Preliminary list of themes to be covered during the XVII International Congress for Tropical Medicine and Malaria and the XLVIII Congress of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine is presented below

Themes to be covered
XVIII International Congress for Tropical Medicine and Malaria and the XLVIII Congress of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine

Interdisciplinary Themes

• Origins of parasitism and host-parasite relationships
• Paleoparasitology
• Ecoepidemiology of zoonosis
• Transmission of vector-borne disease: Worldwide vector distribution and behavior
• Genetic factors and disorders in tropical diseases
• Human immune response and parasite evasion
• Infection in the immunocompromised host
• Imunopathology and dynamics of inflammation
• Progress in diagnosis of infectious and tropical diseases
• Infectious diarrhea as a worldwide public health problem
• Malnutrition and infectious and tropical diseases
• Microbial resistance and new antibiotics and chemotherapeutics
• New tools for control of infectious and tropical diseases
• Perspectives for new vaccines and new vaccination processes
• Patient safety in healthcare of transmissible diseases
• Nosocomial infections as an international public health problem
• Accident by ophidians, poisonous arthropods and aquatic animals
• Environmental and climatic changes, global warming and its effects on tropical diseases
• Effects of man-made, natural and nuclear disasters on infectious and tropical diseases
• Infectious and tropical diseases in travelers and migrants
• The history of tropical medicine. Science and society
• Infectious and tropical ophtalmology: toxoplasmosis, onchocerciasis and mansonelliasis, infection by nematodes, chlamydia and trachoma, syphilis and tubercuslosis, herpes.
• Conferences open to the general public ( Themes include: dengue, and a public health film festival on malaria and other diseases).
• Mass events and tropical medicine.
• Emerging and neglected tropical diseases.
• Philanthropy for control and assistance in infectious and tropical diseases.
• Satellite meetings: NGO sessions (Médecins sans frontières, DNDi…); Brazilian ministry of heath (SVS) sessions (in portuguese) organized by the national control programs of endemic diseases.
• 28. Microbial and parasitic infections and the hygiene hypothesis.
• Future of scientific communication in malaria and tropical medicine: the role of academic journals

Malaria

• Malaria as an international public health problem: epidemiology and control.
• Perspectives for malaria elimination in South America
• Severe vivax malaria
• Cerebral malaria
• Malaria associated with severe anemia
• Experimental models for a) testing drugs and vaccines and b) studying immunopathology
• Antigenic diversity and genetic polymorphism of Plasmodium.
• Assymptomatic Plasmodium Infection: parasitological and immunological considerations.
• Resistance of Plasmodium to anti-malarials.
• Information and other strategies for malaria prevention
• Use of insecticide impregnated bednets in Africa and South America and impact on malaria morbidity and control
• Perspectives for the development of a vaccine against malaria.
• Pregnancy and malaria
• Rapid tests and other new technologies and approaches for malaria diagnosis.

Other Protozoan Diseases

• Initiatives for the control of Chagas disease in endemic countries.
• Chagas disease in non-endemic countries.
• Chagas disease in the Amazonian region.
• Characterization of Trypanosoma cruzi: biodemes, zimodemes and schizodemes.
• Clinical forms of Chagas disease and their regional variations.
• New drugs and new strategies for Chagas disease treatment.
• African sleeping sickness and new strategies for its treatment and control.
• Cutaneous leishmaniasis as an international public health problem.
• Visceral leishmaniasis and its urbanization: a new challenge for its control.
• Biochemical and molecular characterizacion of Leishmania and its relation with different forms of Leishmaniasis.
• Treatment and control of leishmaniasis: are the cure and control of leishmaniasis possible?
• Urogenital trichomomiasis: an International public health problem.
• Giardiasis and its associations: zoonosis or re-emergent neglected disease?
• Amebiasis and the histolytic complex.
• Coccidia and Microsporida: zoonotic and opportunistic human Infections.
• Toxoplasmosis: lineages of Toxoplasma gondii and its relation with pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis.
• Epidemiology and control of toxoplasmosis.

Helminthiasis

• Schistosomiasis as an international endemic disease: epidemiology and control in endemic regions with different species of Schistosoma.
• Immunopathology of Schistosomiasis mansoni, japonicum and haematobium.
• Protective Immunity in schistosomiasis: perspectives for vaccine development.
• Epidemiology of fascioliasis, its vectors and reservoirs.
• The Taeniasis-cysticercosis complex and disease control.
• Human infection by Echinococcus and Paragonimus, epidemiology and control.
• Geo-helminthiasis: the wormy world, epidemiology, clinical-pathology, treatment and control.
• Toxocariasis and visceral larva migrans: epidemiology, treatment and control.
• Angiostrongyliasis: epidemiology, clinical-pathology and control.
• Lagoquilascariasis pathogenesis, epidemiology and clinical-pathology.
• Epidemiology of lymphatic filariasis due to Wulchereria bancrofti and its medical and social importance.
• Onchocerciasis: association with Wolbachia: pathogenesis, epidemiology and control.

