The current status of neglected tropical diseases in Japan: A scoping review.

Little attention has been paid to neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in high-income countries and no literature provides an overview of NTDs in Japan. This scoping review aims to synthesize the latest evidence and information to understand epidemiology of and public health response to NTDs in Japan. Using three academic databases, we retrieved articles that mentioned NTDs in Japan, written in English or Japanese, and published between 2010 and 2020. Websites of key public health institutions and medical societies were also explored. From these sources of information, we extracted data that were relevant to answering our research questions. Our findings revealed the transmission of alveolar echinococcosis, Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, dengue, foodborne trematodiases, mycetoma, scabies, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis as well as occurrence of snakebites within Japan. Other NTDs, such as chikungunya, cystic echinococcosis, cysticercosis, leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, rabies, and schistosomiasis, have been imported into the country. Government agencies tend to organize surveillance and control programs only for the NTDs targeted by the Infectious Disease Control Law, namely, echinococcosis, rabies, dengue, and chikungunya. At least one laboratory offers diagnostic testing for each NTD except for dracunculiasis, human African trypanosomiasis, onchocerciasis, and yaws. No medicine is approved for treatment of Chagas disease and fascioliasis and only off-label use drugs are available for cysticercosis, opisthorchiasis, human African trypanosomiasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and yaws. Based on these findings, we developed disease-specific recommendations. In addition, three policy issues are discussed, such as lack of legal frameworks to organize responses to some NTDs, overreliance on researchers to procure some NTD products, and unaffordability of unapproved NTD medicines. Japan should recognize the presence of NTDs within the country and need to address them as a national effort. The implications of our findings extend beyond Japan, emphasizing the need to study, recognize, and address NTDs even in high-income countries.

Current status of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, ten NTDs are prevalent, but only six namely LF, schistosomiasis, STH, food-borne trematodiases, rabies and leprosy are considered to be of public health importance. The 81 provinces in the country are endemic for at least one of these NTDs. Others may be endemic for two or even more of these diseases. Since 2000, after the Philippines accepted and implemented the WHO guidelines for NTDs prevention, control and elimination, significant progress has been achieved in reducing the magnitude of NTDs endemic in the country. Since 2009, out of 46 filariasis-endemic provinces, the number of provinces that has eliminated LF has progressively increased so that by 2015, 76% are already LF-free. By 2019, only four provinces remain endemic for LF. For schistosomiasis, as of 2012, report from the Department of Health (DOH) put the number of high endemic provinces at 10, moderately endemic at 6 and low to elimination levels at 12. For STH, results of the National Parasite Survey in the Philippines among school-aged children conducted in 2015 by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the research arm of the Philippine DOH, however, showed that the overall cumulative prevalence was 28.4% with a prevalence range between 7.1% and 67.4%. The figures are way above the <20% prevalence standard set by the World Health Organization. Control and prevention efforts for FBTs just gained traction with the call of WHO for elimination of NTDs in 2015. There is an urgent need to update information by an intensive national baseline survey that can validate previous data as well as generate new information on the magnitude of the FBT problem in the Philippines. For leprosy, elimination activities have been intensified in high prevalence areas and from 2009 to 2013, case detection and prevalence were sustained at <1.0 per 10,000 population. Rabies elimination activities have been effective that by 2011, only five regions out of 16 remained with the highest number of rabies cases. In a period of seven years from 2010 to 2017, the number of rabies-free provinces and municipalities increased from 3 to 49. Problems continue to hound the NTD programmes in the Philippines as priorities shift to more urgent health problems in a country that is weighed down not only by the triple burden of disease but serious health consequences of emergencies and disasters and the fast-growing population itself. Paradigm shifts are suggested to replace the traditional and conventional perspectives of control. These include change from disease approach to intervention approach to allow for integration of strategies targeting several NTDs and multisectoral, multidisciplinary approach requiring strong, viable and sustainable partnerships involving various agencies of the government, public and private sector, pharmaceuticals, academe, researchers, local government units and the endemic communities themselves.

Spectrum and burden of neglected tropical diseases observed in an infectious and tropical diseases unit in Florence, Italy (2000-2015).

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of acute and chronic conditions with distinct characteristics that thrive mainly among the poorest populations, almost exclusively in tropical countries. To evaluate the relevance and impact of NTDs in a temperate area, the number and features of patients diagnosed with NTDs at the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit (ITDU), Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy between 2000 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Overall 289 NTD cases were diagnosed in 283 subjects accounting for 2.4% of all patients accessing the center: 96 dengue, 62 schistosomiasis, 36 strongyloidiasis, 22 cystic echinococcosis, 19 Chagas disease, 14 leishmaniasis, 11 chikungunya, 10 cysticercosis, 6 soil-transmitted helminthiasis, 6 lymphatic filariasis, 3 trachoma, 2 onchocerciasis, and 2 leprosy. There was one fatal case of disseminated strongyloidiasis. According to the type of exposure, 145 (50.2%) NTDs were diagnosed in immigrants, 121 (41.9%) in travelers, 18 (6.3%) were autochthonous infections, while in 5 cases (1.7%), the type of exposure was unknown. The number of patients seen at the ITDU with a diagnosis of NTD increased over time (from 29 in 2000-2005 to 81 in 2006-2010, to 173 in 2011-2015). Late diagnosis and mismanagement before coming to the center were common features in several cases. Considering the increasing incidence and possible misdiagnosis of NTDs in non-endemic countries, to raise awareness about NTDs among health care providers seems to be of primary concern.

