Synomyms: bilharzia, bilharziosis, snail fever. It is due to an infection by a trematode (flatworm or fluke) of the Schistosomia family. It is a disease frequent in Africa, Asia and South America where lakes containing freshwater snails are present. Children playing in the water are the first victims. Symptoms and signs of this infection are…
It is due to a protist (parasites) and transmitted by the Tsetse fly (also Mother-to child transmission and blood transfusions) . Around 60000 individuals (mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa) are infected. Treatment is available. There are two stages called the haemolymphatic and the neurological phase. The haemolymphatic phase is characterized by fever, headache, joint pain and…
Synonyms: Chagas Disease, Portugueuse (Português): doença de Chagas, barbeiro. Spanish (Español): enfermedad de Chagas-Mazza, mal de Chagas, vinchuca, pito, chinche, chipo, chupança, chinchorro. Also called Chagas’s disease, it is a protozoan infection transmitted through an triatomine insect bite (“kissing bugs”). It is prevalent from the south of the USA to South America and infects up…
Cholera is an infectious disease due to ingestion of food or water drinking contaminated by the Vibrio Cholerae bacteria. Up to 150000 people are infected each year, 90% of which are in Africa. It leads to a profuse painless watery diarrhea which can lead to severe dehydration and death. Treatment is technically simple and consists…
Up to 100 million individuals may be infected by the dengue virus each year. The virus is transmitted through arthropod bites (usually mosquitos). Population increase makes control of mosquito population difficult as breeding sites (stagnant waters) are more numerous and less detectable (roofs…). Infection ranges from asymptomatic infection to dengue fever with/without hemorrhagic fever and…
Dr Christophe HSU – dermatologist. Geneva, Switzerland HIV is a global pandemic caused by infection by the HIV virus. It affects more than 30 million individuals world wide. Around 70% of individuals affected live in Sub-Saharan Africa, around 20% of individuals live in South and South-East Asia. Untreated the median survival ranges from 9-11 years…
Synonyms: Verruga peruana, Peruvian warts, Oroya fever, Carrion’s disease Spanish (Español): enfermedad de Carrión, fiebre de la Oroya, verruga peruana Limited to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, the disease is caused by a facultative intracellular bacterium called Bartonella Bacilliformis. It is transmitted through a sandfly bite. Treatment consists of antibiotics. It is characterized by an acute…
Tuberculosis is an infection caused by a Mycobacterium called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. It is a condition favoured by high population density, promiscuity (poverty, intravenous drug abusers, HIV) and the use of immunosuppressants (biologics, ciclosporine…). It is frequent in Sub-Saharan Africa, but new cases are a cause of concern, notably in China, Russia, South-East Asia and some…
Malaria is a common infection caused by a unicellular organism called a Protist. It is transmitted by a mosquito called Anopheles. After a period of between two weeks and several months (occasionally years) spent in the liver, the malaria parasites multiply within red blood cells, causing symptoms that appear cyclically. Symptoms include fever, and headache.…
