Two new conditions added to the WHO list of Neglected Tropical Diseases

The following two conditions were recently added to the WHO listing of Negelected Tropical Diseases as Other Neglected Conditions.

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM)

An inflammatory condition of the ear that causes recurrent ear discharge (otorrhoea) through a perforation of the ear drum (tympanic membrane). The disease usually begins in childhood, as a spontaneous tympanic perforation resulting from an acute infection of the middle ear, known as acute otitis media (AOM), or as a sequel of less severe forms of otitis media (otitis media with effusion).

Nodding Syndrome (NS)

A neurological condition with unknown etiology that was first documented in the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) in the 1960s, then later in the Republic of South Sudan in the 1990s and in northern Uganda in 2007.   Nodding Syndrome typically affects children between the ages of 5 and 15 years old, causing progressive cognitive dysfunction, neurological deterioration, stunted growth and a characteristic nodding of the head. 

* Reference: http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/en/

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It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.

 - William Osler