To gain insight in the potential of the current pipeline for rabies to decrease the burden of disease by evaluating its relevance to high-risk countries.
Rabies-related patent documents and clinical trials were retrieved from Espacenet and the WHO ICTRP, respectively. Data were cleaned, modulated and categorised into a pre-defined set of indicators those were used for (statistical) analyses on the number of patent applications, patent quality and type of stakeholders involved for different geographical areas.
Analysis of 583 unique patent families applied for in the period 1954-2017 showed a steep growth in the yearly number of patent applications. A significant portion of new patent applications concern Chinese patents with relatively low quality that are filed by a dispersed group of applicants. Excluding these patents, the number of patent applications has been virtually stable over the years. A shift is seen in public stakeholders becoming more prolific as patent applicants. This shift is also reflected in clinical trials; key sponsors of clinical trials include public and private stakeholders originating from high-risk rabies countries. The majority of clinical trials investigate adjustments to existing vaccines that may improve accessibility.
The results show a discrepancy between the quantity and quality of rabies patent applications that reflects national patent regulations rather than real progress in decreasing the burden of disease. This is in contrast to clinical trials, which focus on incremental innovations that are tested in clinical trials but may nevertheless have a potentially strong impact in high-risk countries.
Comprendre le potentiel du pipeline actuel pour la rage pour réduire la charge de morbidité en évaluant sa pertinence pour les pays à haut risque. MÉTHODES: Les documents de brevet liés à la rage et les essais cliniques ont été récupérés auprès de réseau Espacenet et de l\'OMS ICTRP, respectivement. Les données ont été triées, modulées et classées en un ensemble prédéfini d\'indicateurs qui a été utilisé pour des analyses (statistiques) sur le nombre de demandes de brevet, la qualité des brevets et le type de parties prenantes impliquées pour différentes zones géographiques. RÉSULTATS: L\'analyse de 583 familles de brevets uniques déposées au cours de la période 1954-2017 a montré une forte croissance du nombre annuel de demandes de brevet. Une part importante des nouvelles demandes de brevet concerne des brevets chinois de qualité relativement faible soumises par un groupe dispersé de déposants. A l\'exclusion de ces brevets, le nombre de demandes de brevet est resté pratiquement stable au fil des ans. Un changement est observé dans les acteurs publics devenant plus prolifiques en tant que demandeurs de brevet. Ce changement se reflète également dans les essais cliniques; les principaux sponsors des essais cliniques comprennent des parties prenantes publiques et privées originaires de pays à haut risque pour la rage. La majorité des essais cliniques étudient les ajustements aux vaccins existants qui pourraient améliorer l\'accessibilité.
Les résultats montrent un écart entre la quantité et la qualité des demandes de brevet liées à la rage qui reflète les réglementations nationales en matière de brevets plutôt que de réels progrès dans la réduction de la charge de morbidité. Cela contraste avec les essais cliniques, qui se concentrent sur des innovations incrémentales qui sont testées dans des essais cliniques mais qui peuvent néanmoins avoir un impact potentiellement fort dans les pays à haut risque.

Programs for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as sleeping sickness increasingly involve patients and community workers in syndromic case detection with little exploration of patient understandings of symptoms. Drawing on concepts from sensorial anthropology, I investigate peoples\' experiences of sleeping sickness in South Sudan. People here sense the disease through discourses about four symptoms (pain, sleepiness, confusion and hunger) using biomedical and ethnophysiological concepts and sensations of risk in the post-conflict environment. When identified together, the symptoms interlock as a complete disease, prompting people to seek hospital-based care. Such local forms of sense-making enable diagnosis and help control programs function.

In this article, we performed a review of all new data of clinical relevance for the dermatologists that were published in the medical literature between September, 2017 and September, 2018. Besides advances that will be useful in day-to-day dermatological practice, we intended to give a more general perspective to this review by taking into account certain international health issues that might in final concern each of us in a globalized world. Focus were more particularly done on the following topics: infectious diseases (including sexually transmitted infections), neglected tropical diseases, adverse effects of drugs, bullous diseases, allergology, wound healing, dermatology on black skin, and public health dermatology.

OBJECTIVE: Identifying pregnant women infected with Trypanosoma cruzi is one of the major challenges for preventing and controlling Chagas disease (CD) in non-endemic countries. The aim of this paper was to perform a policy evaluation of the current practices of congenital Chagas disease (CCD) control in non-endemic countries and to propose specific targets for enhanced interventions to tackle this emerging health problem outside the endemic areas of Latin America.
METHODS: We conducted a mixed method review of CCD policy strategies by searching the literature in the PubMed, Google Scholar and the World Health Organization (WHO) databases using the key terms \'CCD\', \'paediatric Chagas disease\' and \'non-endemic countries\'; as free text and combined as one phrase to increase the search sensitivity. Reviews, recommendations, guidelines and control/surveillance programme reports were included.
RESULTS: Of 427 CCD papers identified in non-endemic countries, 44 matched the inclusion. Although local programmes were launched in different countries with large numbers of Latin American immigrants, there were considerable disparities in terms of the programmes\' distribution, delivery, integration and appropriated CCD control strategies. Moreover, Catalonia, Spain is the only region/country with an established systematic monitoring of CCD in pregnant women from Latin American countries.
CONCLUSIONS: Given the worldwide dissemination of CD, the nature of its vertical transmission, and the gaps of the current strategies in non-endemic countries, there is an urgent need to standardise, expand and reinforce the control measures against CCD transmission.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse hospital morbidity records due to paracoccidioidomycosis in Brazil, including its nationwide distribution in time and space, as well as key epidemiological and sociodemographic characteristics.
METHODS: Descriptive analysis of hospital morbidity records due to paracoccidioidomycosis covering the period January 1998 to December 2006. Hospital records were obtained from the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SIH/SUS).
RESULTS: There were 6732 hospitalisations (82% male) due to paracoccidioidomycosis in the period, representing 4.3 per 1.0 million inhabitants. Admissions due to this mycosis were recorded in 27% of the 5560 Brazilian municipalities, covering 35% of the country. Ten municipalities concentrated 52% of all admissions. The temporal distribution of admissions for paracoccidioidomycosis showed a slight increase. The geographical analysis showed two distinct patterns of the disease: (i) traditional areas of southern and south-eastern regions, covering 60% of admissions, and (ii) a second pattern in northern Brazil revealed a transverse band of higher concentration with about 27% of admissions, particularly along the southern border of the Amazon region.
CONCLUSIONS: This first nationwide analysis of hospitalisation due to paracoccidioidomycosis in Brazil shows that it is the most prevalent systemic mycosis in Brazil. Despite its importance, there are major deficits in its proper registry, diagnostics and treatment. The particular epidemiological and medical challenges of paracoccidioidomycosis will not be met while the disease continues to be perceived as an isolated infectious entity restricted to a few faraway regions of the globe.