Preface

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) comprise 20 conditions, whose etiological agents include arboviruses such as dengue and Chikungunya fever, parasitic diseases such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, and bacterial diseases such as Buruli ulcer. NTDs are associated with poverty, causing economic and social consequences by affecting population health, principally in tropical and subtropical impoverished regions of the world. Many NTDs are also associated with environmental degradation, and the infectious agents present complex life cycles, including invertebrate vectors and animal reservoirs, making their control challenging for public health institutions.

This book covers various important aspects of the fight against these complex NTDs: scientific advances in the form of new biotechnological tools to promote their diagnosis, control and treatment; knowledge of their eco-epidemiology and physiopathology to promote efficient interventions to block transmission and treat diseases; and characterization of molecular targets to be employed in the development of diverse control and treatment strategies.

In the first section of the book, the first chapter reviews the literature on the use of digital PCR (ddPCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) to diagnose NTDs and to identify hosts and reservoirs of a variety of pathogens, thus helping in the characterization of their complex life cycles. A second chapter, which includes new findings on insects' reproductive biology, considers how this information can be used in vector control strategies. The eco-epidemiology of arboviruses in Latin America and the physiopathology of Burili ulcer disease caused by *Mycobacterium ulcerans* are the subjects of the second section. The third section contains two chapters that describe two molecular targets, the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) from the malaria parasite *Plasmodium vivax,* and an ecotin-like serine protease inhibitor of *Trypanosoma cruzi* (TcISP2), the agent of Chagas disease.

This book contributes to knowledge on new advances in NTDs and will inspire a broad public to investigate these complex diseases which, according to the WHO, affect more than one billion people globally. I am grateful to all the authors for their important contributions and to IntechOpen for once more allowing me the privilege of editing a book of high scientific value that will make a decisive contribution to tackling serious global public health problems.

> **Márcia Aparecida Sperança** Centro de Ciâncias Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil

**1**

Section 1

Diagnosis and Vector Control

Section 1