Fungal Diseases

• The fungi: biodiversity, systematic and phylogeny.
• Characterization of superficial and cutaneous mycosis.
• Reservoirs of superficial, cutaneous, sub-cutaneous, systemic and opportunistic mycosis. Epidemiology and control.
• New and old drugs for treatment of human mycosis.
• Clinical-pathology and treatment of Lobomycosis
• Mycetoma: eumycetoma and actinomycetoma.
• Epidemiology and control of Paracoccidiomycosis, Histoplasmosis, Coccidiomycosis and Cryptococosis.
• Pathogenesis and clinical-pathology of systemic candidiasis, invasive aspergilosis, mucor?mycosis and histoplasmosis.
• Opportunistic pneumotosis and its associations.

Bacterial Diseases

• Bacterial Characterization: biochemical, immunological, bacteriophage and genotype classification.
• Antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus: from Fleming to ours days.
• Pathogenesis of Streptococcus infections by group A, B, C and Enterococcus and its control.
• Enterobacteriacea infection as a public health problem and its control: salmonellosis, typhoid fever, shigellosis and E. coli infection.
• Cholera as a pandemic disease: epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical-pathology and control.
• Pathogenesis and treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection: gastritis and dyspepsia, gastric ulcer, gastric adenocarcinoma and MALT lymphoma.
• Leprosy: World-wide epidemiologic situation and control. Clinical-pathology, immune response, early diagnosis and prevention. M. leprae genome, proteome and resistance to chemotherapy.
• Tuberculosis: epidemiology and control. Tuberculosis and HIV. Clinical pathology, early diagnosis, new strategies for treatment and prevention. M. tuberculosis chemoresistance.
• Characterization and diversity of non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Epidemiology and control of non-tuberculous mycobacteria infections. Non- tuberculous mycobacteria as nosocomial infections. Clinical-pathology, treatment and resistance of non-tuberculous mycobacteria to chemotherapy.
• Endemic-Epidemic Meningoencephalitis. Parasitic meningoencephalitis. Fungal meningoencephalitis. Epidemic meningococcus disease.
• Leptospirosis: World-wide epidemiologic situation. Clinical-pathology, diagnosis, prevention and control of human disease Leptospira genotypic characterization and phylogeny. Perspectives for the development of a vaccine.
• Plague: risks of reemergence, invertebrate foci, local outbreaks and world-wide surveillance .
• Rickettsiosis and Borreliosis: forgotten diseases. Epidemiology, clinical-pathology and differential diagnosis of rickettsiosis. Diversity of Borrelliosis. Is Lyme disease endemic in Brazil?
• Toxin diseases of medical importance: epidemiology and control of tetanus in developing countries. Emerging botulism from home-made and industrialized food. Risks of terrorism by Bacillus anthracis.
• Reemergence of sexually-transmitted diseases: syphilis, chlamydia lymphogranuloma, human herpevirus 2 and HPV.

Virus Disease

• The viral world: what is new in virology?
• Diagnosis in virology: from molecular diagnosis to virus isolation.
• Enterovirus of medical importance. Past and present of poliomyelitis. Can poliovirus be eradicated? Enteroviral meningoencephalitis. Respiratory diseases. Exanthematic disease. Enteroviral conjunctivitis.
• Enteric hepatitis. Characterization of Hepatitis A virus. Epidemiology and control of Hepatitis A. Efficiency of the anti-HAV vaccine. Can Hepatitis A be eradicated?
• Parenteral hepatitis. Epidemiology of Hepatitis B and Delta. Mutability of HBV. Clinical-pathology of Hepatitis B. Perspectives for Hepatitis B and Delta control.
• Hepatitis C as an international public health problem. Epidemiology, treatment, prevention and control of the disease. Risk factors for carcinogenesis in chronic Hepatitis C. Perspectives for an efficient anti-HCV vaccine.
• Hemorragic non-Flaviviridae virus fevers in Brazil. Hemorragic virus fevers from Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela. Hemorragic fevers from Africa. Hemorragic virus fever from Asia and former states of the Soviet Union.
• Yellow fever as an international public health problem.
• Dengue in the Americas and Caribbean. Dengue and hemorrhagic dengue in Brazil. Dengue in Africa and Asia. Perspectives for an efficient anti-dengue vaccine.
• Human and animal rabies as an international public health problem.
• Perspectives for Measles and Rubella eradication.
• Parvovirosis: pathogenesis and perspectives for vaccine development
• Influenza as an international public health problem and its control.
• Emerging and reemerging virosis: Severe Acute Respiratory Sindrome (SARS), H1 N1 influenza, West Nile encephalitis, and hantavirosis.
• Pathogenesis of Rotaviruses: Acute diarrhea as a public health problem. Epidemiology and control. Efficacy of existent vaccines for extensive immunization.
• AIDS pandemic. and control.
• Perspectives for the development of an effective anti-HIV vaccine: dream or reality?
• Human infection by HTLV 1 and 2. Clinical-pathology and control.
• Human infection by Herpevirus 1 and 2. Clinical-pathology and control. Herpevirus 2 as a sexual transmitted disease.
• Varicela-zoster human infection and its pathogenesis in immunosupressed individuals. Controversy on treatment and prevention of varicela-zoster infections. Perspective for vaccine development.
• Citomegalovirus. Congenital and perinatal infection. Acquired cytomegalovirus infection. Mononucleosis-like citomegalovirosis.
• Poxviruses. Is smallpox really an eradicated disease? Are there risks for it's reemergence? Risks of smallpox virus as a biological weapon.
• Prions and subacute spongiform encephalopathy Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Straussler Sindrome (GSS), Kuru, Fatal familial insomnia.