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What are tropical infections?
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Tropical infections thrive in the hot and humid conditions of the tropics. They are caused by viruses, bacteria or parasites and spread via airborne transmission, sexual contact or contaminated food and water sources. Insects or other animals may serve as carriers of tropical infections through insect bites. Some viral tropical infections include dengue, yellow fever, rotavirus, AIDS, Ebola and Lassa fever. Some examples of bacterial tropical infections include cholera, Escherichia coli, tuberculosis and Hansen’s disease (leprosy).
Parasitic single-celled protozoa and worms are another source of tropical infections. Mosquitoes can pass a protozoa of the genus Plasmodia on to humans while feeding. The protozoa eat the host’s red blood cells in a disease called malaria, which infects 300 million people each year and kills one to three million. Other parasitic infections caused by protozoa include trypanosomiasis, and leishmaniasis. Schistosomiasis and filariasis are caused by microscopic worms that attack the human body.
Neglected tropical infections affect the poorest countries, including 149 countries and more than 1.4 billion people. They cost developing countries billions of dollars every year. These include:
- Buruli ulcer;
- Chagas’ disease;
- Cysticercosis;
- Dengue fever;
- Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease);
- Echinococcosis;
- Fascioliasis;
- Human African Trypanosomiasis (African Sleeping Sickness);
- Leishmaniasis;
- Leprosy (Hansen's disease);
- Lymphatic filariasis;
- Onchocerciasis;
- Rabies;
- Schistosomiasis;
- Soil-transmitted Helminths (Ascaris, hookworm, and whipworm);
- Trachoma; and
- Yaws.
Dracunculiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted Helminths and trachoma are now controlled or eliminated with mass drug administration.
The CDC and WHO have programs aimed at identifying the areas where these neglected tropical infections are most common. These programs were created to control and eliminate tropical diseases. In May 2009, President Barack Obama announced the United States Global Health Initiative — a government-funded program aimed at eliminating and controlling neglected tropical infections.
Additional information may be found at these websites:
http://www.who.int/topics/tropical_diseases/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ntd/
http://www.astmh.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Education/TropicalMedicineQA/Major_Tropical_Disea.htm