A new health economics study presented by Stanford medical student Nathan Lo shows historical World Health Organization guidelines for the two most common parasitic worm diseases are far too restrictive and provides a framework for the necessary expansion of global treatment programs. Together, these diseaeses - schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis - infect some 1.5 billion people in the developing world and can cause severe discomfort and even death.

Under current guidelines, treatment is focused only on school-aged children living in high prevalence areas. However, Lo and a team of researchers led by Jason Andrews, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford, have outlined a new framework for determining the optimal treatment strategy - who to treat, how often, and with what medicines - based on economic modeling. The findings show that expanding mass drug administration (MDA) to entire communities with much lower disease prevalence would not only be cost-effective, but would result in improved quality of life, reduce re-infection rates and lower disease intensity. If adopted, this would result in a fivefold increase in the number of people who would receive treatment in sub-Saharan Africa alone.

I had a chance to speak with Lo after his presentation yesterday - hear more below.

Desiree LaBeaud, MD, is a Stanford pediatrician and infectious disease researcher who has dedicated her efforts to better understanding the risk factors and long-term health consequences of arboviral infections, including Rift Valley fever, chikungunya, and dengue viruses. In the video interview below, LaBeaud shares some of the research highlights from her work and that of her collaborators in her lab and in Kenya that was presented at the ASTMH meeting.

Some people tend to think of these mosquito-borne illnesses as problems that don't have a direct impact on countries in the developing world. However, LaBeaud reminds us that this is not the case. Her research on the 2013-2014 chikungunya virus as described in a previous post is evidence that these viruses are speading. Just earlier this year, cases of chikungunya virus were reported in the state of Florida. Also this year, the aedis aegypti species of mosquito, which can spread diseases like dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, was detected in San Mateo County. Considering that some nine million Americans visit the Caribbean each year, it could just be a matter of time before these diseases appear in our local communities, said LaBeaud. The risk for transmission increases in wet climates and rainy seasons, so with this year's El Niño predicted to rank among the strongest on record, it could pose an added threat to those in California.

Congratulations to Claire Heath on being awarded the ASTMH Robert E. Shope International Fellowship in Infectious Diseases. Established in honor of Robert E. Shope, MD, one of the world’s most foremost authorities on inset-borne viruses, the fellowship provides support for international training opportunities in arbovirolgy and emerging diseases for postdoctoral researchers.

Following the ASTMH meeting, Heath, an infectious disease research fellow in the LaBeaud lab at Stanford University, will be heading straight for the Caribbean islands of Grenada to begin her fellowship year. Grenada was severely affected by a massive chikungunya virus outbreak in 2013-2014, marking the debut of the virus in the Americas. While the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus was first discovered in the 1950s, not much is known about the long-term health consequences following infection.

Heath’s research will build on an earlier study led by Desiree LaBeaud, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, which aimed to confirm transmission and associated symptoms of chikungunya in Grenada following the outbreak. The findings of this study, based on results from 493 patients, presented in a poster today at ASTMH, confirmed the presence of chikungunya virus in Granada for the first time and found that symptoms of fever, rash, joint swelling, join pain and chills were commonly associated with the disease. In the next phase of this research, Heath will conduct follow-up on these patients in an effort to better understand the long-term health impact.

Tune in for an interview with Heath below.