Tropical medicine

Training in tropical medicine is quite different between countries. Most physicians are trained at institutes of tropical medicine or incorporated into the training of infectious diseases. In the UK, if a physician wants to specialize in tropical medicine, they must first train in general internal medicine and get accepted into the Royal College of Physicians. They must simultaneously study the specialty of infectious diseases while completing a full-time course load to receive their Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Their studies are carried out at either the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine or the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Additionally, they must spend two years at one of the UK centers approved for tropical medicine (located in London, Liverpool, or Birmingham). Physicians in the UK who wish to be certified in tropical medicine must spend at least a year abroad in an area lacking resources. Only then can they become certified in tropical medicine. The training of United States tropical doctors is similar, though it is not a board-recognized specialty in America. Physicians must first complete medical school and a program focusing on infectious diseases. Once completed, physicians can take the certification exam from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene to receive the Certificate of Knowledge in Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travelers' Health. ==Challenges==

HIV In developing countries alone, 22 million people are living with HIV. Most infections are still in Africa, but Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean are now seeing large numbers of infections as well. 95% of expected new infections will occur in the low-income countries in the tropics. The parasite that causes malaria belongs to the genus Plasmodium. Once infected, malaria can take a wide variety of forms and symptoms. The disease is placed into the uncomplicated category or the severe category. If quickly diagnosed and treated, malaria can be cured. However, some of the more serious symptoms, such as acute kidney failure, severe anemia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome can be fatal if not dealt with swiftly and properly. Certain types of Plasmodium can leave dormant parasites in the liver that can reawaken months or years later, causing additional relapses of the disease. In the World Malaria Report of 2016, the World Health Organization reported a malaria infection rate of 212 million, 90% of which occurred in the African region. However, malaria infection rates had fallen 21% since 2010 at the time of the report. The WHO also reported an estimated mortality rate of 429,000 deaths in the year 2015. The malaria mortality rate had fallen 29% globally since 2010. Children under 5 contract the malaria disease more easily than others, and in the year 2015, an estimated 303,000 children under the age of 5 were killed by malaria. Since the year 2010, however, the mortality rate of children under 5 fell by an estimated 35%. TB can either be in its latent or active form. TB can be latent for years, sometimes over a decade. Research has shown that if the subject is infected with HIV, the risk of latent TB becoming active TB is between 12 and 20 times higher. In the Global Burden of Disease Study of 2001, it was discovered that 20% of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa were caused by non-communicable diseases. In 2005, the World Health Organization performed a study that showed 80% of chronic disease deaths occurred in low to middle-income countries. Neglected tropical diseases' effect can be measured in disability-adjusted life year (DALY). Each DALY corresponds to one lost year of healthy life, whether by death or disability. In the year 2010, it was estimated that 26.6 million DALYs were lost. In addition, it is estimated that NTDs cause a loss of 15–30% of productivity in countries where NTDs are endemic. ==Interdisciplinary approach==

Tropical medicine requires an interdisciplinary approach, as the infections and diseases tropical medicine faces are both broad and unique. Tropical medicine requires research and assistance from the fields of epidemiology, microbiology, virology, parasitology, and logistics. Physicians of tropical medicine must have effective communication skills, as many of the patients they interact with do not speak English comfortably. They must be proficient in their knowledge of clinical and diagnostic skills, as they are often without high-tech diagnostic tools when in the field. For example, in an attempt to manage the Chagas disease being brought into the almost Chagas-free Brazilian city São Paulo by Bolivian immigrants, an interdisciplinary team was set up. The Bolivian immigrant population in São Paulo had a prevalence of Chagas disease of 4.4%, while Chagas disease transmission in São Paulo has been under control since the 1970s. This influx of cases of Chagas disease led to the formation of an interdisciplinary team. This team tested the feasibility of managing Chagas disease and transmission at the primary healthcare level. The interdisciplinary team consisted of community health agents and clerical healthcare workers to recruit Chagas-infected persons for the study, physicians, nurses, lab workers, and community agents. A pediatrician and cardiologist were also on call. Each was trained in pathology, parasitology, ecoepidemiology, and how to prevent, diagnose, and control Chagas disease. Training from experts in these respective fields was required. They examined reasons for lack of adherence to treatment and used this knowledge to improve the effectiveness of their interventions. This interdisciplinary approach has been used to train many teams across Brazil in the management of Chagas disease. Tropical medicine also consists of a preventive approach, especially in an educational aspect. For example, from 2009 to 2011, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine did an interventional study on a cohort of female sex workers (FSW) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, a country in Western Africa. 321 HIV-unaffected FSWs were provided with peer-led HIV/STI education, HIV/STI testing and care, psychological support, general healthcare, and services for reproductive health. The same cohort would continue to follow up, quarterly, for 21 months. At each follow-up, they were tested for HIV and were able to utilize the preventive interventions if needed. Using models based on the same study population, had there been no interventions, the expected prevalence of HIV infections was 1.23 infection per 100 person years. In the actual cohort with access to interventions, no HIV infections were observed in the collective 409 person-years of follow-up. ==Tropical research in the military==

Throughout history, American military forces have been affected by many tropical diseases. In World War II alone, it was estimated that almost one million soldiers had been infected by a tropical disease while serving. Most affected soldiers served in the Pacific, especially in the Philippines and New Guinea. Malaria was especially widespread in the Pacific, though soldiers in Southern Europe and Northern Africa also contracted tropical diseases. Many diseases now known as neglected tropical diseases affected American soldiers as well. These included helminthiasis, schistosomiasis, dengue, and lymphatic filariasis. Lymphatic filariasis was such a problem that it caused a $100 million evacuation of U.S. troops out of New Guinea and the Tonga Islands. In both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the United States army continued to be affected by tropical diseases. The most prevalent diseases to affect their military were malaria and dengue. Hepatitis A, scrub typhus, and hookworm infections were among the other tropical infections picked up by troops in these conflicts. To combat the significant effects tropical diseases were having on their forces, the United States Military worked hard to develop drugs, vaccines, and other methods of disease control. Research done at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), and various affiliated research centers have greatly improved the military's preparedness against tropical disease. In 1967, Captain Robert Phillips earned the Lasker Award for developing a type of IV therapy that reduced cholera's fatality rate from 60% to less than 1%. Other interventions licensed by the US Army include vaccines for hepatitis A and Japanese encephalitis. They have also developed the drugs mefloquine and malarone, both used in the treatment of malaria. Looking forward, the United States military currently has clinical trials testing for vaccines of malaria, adenovirus infection, dengue, and HIV/AIDS underway. However, with massive budget cuts to their military, these research centers are getting less and less funding and have lost many contractors already. ==Bibliography==

• American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene – Arlington, Virginia, USA • The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine • Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, Townsville and Cairns, Queensland, Australia • Anton Breinl Centre for Public Health and Tropical Medicine • Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine – Hamburg, Germany • Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University – Bangkok, Thailand • Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University – Nagasaki, Japan • Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine – New Orleans, Louisiana, USA • Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine – Liverpool, United Kingdom • London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – London, United Kingdom • Institute of Tropical Medicine – Antwerp, Belgium • Research Institute for Tropical Medicine – Muntinlupa, Philippines • Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene – London, United Kingdom • Walter Reed Tropical Medicine Course – Silver Spring, Maryland, USA • Société Francophone de Médecine Tropicale et Santé Internationale – France ==See also==