaria. This is based on the argument that whereas increases
in Kenya generally are due to a variety of factors, including
resistance, the only change on Mt. Kenya has been temperature
increase.
Climate
Change Raises Malaria Risk in Kenya/Published in Capital
News
Dr. Robert Snow and colleagues at the University of Oxford have
developed a geostatistical model that predicts with accuracy the
prevalence of malaria in small areas. The researchers also discuss the
utility of this model in malaria control efforts.
The Risks of Malaria Infection in Kenya in
2009/Published in BMC Infectious Diseases
A study from Imperial College, London, has identified a major
mechanism of sperm production, mating, and restorage in Anopheles
gambiae. This has led some to suggest that “intrusion” of
the mating process could interrupt anopheline reproduction, thereby
suggesting a possible method of limiting malaria transmission. The
moderator of ProMED, however, cites recent studies that do not
necessarily support the Imperial findings.
Transglutaminase-Mediated Semen Coagulation Controls
Sperm Storage in the Malaria Mosquito/Published in PLOS
Biology
Intrusion in mosquito mating could prevent malaria:
Study/Published in The MedGuru
A recent issue of the BMJ contains a review article on the
diagnosis and management of dengue.
Diagnosis and management of dengue/Published in
BMJ
A recent study in Infection and Immunity demonstrated that an
intranasal vaccine effectively blocks transmission of malaria in a
murine model using Plasmodium yoelii Pys25.
Malaria Ookinete Surface Protein-Based
Vaccination/Published in Infection and Immunity
The vaccine division of Sanofi Pasteur will soon begin a multicenter
trial of a dengue vaccine in Latin America. This will expand an earlier
study done in Peru.
Sanofi Pasteur to conduct further dengue vaccine
clinical studies/Published in Trading Markets
Previous work suggests that concomitant infection with
schistosomiasis and malaria decreases the likelihood of developing
cerebral malaria. A new study in the Malaria Journal
demonstrates that this is the case in a murine model.
Schistosoma mansoni infection reduces the
incidence of murine cerebral malaria/Published in Malaria
Journal
Computerworld reports that smartphones are being used in Uganda to
collect malaria surveillance data. They are then entered wirelessly into
a relational database.
Smartphones help collect data on malaria cases in remote
Uganda/Published in Computerworld
A recent upsurge in the number of travelers who contract leptospirosis
is of enough concern in travel medicine that a review of the whole topic
will be forthcoming in Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease.
A prepublication version of the paper is online at:
Leptospirosis: An emerging disease in
travellers/Published in Travel Medicine and Infectious
Disease
Active “pulsed” periodically surveillance for TB (one week
out of six months) in Harare has demonstrated that door to door visits
are less effective than visits to a mobile van. However, during the
study period, 41% of the smear positive TB cases in Harare were
identified by a community trial using either mobile vans or household
visits for one week every six months.
DetecTB study shows intensified case finding can reduce
burden of TB within community with high HIV prevalence/Published in
AIDSMap News
ASTMH members should be aware of a band called “Dengue
Fever” that combines hard rock with pop music from Cambodia. A
January 7 article in the San Francisco Chronicle portrays
the band.
Dengue Fever: Bringing Cambodian rock to
light/Published in San Francisco Chronicle
“The diagnosis and management of dengue” was published as a
review article in the November 19, 2009 issue of the BMJ.
Diagnosis and management of dengue/Published in
BMJ
The WHO reports that up that the lives of up to 8 million TB
patients have been saved since the introduction of the DOTS
strategy in 1994. The “Global Tuberculosis Report 2009
Update” is available for download at:
36 million people with TB cured/Published at the
WHO
Intermittent preventive treatment for chloroquine-resistant malaria in
infants, using sulfadoxine-pyremethamine is one strategy that has proven
effective in several settings. A paper in the latest Malaria
Journal, however, demonstrates that markers of resistance to this
medication have shown up in Mali only 1 year after instituting the
co-administration of vaccine and intermittent preventive treatment.
Molecular markers of resistance to
sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine one year after implementation of intermittent
preventive treatment of malaria in infants in Mali/Published in
Malaria Journal
Co-infection with helminths and P. falciparum has suggested
that the immune response to helminths may lower the incidence of
cerebral malaria. Using a mouse model and P. berghei, this
hypothesis of protective response has been further demonstrated.
Schistosoma mansoni infection reduces the
incidence of murine cerebral malaria/Published in Malaria
Journal
There have been 13 Ebola outbreaks that have been identified in Africa
since 1994. Between May and November, 2009, an outbreak involving at
least 260 people, with 186 known deaths too place in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Several articles have identified IgG and
Ebolavirus nucleotides in African Fruit Bats. The research team learned
that immediately prior to the outbreak, there was a massive migration of
these bats in the region affected in this outbreak. The index case had
contact with the blood of Fruit Bats that he purchased at a local market
shortly before the onset of symptoms. Putatively, therefore, the chain
of transmission may have begun with this species transfer, as reported
in Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases.
Human Ebola Outbreak Resulting from Direct Exposure to
Fruit Bats in Luebo, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2007/Published in
Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases
December 2009
The long awaited RTS,S vaccine for malaria, which is in phase III
clinical trials, will probably be ready for distribution in Africa by
2015. The vaccine efficacy so far has been 53 percent among
children in the clinical trial. So far, $500 million has been spent by
GlaxoSmithKline and PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health,
Seattle, WA), with joint funding from the Gates Foudation. The trials
are being conducted on 16,000 children of less than 18 months of age
in seven African countries.
Malaria
Vaccine for Africa Likely to be Distributed from 2015/Published in
the Times Online
New
Vaccine Offers Hope in Malaria's Battle/Published in the Associated
Press
We have long known that there is a “dual burden” of
infectious and chronic diseases in developing countries. Chronic
diseases now cause more deaths in low and middle income countries than
do infectious diseases.
The
Killers We Ignore/Published in Global Health
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced the results of
their third round of Grand Challenge grants. Of particular interest to
ASTMH members include a study to test the efficacy of scorpion venom as
a vaccine for malaria; the development of new and low cost diagnostics
for malaria in developing countries; development of a low cost, point of
care diagnostic tool using sputum samples; and the development of other
new diagnostics and treatment for malaria, as well as vaccines for
diarrhea caused by gram-negatives, and a bivalent vaccine for typhoid
and pneumococci.
Grand
Challenges Explorations Grants/Published on Grand Challenges in
Global Health
Updated November 12, 2009
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