Neglected Tropical Diseases & Atrial Fibrillation

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a subset of infectious diseases that consist of a number of bacterial, viral, parasitic, and fungal infections. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) this includes: Chagas disease, Dengue fever, Chikungunya fever, Human African trypanosomiasis, rabies, Leprosy (Hansen's disease), Leishmaniasis, Lymphatic filarasis (Elephantitis), snakebite envenoming, Trachoma, Yaws (Endemic teponematoses), Teniasis and cysticercosis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, foodborne trematode infection, schistosomiasis, scabies and other ectoparasitoses, onchocerciasis, echinococcosis, and Dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease) and buruli ulcer, among others.1 NTDs affect more than one billion individuals worldwide, however they occur most commonly in tropical and subtropical developing countries, disproportionally affecting individuals living in poverty (World Health Organization; Burgos et al., 2020). NTDs are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The 2017 Global Burden of Disease study found that NTDs accounted for approximately 17 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (Kyu et al., 2018). Years lost due to disability (YLD) accounts for a significant proportion of DALYs in NTD at approximately 70%, with the remaining 30% coming from years of life lost (YLL) (James et al., 2018; Roth et al., 2018).As the name would suggest, NTDs have received little global attention, likely in part due to the fact that the DALYs are largely contributed to by YLD as opposed to YLL. In recent years there has been growing interest in the prevention, management, and elimination of NTDs, resulting in the WHO forming a group dedicated to the prevention, control, and elimination of NTDs (World Health Organization).