Marzieh Ghiasi

April 25^th is a rather interesting and historically eventful day. Today is DNA Day, commemorating the 1953 publication of James D. Watson and Francis Crick’s article elucidating the structure of DNA. Today is also the 7th anniversary of the completion of the ambitious Human Genome Project, which while in itself a monumental accomplishment, will be instrumental to the next great leap in the biological sciences.

Global malaria endemicity via Global Malaria Partnership.

World Malaria Day, takes place today in recognition of malaria, a preventable infection that is endemic to 109 countries, leading to as many as 250 million infections each year and one million deaths each year. As with the Neglected Tropical Diseases, which also put two billion at risk, those who are most likely to die from malaria are already the most vulnerable in world, their condition exacerbated by the social and economic burden of these diseases. As I posted in @ntds earlier today “No man is an island… we global advocates must work together to eradicate HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and Neglected Tropical Diseases.” I am an advocate of the vast yet concentrated efforts used to eradicate smallpox, but at the same time, I believe that today, given the knowledge and tools available, we are capable of a much more contextualized response. In my view, given the interplay between these four diseases, tackling one without a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to tackle the others is akin to containing a leaking dam with a finger. It’s not going to be effective over the long term.

I love examining how great transformations occur, and I think in order to eradicate the the ‘Big Four’ infectious diseases that scourge our world, we need a great transformation in how we approach these infections, integrated strategies (as advocated by GNNTD) and revolutionary thinking.

Continue to part 2 »

As posted in Neglected Tropical Diseases Society

• Josh Ruxin, an assistant clinical professor of public health at Columbia, describes “The Best Buy in Public Health” or the strong potential to make real change with modest investments in the NTDs.
• Thomas Pogge, Professor of Philosophy & International Affairs at Yale University, and Philip Hedger, executive managing director of international affairs at Pfizer, debate approaches to creating incentives and stimulating innovation in the pharmaceutical industry to address health of impoverished populations.
• A recent publication in the PLoS suggests that rise in global temperatures may lead to the emergence of more tick-borne pathogens and tick-borne epidemics.
• Highlighting the critical role of the internet in dealing with international health issues, Scandinavian scientists have developed a web-base diagnostic tool which allows for observation of thousands of parasitic specimens using geospatial system imaging platforms. Web-based tools have great potential not just for global access to better diagnostic tools, but for more timely epidemiological information, as displayed by Google’s Flu Trends.

As posted in Neglected Tropical Diseases Society

Science Daily reports of a recent study in the PLoS showing that almost 7 million pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with hookworms and at risk for anemia. According to the study, completed through systemic investigation of literature, 37.7 million women in the region, and millions more in Asia and South America, remain infected with hookworms due to poor antihelminthic treatment options.

The research corroborates a strong link between blood loss due to intestinal hookworm infections and low hemoglobin levels. Anemia can lead to poor health conditions in mothers and maternal death and can slow fetal growth and development, leading to low birth-weight which is associated with infant morality.

Commenting on the impact of this study, the leading author, Simon Brooker of KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Collaborative Programme in Nairobi, Kenya told SciDev “We hope this will prompt the WHO, international agencies and national governments to further consider deworming in maternal health packages”.

As posted in Neglected Tropical Diseases Society

The New Scientist reports of a recently released publication by Chenin et al. suggesting that parasitic infections in co-endemic regions may account for the greater rates of HIV-1 infections in these regions.

“Evan Secor of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleagues infected macaques with schistosomes, parasitic worms that infect millions of people in Africa each year. Infected and uninfected macaques were injected with simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) via the rectum. Only about 1/20th the amount of virus was needed to cause SHIV infection in monkeys with worms compared with those without the parasite.”

This follows earlier reports (Hotez et al., 2006) which have suggested that immune systems compromised by tropical infections may lead to increased susceptibility to other infections and create a breeding ground for new epidemics. Both articles note, however, that despite the significant epidemiological overlap between the NTDs and HIV/AIDs, malaria and TB, these links have been largely overlooked. A quick survey of literature attests to that.

Article #2, finally– the fruit of our collective effort!

http://www.mcgilldaily.com/view.php?aid=6776
Also featured on: http://www.ntdsociety.com/among-the-neglected/

Among the Neglected
By Marzieh Ghiasi and Hannah Thomas
Thursday, November 29th, 2007

Marzieh Ghiasi and Hannah Thomas explore the chasm between the enormous human cost of Neglected Tropical Diseases and funding for research and drugs

“The parasite gets inside the nose and it completely destroys the face.”

Professor Greg Matleshweski, a parasitology expert, is describing the fate of 12 million people afflicted with Leishmaniasis, a highly prevalent condition in parts of South America. “When you have that kind of affliction you can’t function in society. You are outcasts, really lepers.”

Leishmaniasis is just one of 14 infections known as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Sometimes called the “biblical diseases,” or the “diseases of poverty,” they have persisted for centuries. Along with HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, NTDs pose a huge challenge to global health – but because they almost exclusively affect the world’s poorest, their plight has been neglected in public discussion, investment, and research.

NT-What?

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of NTDs includes leprosy, elephantiasis, Chagas disease, cholera, dengue, and sleeping sickness. Categorized as viral, bacterial, or helminthic, they thrive in regions far beyond the tropics.

According to the WHO’s numbers, one billion people are afflicted, 2.7 billion are at risk, and between 500,000 and one million die each year of NTDs. If a 670-person classroom were a microcosm of the world, these diseases would plague 100 people.
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