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are generally assumed to be concentrated in poor populations, but evidence on this remains scattered. We describe within-country socioeconomic inequalities in nine NTDs listed in the London Declaration for intensified control and/or elimination: lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), trachoma, Chagas' disease, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), leprosy, and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). METHODOLOGY: We conducted a systematic literature review, including publications between 2004-2013 found in Embase, Medline (OvidSP), Cochrane Central, Web of Science, Popline, Lilacs, and Scielo. We included publications in international peer-reviewed journals on studies concerning the top 20 countries in terms of the burden of the NTD under study. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We identified 5,516 publications, of which 93 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 59 papers reported substantial and statistically significant socioeconomic inequalities in NTD distribution, with higher odds of infection or disease among poor and less-educated people compared with better-off groups. The findings were mixed in 23 studies, and 11 studies showed no substantial or statistically significant inequality. Most information was available for STH, VL, schistosomiasis, and, to a lesser extent, for trachoma. For the other NTDs, evidence on their socioeconomic distribution was scarce. The magnitude of inequality varied, but often, the odds of infection or disease were twice as high among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups compared with better-off strata. Inequalities often took the form of a gradient, with higher odds of infection or disease each step down the socioeconomic hierarchy. Notwithstanding these inequalities, the prevalence of some NTDs was sometimes also high among better-off groups in some highly endemic areas. CONCLUSIONS: While recent evidence on socioeconomic inequalities is scarce for most individual NTDs, for some, there is considerable evidence of substantially higher odds of infection or disease among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. NTD control activities as proposed in the London Declaration, when set up in a way that they reach the most in need, will benefit the poorest populations in poor countries.

Genetic epidemiology of infectious disease

The genetic mechanisms involved in the variability of the human response to the infection of some organisms are critically reviewed. For leprosy and leishmaniasis there seems to exist no simple and general mechanism. The Mitsuda reaction, however, seems to be the most important phenotype measuring the human response to M. leprae. Several genes are known to affect the resistance/susceptibility to malaria. Studies on this disease should take into account all of this variability and be particularly cautious regarding the natural history of the population under study in order to establish the relative importance of given genes on a given population subject to a give epidemic. The sole parasitic disease that did not show discrepancies among studies is schistosomiasis, indicating the importance of a single additive gene that, ultimately, acts on the individualïs capacity to build and efficient eosinophilia. Future studies should focus on general mechanisms as well as on explanations of the existent disparities between studies.

Programa especial para investigación y adiestramiento en enfermedades tropicales (TDR) / Special programme in research and training in tropical diseases

A description of the six tropical diseases involved in the programme and the achierement of research goals are evaluated. The author points out the important accomplishment of these aims in the impact in the malaria and filiariasis control, in the elimination of leprosy and the future erradication of Chagas disease in the Americas. At the same time the relevance of the manpower training were imphasized in the strenghtening on the research infrastructure of the member countries

Patología regional argentina: enfermedades prevalentes y exóticas conminantes / Argentina regional pathology

Patologías por protozoarios: enfermedad de chagas; paludismo; leishmaniasis. Patologías por helmintos: hidatidosis; uncinariasis. Patologías por bacterias: brucelosis; lepra. Patologías por hongos: paracoccidioidomicosis; histoplasmosis. Patologías por virus: fiebre hemorrágica argentina. Patologías por intoxicaciones: hidroarsenicismo crónico regional endémico. Patologías exóticas conminantes: cólera; dengue; esquistosomiasis

Patología regional argentina: enfermedades prevalentes y exóticas conminantes / Argentina regional pathology

Patologías por protozoarios: enfermedad de chagas; paludismo; leishmaniasis. Patologías por helmintos: hidatidosis; uncinariasis. Patologías por bacterias: brucelosis; lepra. Patologías por hongos: paracoccidioidomicosis; histoplasmosis. Patologías por virus: fiebre hemorrágica argentina. Patologías por intoxicaciones: hidroarsenicismo crónico regional endémico. Patologías exóticas conminantes: cólera; dengue; esquistosomiasis

[The danger of infection and common medical pathology among adults in the Sahel. Niger as an example]. / Le péril infectieux et la pathologie médicale courante chez l'adulte, dans les régions sahéliennes. L'exemple du Niger.

In Niger, the infectious risk is of real concern in the field of the pathology of the adult, mainly caused by the major endemic diseases: Parasitic diseases such as malaria, bilharziasis, cutaneous leishmaniasis and recently visceral leishmaniasis, Bacterial diseases such as enterobacterial diseases, amibiasis, meningococcal diseases, tuberculosis, leprosy and treponematosis, Virus diseases such as arbovirus diseases and probably viral hepatitis. On the whole, the rate of occurrence and prevalence are not more significant than those in the neighbouring countries. On the other hand, diseases prevailing all over the world do not save the indigenous. Some recent hospital statistics demonstrate that the disease of the liver and the digestive system (28.8 pc), the respiratory diseases (16.49 pc), and the cardiovascular diseases (14.63 pc) are prevalent.

Health and disease in rural Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, among the world's poorest countries, suffers from a full spectrum of health problems. A plastic surgeon and a public health physician present their experiences in Sidamo province in the Rift Valley.