SciDev.Net

The neglected disease burden in Latin America and the Caribbean could be greater than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, say researchers.

Research shows that insecticide-treated netting can play a major role in slowing the spread of the bugs that carry Chagas disease.

Brazil will allocate public funds to promote research into diseases such as Chagas, dengue, leprosy and malaria, among others.

Migrating to or visiting urban centres with high dengue incidence is a prediction factor of infection for rural habitants, says a study.

Panama spent US$17 million to fight the 2005 dengue epidemic, an amount five times the budget of the country's main health centre.

Researchers have identified a new dengue virus genotype in Colombia, which could explain the increase of severe cases in the country.

A study has found evidence that Chagas disease affected people prior to the European arrival in Brazil.

The United States is set to debut a voucher scheme to encourage pharmaceutical companies to produce drugs for tropical diseases.

A more affordable cholera vaccine, based on a Vietnamese formulation, shows promising results in an Indian study.

According to a study, the mass media also fail to pay attention to neglected diseases, which affect one in each six people worldwide.

A large genetic variability, previously undetected, has been found in the vector responsible for Chagas disease, says a study.

The WHO has been urged to make significant changes to the way disease research is financed, to better focus on maladies affecting the poor.

Fighting initial outbreaks near lakes may help get cholera under control in the Democratic Republic of Congo, say scientists.

Researchers say they have the first evidence that the main drug treatment for Chagas disease can completely clear the parasite from hosts.

Lack of sanitation increase the risk of the bacterial infection Leptospirosis, a Brazilian study has found.

Scientists have successfully eliminated trachoma — the world's leading preventable cause of blindness — in a Tanzanian village.

Iranian scientists have found that a rapid diagnostic test for visceral leishmaniasis can discriminate between different forms of the disease.

Indian scientists have identified a protein that has an important influence on the parasite responsible for a severe form of leishmaniasis.

Researchers have found that a common antibiotic is most effective for eradicating a form of filariasis in South-East Asia.

Researchers have identified a compound that could potentially be used in treating schistosomiasis.