What we’re doing

What are neglected tropical diseases?

Schistosomiasis, also known as Bilharzia is the leading NTD in the western Kenya region and is the NTD Branch’s main focus.
Trachoma is a leading cause of preventable blindness in the country.
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a disease transmitted by various species of mosquitoes and continues to be a major public health and socio-economic burden especially in the Kenyan Coast Province.
Intestinal worms, also known as soil transmitted helminthes (STH) include round worms (Ascaris lumbricoides), hookworms and whipworms (Trichuris trichura)
Other NTDs include: Human African
Trypanosomiasis, jiggers, Guinea worms and hydatid disease

Analyzing Host-Parasite Interactions

With funding from WHO, NIH, CDC, UGRF, and the European Foundations Initiative on NTDs (EFI/NTD), the NTD branch is analyzing host-parasite interactions in affected populations, studying co-infections and what causes resistance, as well as evaluating the current Primary Health Care (PHC) practice and its implementation to identify the best approach in distributing praziquantel in rural and informal
urban settings.

Neglected Tropical Diseases

NTDs affect over 1 billion people worldwide and kills an estimated 534,000 people annually. Chronic parasitic infections such as schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) or Soil Transmitted Helminthes (STH) can weaken protection against other diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS and can cause weakened responses to vaccines. Apart from diseases and deaths associated with NTDs, the economic impact for afflicted communities is also quite high.

The Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Branch was established in March 2011 to expand the KEMRI/CDC Schistosomiasis Research Program which was established in 1994 at KEMRI’s Center for Global Health Research in Kisumu. The Schistosomiasis Research Program’s first mandate was to establish a laboratory in western Kenya capable of conducting high quality research and training on schistosomiasis. Over the years, the laboratory has grown into an internationally acknowledged facility with highly qualified staff capable of high standards of basic, translational and applied research.

With support from University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGRF), the NTD program is providing mass drug treatment for schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminthes (STH) through a collaboration with schools and communities treating over 225 communities along the shores of Lake Victoria.

Highlights

Research focused on understanding the immunology, geographic distribution and prevalence of neglected tropical diseases and study their impact on co-infections with other illnesses like TB and HIV and in so doing develop control strategies for affected communities

NTD Branch is working closely with MOH in Nyanza, strengthening MOH research capacity through the Division of Vector Borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases

KEMRI/CDC’s NTD program addresses the region’s toughest health problems at their source, directly working with vulnerable families and communities in local hospitals, clinics and schools

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What we’re doing

Developing New Tools for Control

Evaluating the safety and effecacy of a new TB vaccine and a new TB drug to see if they work better than current tools, and we are evaluating new TB diagnostic tests to see how well they work.

Building Collaborations

Working in partnerships with local, national, and international colleagues builds on our collective knowledge of TB. These alliances can speed up
the learning curve to find the answers needed to eliminate TB.

KEMRI/CDC collaborates with the Ministry of Health, for example, to strengthen their TB control program by helping them answer important research questions and helping to make sure answers are translated into policy and practice. The TB branch also collaborates with other KEMRI/CDC branches helping to answer the TB component to other diseases like HIV or schistosomiasis.

Laboratory Services

The KEMRI/CDC TB laboratory is now a biosafety level 3 (BSL 3) laboratory, making it capable of doing sophisticated TB testing, like testing for drug resistance. As of January 2012, it started supporting the Ministry of Health by doing tests for drug resistant TB for all patients who need this test in Nyanza province. This will help these patients get the diagnostic testing results they need more quickly.