Tropical diseases

• Tropical diseases are infectious diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions.

• Insects such as mosquitoes and flies are by far the most common disease carrier

• These insects may carry a parasite, bacterium or virus that is infectious to humans and animals. Most often disease is transmitted by an insect "bite", which causes transmission of the infectious agent through blood exchange. Vaccines are not available for any of the diseases listed here.

Diseases

• Malaria • African trypanosomiasis

– or sleeping sickness, is a parasitic disease, transmitted by the tsetse fly • Dengue fever

– a virus transmitted by mosquitoes • Leishmaniasis

– caused by protozoan parasites, and transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly. • Schistosomiasis

– also known as snail fever, is a parasitic disease caused by several species of flatworm in areas with freshwater snails, which may carry the parasite. The most common form of transmission is by wading or swimming in lakes, ponds and other bodies of water containing the snails and the parasite. More than 200 million people worldwide are infected by schistosomiasis.

• Tuberculosis– (abbreviated as TB), is a bacterial infection of the lungs or other tissues, which is highly

prevalent in the world, with mortality over 50% if untreated. It is a communicable disease, transmitted by a cough, sneeze, speak, kiss, or spit. Over one-third of the world's population has been infected by the TB bacterium.[7]

• Leprosy

Some of the strategies for controlling tropical diseases include:

• Draining wetlands to reduce insect populations • The application of insecticides (or to a lesser extent, perhaps insect repellents) to

strategic surfaces such as: clothing, skin, buildings, insect habitats, and bed nets. • The use of a mosquito net over a bed (also known as a "bed net"), to reduce night-

time transmission, since tropical mosquitoes often feed only at night. • Use of water wells, and/or water filtration, water filters, or water treatment with water

tablets to produce drinking water free of parasites. • Development and use of vaccines to promote disease immunity • Funding and subsidizing the use of medicinal treatments to treat disease after

infection • Assisting with economic development in endemic regions. For example by providing

microloans to enable investments in more efficient and productive agriculture. This in turn can help subsistence farming to become more profitable, and these profits can be used by local populations for disease prevention and treatment, with the added benefit of reducing the poverty rate.[3]

• Human exploration of tropical rainforests and increased international air travel and other tourism to tropical regions has led to an increased incidence of such diseases.[citation needed]