Tropical disease
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WikiDoc Resources for Tropical disease |
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Most recent articles on Tropical disease Most cited articles on Tropical disease |
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US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Tropical disease NICE Guidance on Tropical disease
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Patient resources on Tropical disease Discussion groups on Tropical disease Patient Handouts on Tropical disease Directions to Hospitals Treating Tropical disease Risk calculators and risk factors for Tropical disease
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Tropical diseases are infectious diseases that either occur uniquely in tropical and subtropical regions (which is rare) or, more commonly, are either more widespread in the tropics or more difficult to prevent or control.
Since the advent of air travel, people more frequently visit these regions and contract many of these diseases, most notably malaria and hepatitis. Any nontropical condition however should never be overlooked in those returning from the tropics.
Diseases
The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) of the World Health Organization focuses on neglected infectious diseases that disproportionally affect poor and marginalized populations in developing regions of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. The current disease portfolio includes the following ten:
- African trypanosomiasis
- Dengue fever
- Leishmaniasis
- Malaria
- Schistosomiasis
- Tuberculosis
- Chagas disease
- Leprosy
- Lymphatic filariasis
- Onchocerciasis
Although leprosy and tuberculosis are not exclusively tropical diseases (they have occurred everywhere), their highest incidence in the tropics justify its inclusion. Cholera and yellow fever also fall into this category.
Some tropical diseases are very rare, but may occur in sudden epidemics, such as the Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Lassa fever and the Marburg virus. There are hundreds of different tropical diseases which are less known or rarer, but that, nonetheless, have importance for public health, such as:
- Oropouche virus
- Lobomycosis
- West Nile disease
- Lábrea fever
- Rocio disease
- Mapucho hemorrhagic fever
- Trachoma
- Guinea worm
- Chikungunya
- etc.
Relation of climate to tropical diseases
The proliferation of so-called "exotic" diseases in the tropics has long been noted both by travellers, explorers, etc., as well as by physicians. One obvious reason is that the hot climate present during all the year and the larger volume of rains directly affect the formation of breeding grounds, the larger number and variety of natural reservoirs and animal diseases that can be transmitted to humans (zoonosis), the largest number of possible insect vectors of diseases. It is possible also that higher temperatures may favour the replication of pathogenic agents both inside and outside biological organisms. Socio-economic factors may be also in operation, since most of the poorest nations of the world are in the tropics. Tropical countries like Brazil, which have improved their socio-economic situation and invested in hygiene, public health and the combat of transmissible diseases have achieved dramatic results in relation to the elimination or decrease of many endemic tropical diseases in their territory.
The greenhouse effect and the increasing global temperature of the atmosphere seem to be influencing the spread of tropical diseases and vectors to other latitudes that were previously spared them, such as the Southern United States, the Mediterran area, etc.
Further reading
Books
Journals
- American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Japanese Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Tropical Medicine and International Health
- The Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health
- Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
- Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
- Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
Websites
See also
External links
- WHO Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative
- WHO Tropical Disease Research homepage
- Tropical diseases from Maya Paradise, The Río Dulce, Guatemala Information Web Site
- American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Treating Tropical Diseases U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Travelers' Health - National Center for Infectious Diseases - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Professor Andrew Speilman, Harvard School of Tropical Medicine Freeview Malaria video by the Vega Science Trust.
- Rob Hutchingson, Entomolgoist, London School of Tropical Medicine, Mosquitoes Freeview 'Snapshot' video by the Vega Science Trust.
- Links to pictures of tropical diseases (Hardin MD/Univ of Iowa)
- Tropical Diseases Web Ring
- Tropicology Library. In Portuguese.
- Institute for Tropical Medicine - Antwerp - Belgium
- Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University - Bangkok - Thailand
- 'Conquest and Disease or Colonisation and Health', lecture by Professor Frank Cox on the history of tropical disease, given at Gresham College, 17th September 2007 (available for download as video and audio files, as well as a text file).