Tropical Diseases

Dr. Henry G. Morgan, 86, a globe-trotting dermatologist and specialist in tropical diseases. A Navy lieutenant commander in World War II, he served with the Public Health Service at Corpus Christi, Tex., at Midway and aboard the Coast Guard icebreaker Northwind. A graduate of Pomona College and McGill University in Montreal, Morgan served on the staff of the Hospital of the Good Samaritan and was an assistant professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Despite plummeting mortality rates for most infectious diseases over the last century, a group of largely overlooked bacterial, viral and parasitic infections is still plaguing the nation's poor, according to a report released this week. Many of the diseases are typically associated with tropical developing countries but are surprisingly common in poor regions of the United States, according to the analysis, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

An experimental drug has shown promise as the first effective therapy for Chagas' disease, a widespread affliction in Latin America that kills 50,000 people annually, scientists reported Wednesday. The antifungal agent TAK-187 was effective in the treatment of infected mice and didn't cause the toxic side effects of existing drugs, according to a study in the April issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Indians call it by the Hindi name of kala-azar, or "black fever." Virtually unknown in the West, leishmaniasis is a deadly parasitic illness transmitted by sand flies that attacks internal organs, sickening millions and claiming 200,000 lives every year in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and parts of Africa. Yet the only treatment available is so toxic that it kills 10% of patients. It's also prohibitively expensive, costing about $100, which is roughly equivalent to the yearly wages of most victims.

The symptoms of filariasis are grotesque and difficult to ignore. Men develop a gross and painful swelling of the genitals. Women develop abnormally large breasts. Both sexes have limbs swollen to three times their normal size. Victims also suffer socially. They are ostracized and often become despondent. Women often are rejected by their husbands or do not get married. The parasitic disease, which often produces swollen body parts and is called elephantiasis, is transmitted by mosquitoes.