Illness from'Kissing Bug' Now Widespread in U.S.
Without early treatment, Chagas disease can cause heart failure
Source: HealthDay
Related MedlinePlus Page: Chagas Disease (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)
Source: MedlinePlus Health News - April 18, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Illness From'Kissing Bug' Now Widespread in U.S.
TUESDAY, April 18, 2017 -- It ' s spread by an insect that ' s often called the " kissing bug. " And now, the parasitic infection know as Chagas disease is prevalent in the United States, new research shows.
Investigators tested nearly 5,000 Latin... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - April 18, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Source Type: news
Chagas disease: The Brazilian forest bites back
Bugs that lost their natural habitat through deforestation in the Amazon region are spreading disease in human settlements (Source: FT.com - Drugs and Healthcare)
Source: FT.com - Drugs and Healthcare - April 18, 2017 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Disease Burden Growing as Vector Insects Adapt to Climate Change
Dry drains will reduce the numbers of mosquitoes breeding, but now the Aedes aegypti mosquito is going underground to breed underground in available water and flying to feed. Credit: Zadie Neufville/IPSBy Zadie NeufvilleKINGSTON, Jamaica, Apr 18 2017 (IPS)There were surprised gasps when University of the West Indies (UWI) Professor John Agard told journalists at an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in late November 2016 that mosquitoes were not only living longer, but were “breeding in septic tanks underground”.For many, it explained why months of fogging at the height of Zika and Chikungunya out...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - April 18, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Zadie Neufville Tags: Caribbean Climate Wire Climate Change Featured Headlines Health Latin America & the Caribbean Projects Water & Sanitation Chagas Disease Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) mosquitoes Zika Virus Source Type: news
First large-scale survey of Chagas disease in the United States confirms that the'silent killer' is a major public health challenge for the country
A study of almost 5,000 Latin American-born residents of Los Angeles County found that 1.24 percent tested positive for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that can cause life-threatening heart damage if not treated early. Chagas disease is one of the leading causes of heart failure in Latin America. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - April 13, 2017 Category: Science Source Type: news
First large-scale survey of Chagas disease in the United States confirms that the 'silent killer' is a major public health challenge for the country
(Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative) A study of almost 5,000 Latin American-born residents of Los Angeles County found that 1.24 percent tested positive for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that can cause life-threatening heart damage if not treated early. Chagas disease is one of the leading causes of heart failure in Latin America. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - April 13, 2017 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Negative regulator stops extreme immune response to parasite, averting multi-organ damage
(Osaka University) A new study from Osaka University identified a role for the BATF2 protein in negatively regulating the immune response to infection by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is responsible for Chagas disease. BATF2 was shown to inhibit production of the IL-23 cytokine, thus limiting immunopathology mediated by another cytokine, IL-17. This furthers understanding of the host response to parasitic infection, and is likely to be applicable to other immune disorders. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - April 3, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: news
[Report] Inhibitors of PEX14 disrupt protein import into glycosomes and kill Trypanosoma parasites
We report a way to selectively kill Trypanosoma by blocking glycosomal/peroxisomal import that depends on the PEX14-PEX5 protein-protein interaction. We developed small molecules that efficiently disrupt the PEX14-PEX5 interaction. This results in mislocalization of glycosomal enzymes, causing metabolic catastrophe, and it kills the parasite. High-resolution x-ray structures and nuclear magnetic resonance data enabled the efficient design of inhibitors with trypanocidal activities comparable to approved medications. These results identify PEX14 as an “Achilles’ heel” of the Trypanosoma suitable for the development of...
Source: ScienceNOW - March 31, 2017 Category: Science Authors: M. Dawidowski Source Type: news
Daiichi Sankyo announces collaborative research on drugs for neglected tropical diseases
Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (Daiichi Sankyo), announced that it has entered into a new joint research agreement with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) with regard to a new research program, the Hit-to-Lead Project, with the aim of developing drug treatments for two neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. (Source: World Pharma News)
Source: World Pharma News - March 30, 2017 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Featured Daiichi Sankyo Business and Industry Source Type: news
Scientists effectively disrupt communication between parasites that spread disease
A new intervention to tamper with parasites ' communication system may lead to the development of drugs to treat, and prevent the spread of, devastating diseases such as African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Chagas ' disease. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - March 9, 2017 Category: Science Source Type: news
Global Vector Control Response
World Health Organization. 12/05/2016 This five-page report describes the vector-borne diseases that pose a major threat to the health of societies around the world, including malaria, dengue, Zika virus, chikungunya, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis. It details the draft Global Vector Control Response 2017-2030, which aims to support countries in mounting coherent and coordinated efforts to counter the increasing burden and threat of vector-borne diseases. (PDF) (Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health)
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - January 26, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: The U.S. National Library of Medicine Source Type: news
Targets and patented drugs for chemotherapy of Chagas disease
(Bentham Science Publishers) Chagas disease is a parasitic infection typically spread by triatomine vectors, affecting millions of people all over Latin America. Existing chemotherapy is centered on benznidazole and nifurtimox, providing unsatisfactory results and substantial side effects. The transmission of the disease by people migration has determined the emergence as a public health problem elsewhere in non-endemic countries of the word. So, the finding of novel ways to challenge this neglected disease is a main priority. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - January 16, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
IDRI contributes to first point-of-care Chagas disease diagnostic for US
(Infectious Disease Research Institute) With Chagas disease becoming more prevalent in the United States, a diagnostic to quickly and easily detect infection is needed. Today, IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) announces that a fusion antigen it developed and patented is being used as part of a Chagas disease diagnostic test created by InBios and recently approved by the US Food& Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States. This marks the first point-of-care diagnostic test for Chagas disease available in the United States. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - January 12, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Ancient DNA reveals genetic legacy of pandemics in the Americas
Geneticists are exploring how disease introduced by European colonists shaped the evolution of indigenous peoples of the AmericasPrehistoric America was not a disease-free utopia.Tuberculosis, treponemal disease, Chagas disease, and many other pathogens were endemic to populations in different regions of the continent. But the“Columbian Exchange” beginning in 1492 introduced new pathogens to American populations, including smallpox, measles, influenza, and yellow fever. This introduction had devastating consequences for tribes. In some places, death from infectious disease resulted in thedepopulation of entire regions,...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - December 19, 2016 Category: Science Authors: Jennifer Raff Tags: Archaeology Science Genetics Biology Americas Epidemics Indigenous peoples Source Type: news
18 Diseases The World Has Turned Its Back On
This article is part HuffPost’s Project Zero campaign, a yearlong series on neglected tropical diseases and efforts to eliminate them.
More than 1 billion people on the planet suffer from illnesses that the world pays little attention to.
Neglected tropical diseases are a group of at least 18 diseases that primarily affect people living in poverty in tropical regions of the world and are virtually unknown elsewhere, according to the World Health Organization.
These are diseases like river blindness, which has infected 18 million people worldwide and caused blindness in 270,000 people; or...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - December 6, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
