Study finds multiple neglected tropical diseases effectively treated with drugs

The neglected tropical diseases are a group of 13 infectious diseases, including elephantiasis, hookworm, African sleeping sickness and trachoma, which affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, most of whom live in extreme poverty. In a study published in the most recent Journal of the American Medical Association, Madhuri Reddy, M.D., M.Sc., a geriatrician at Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston, says that treating two or more of them simultaneously for only pennies per dose can facilitate treatment of these diseases.