who strike and why they must be checked

When you think about infectionsclassically the thought runs to malariawith recent cases also in Italy, tuberculosis or HIV virus infection. For some time, these pathologies have been under the magnifying glass of doctors and health institutions from all over the world. It is more difficult, however, it is to reflect on infection that they were (it is more difficult to say they are, given that clinical paintings of this type can also present in our latitudes) almost unknown. We are talking about the neglected tropical diseasesa challenge that still has to be fought all over the world. Because the estimates speak of 1.6 billion people affected by these paintings, linked to infections by bacteria, viruses, helmets, kittens or other. All this, with the deaths that are counted hundreds of thousands.

What to do? It is necessary to deal with it, while you do very little to contrast its diffusion, also linked to environmental conditions (first of all climate change) which can affect the presence of the managers of these paintings also to other latitudes. On the occasion of the World Day dedicated to neglected diseasesa sort of “state of art that saw the experts of the Italian drug agency (AIFA) and the Superior Institute of Health (ISS) was held. Here are some facts that can help understand the phenomenon. A phenomenon that must be interpreted and read in a strategic approach that interconnected human, animal and environmental health – the so -called ‘Single Health’ or One Health.

What means neglected tropical diseases

In general terms, in this definition they define themselves about twenty groups of very different pathologies, both for the infectious factors that determine them both for clinical symptoms and gravity. These paintings can be determined by bacteria, protozoa, viruses, worms, kittens. And these are not only conditions concentrated in countries away from us. Just think in this case of Scabbia, Leishmaniosis, or paintings such as Dengue and Chikungunya. With the progressive change of the climate and the raising of temperatures, with associated alluvial phenomena and in any case a protracting of humidity and heat, there is the development of large quantities of mosquitoes potentially capable of being vectors of diseases. In this sense it is necessary to prepare. Potentially serious diseases, such as the dense or the chikungunyahave already given clear evidence of being able to reply in Italy too. The increase in temperatures can lead to an increase in the risk of vectors, mosquitoes but not only, which can act as a bridge facilitating virus infections.

The numbers of some pathologies in Italy

Coming to the numbers, in Italy the Dengue recorded just under 700 cases, of which 213 natives. For Chikungunya, on the other hand, 15 cases recorded, all of imports were officially imported. But this is not a pathology that had never been seen by us, given that there have also been completely “original” cases of the national territory. Under the magnifying glass there are obviously the insects which can determine the transmission to the man of pathogenic agents, such as Mosquitoes, ticks and phlegmomes.

In this sense, think only of Leishmaniasis. The disease is caused by a parasite that is transmitted to man by phlegal mosrinins and presents itself in different forms in the various geographical areas. The risk of Leishmanosis is extremely widespread, so much so that the various forms of the disease are endemic in 88 countries on four continents. The pathology, in fact, can affect the skin and internal organs: it can determine deaths above all among children and in many cases serious disabling infirmities. In the absence of effective prophylaxis – To date there are no vaccines or preventive drugs, only individual prevention and control of the animal population are useful for reducing the risks of infection. Still. Pay attention to the Chagas disease: about 600 cases have been from 1998 to today. It is caused by a parasite, American tripanosome. It causes a chronic infection, which frequently begins in children, and can cause in 30 percent of cases an irreversible damage to the heart, esophagus, colon and peripheral nervous system.

The curious case of oropouche fever

In the context of neglected diseases, the oropouche fever It is a tropical infection caused by the homonymous virus (Orov), discovered in 1955 in the blood of a forest worker in Trinidad and Tobago, near the Oropouche river. It is a pathogen that normally spread in the Amazon region and transmitted to man by the insect bites: in particular the Culicoides Paransis, a chef widespread throughout the American continent, from the United States to Argentina, and the Culex Quinquefasciatus mosquito. THE Symptoms of fever They usually manifest themselves 3-8 days from the puncture of the carrier insect, and are largely superimposed on those of other tropical viral fevers such as Dengue, Zika or Chikungunya: high fever (over 39 degrees) accompanied by headaches, Retorbital pain, general malaise, joint pain, nausea and vomiting. Sporadic cases of interest of the central nervous system have also been recorded, such as meningitis and encephalitis. In about 60% of cases after the first acute phase, the symptoms recur, in a less serious form: usually from two to ten days, but also after a month from the first appearance “.

The update recently published for the Americas of the World Health Organization reports that since the beginning of the year to the first days of September they have been recorded Almost 10,000 cases in eight countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Peru, USA, and two confirmed deaths, all in Brazil, where a case of encephalitis and several cases of virus transmission was also found during pregnancy: fetal deaths, Congenital anomalies of the newborn, spontaneous abortions.