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York Articles Yorkshire leads research into deadly Baghdad Boil
York Articles Yorkshire leads research into deadly Baghdad Boil
Yorkshire leads research into deadly Baghdad Boil |
| Written by yorkguides.co.uk | |
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Paul Jeeves (Yorkshire Post) RESEARCH to combat a potentially fatal flesh-eating disease dubbed the Baghdad Boil is being pioneered in Yorkshire. Developing nations, including Iraq and Afghanistan, have been plagued by the fly-borne disease called leishmaniasis. There are about two million reported cases each year in 88 countries. More than 500,000 of these are the potentially fatal form of the condition. Hundreds of peacekeeping troops serving in Iraq have succumbed to the disease, after becoming infected with single-celled parasites called leishmania. The infections inflict horrific skin ulcers, leading to the nickname of the Baghdad Boil. Although mainly found in developing countries, leishmania parasites are also evident in most countries bordering the Mediterranean, and the fatal visceral leishmaniasis is often associated with HIV infection. Yorkshire scientists are conducting research into the disease through a new £1.8m immunology and infection unit. Researchers will meet for the first time on Monday and the unit, established as a joint initiative by York University's biology department and the Hull York Medical School, is spearheading efforts in Britain to develop new drugs and vaccines. The unit's director Prof Paul Kaye, who was previously posted at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "The deadliest form of leishmaniasis tends not to affect people in Western countries as much as those whose immune systems are compromised by malnutrition and the effects of poverty." The visceral form of the disease, which affects the liver and spleen, is often fatal, and more than 100,000 people, mainly children, die each year in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. |
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