Neglected Tropical Diseases: Infection, Modeling, and Control
- 1 February 2010
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Project MUSE in Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
- Vol. 21 (1), 53-69
- https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.0.0270
Abstract
We survey the current state of a group of parasitic and microbial diseases called the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). These diseases currently infect a billion people, primarily in socioeconomically depressed areas of the world, are a leading cause of worldwide disability, and are responsible for approximately 534,000 deaths per year. We focus on several subcategories: protozoans, helminthes and bacterial diseases. We identify the populations most at risk from these diseases, and outline symptoms and other disease burdens. We examine the progress being made in controlling NTDs, including the current state of drug development. We also examine mathematical modeling of NTDs. While mathematical modeling is not bound by many of the strictures of access, data collection and infrastructure funding, we nevertheless demonstrate that few NTDs have received much attention from mathematical models, and that some have received no attention at all. Simple mathematical models could contribute significantly to our understanding of these diseases and the efforts required to control them, at very little cost. Further investment in prevention, treatment and awareness of NTDs is urgently warranted.Keywords
This publication has 46 references indexed in Scilit:
- Mathematical epidemiology is not an oxymoronBMC Public Health, 2009
- Control of Neglected Tropical DiseasesThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2007
- Reconsidering the underestimated burden caused by neglected tropical diseasesTrends in Parasitology, 2006
- Incorporating a Rapid-Impact Package for Neglected Tropical Diseases with Programs for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and MalariaPLoS Medicine, 2006
- Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease) EradicationAdvances in Parasitology, 2006
- Perspectives on the basic reproductive ratioJournal of The Royal Society Interface, 2005
- Reassessment of the cost of chronic helmintic infection: a meta-analysis of disability-related outcomes in endemic schistosomiasisThe Lancet, 2005
- Mathematical modelling of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: incidental hosts and threshold conditions for infection persistenceActa Tropica, 2004
- Disability-adjusted life years: a critical reviewJournal of Health Economics, 1997
- The Logic of Visceral Leishmaniasis ControlThe American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1996