Tropical Disease Facts
 

Where are Tropical Diseases Occurring and How Do You Prevent Contracting Them?

The only vaccine that had been licensed in the United States for cholera has been discontinued because the risk for cholera to U.S. travelers has been so law as to make the benefit of receiving a vaccine questionable due to its brief immunity.

 
Cholera has spread from Indonesia through most of Asia and Eastern Europe and also Africa, North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula. There was an epidemic that began in Peru and quickly spread to other countries in the Western Hemisphere. There were almost 185,000 cases of cholera reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The only vaccine that had been licensed in the United States for cholera has been discontinued because the risk for cholera to U.S. travelers has been so law as to make the benefit of receiving a vaccine questionable due to its brief immunity. There are no countries requiring a vaccination to enter the country. If local authority requires a vaccine, then a single oral dose may be given to satisfy any local requirements. As a preventative those traveling to cholera- affected areas should avoid eating high-risk foods, such as fish and shellfish. Food that is safe to eat are those that are served hot and fruits and vegetables that are peeled by the traveler personally. Ice and beverages should be made from boiled or chlorinated water. Carbonated beverages are also safe to drink.

A viral disease that is mosquito-borne and appears similar to flu is yellow fever. You will only see yellow fever in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America. Africa has the majority of the reported cases of yellow fever. The main culprit behind the spread of yellow fever is vectors. Children and infants have the highest risk for infection. Forests areas of Bollivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are also high risk areas for yellow fever. Avoid known yellow fever areas and avoid being bitten by mosquitos and avoid vectors.

Malaria is perhaps the most well known of all the tropical diseases. It can be serious even fatal and is caused by a parasite. There are actually 4 kinds of malaria that can infect humans - Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae.

Tropical Veterinary Medicine

malariae. There are 100 countries and territories that malaria can be contracted. The largest areas of infection for malaria are Brasil, Central and South America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania. Malaria-infected mosquitoes cause malaria. Preventing infection requires that you avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and by taking prophylactics antimalaria preparation. Tropical Veterinary Medicine

There are 100 countries and territories that malaria can be contracted. The largest areas of infection for malaria are Brasil, Central and South America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania.

Malaria-infected mosquitoes cause malaria. Preventing infection requires that you avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and by taking prophylactics antimalaria preparation.

Mosquitoes are also responsible for transmitting dengue fever. The high risk times are seasonal especially shortly after and during the rainy season. The risk occurs in both rural and urban areas. Dengue fever happens only in endemic regions and as periodic epidemics.

Lymphatic filariasis is transmitted by adult worms. This disease affects approximately 120 million individuals in the tropical regions of the world, especially sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, southern Asia, the western Pacific islands, the northeastern coasts of South

and Central America and the Caribbean islands. Avoiding mosquitoes is how to prevent this disease and to avoid areas where infection is active.

Sand flies are responsible for the transmission of Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease. The skin sores that signal the disease appear within weeks or months after being bitten. The disease is prevalent in Bangladesh, Brasil, India, Nepal and Sudan. It occasionally shows up in northern Argentina, southern Texas in the U.S., northern Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Those who are out between dusk and dawn are at highest risk. To prevent Leishmaniasis wear protective clothing and use insect repellent. Placing permethrin on bed netting, window screens and clothing can deter sand flies.

 

Tropical Disease Dangers!


Warning: curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in /home/beturhel/public_html/tropical-disease/tropical-rss2html.php on line 149
01/07/2009
China experts score success against snail fever (AlertNet)
Source: Reuters HONG KONG, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chinese scientists appear to have found a formula to get rid of "snail fever", an age-old but neglected tropical disease plaguing more than 207 million of the ...

China experts score success against snail fever (AlertNet)

01/07/2009
China experts score success against snail fever (AlertNet)
Source: Reuters HONG KONG, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chinese scientists appear to have found a formula to get rid of "snail fever", an age-old but neglected tropical disease plaguing more than 207 million of the ...

China experts score success against snail fever (AlertNet)

01/07/2009
China experts score success against snail fever (AlertNet)
Source: Reuters HONG KONG, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chinese scientists appear to have found a formula to get rid of "snail fever", an age-old but neglected tropical disease plaguing more than 207 million of the ...

China experts score success against snail fever (AlertNet)

01/09/2009
Staying healthy this year (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
THE month of January symbolizes a new beginning. We usually start by making our New Year’s resolutions in which staying healthy should easily top our list.

Staying healthy this year (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

01/08/2009
UGA receives several million for tropical disease research (The Red and Black)
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave the University its first grant for medical research in December - a five-year, $18.7 million award - to study schistosomiasis, a worm infection prominent in Sub-Saharan Africa. The grant is the third largest in University history and the largest it has received from the Gates Foundation.

UGA receives several million for tropical disease research (The Red and Black)

01/08/2009
Smoking claimed 673,000 Chinese lives in 2005 (New Kerala)
London, January 8 : A multinational research team, led by scientists at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, has lent more force to the suggestion that smoking is a significant risk factor for mortality and disease.

Smoking claimed 673,000 Chinese lives in 2005 (New Kerala)

Better Your Health

 

What are Tropical Diseases
Are You Aware of the Neglected Tropical Diseases
Preventing Tropical Diseases
Prevention and Treatment for Common Tropical Diseases
The Six Neglected Tropical Diseases
Tropical Disease and Africa
Tropical Diseases in Brasil
What Every Traveler Should Know About Preventing Tropical Disease
What is Dengue Fever
Where are Tropical Diseases Occurring
Site Map