title: Future treatment options for human African trypanosomiasis.
abstract: Over the past 17 years, the number of reported cases of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) has declined by over 90%, a significant result since the disease was highlighted as a public health problem by the WHO in 1995. However, if the goal of eliminating HAT by 2020 is to be achieved, then new treatments need to be identified and developed. A plethora of compound collections has been screened against Trypanosoma brucei spp, the etiological agents of HAT, resulting in three compounds progressing to clinical development. However, due to the high attrition rates in drug discovery, it is essential that research continues to identify novel molecules. Failure to do so, will result in the absence of molecules in the pipeline to fall back on should the current clinical trials be unsuccessful. This could seriously compromise control efforts to date, resulting in a resurgence in the number of HAT cases.
authors.affiliation: a Discovery Biology, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Don Young Road, Nathan, Brisbane, 4111, Australia.
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: a Discovery Biology, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Don Young Road, Nathan, Brisbane, 4111, Australia.
authors.forename: Vicky M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Avery
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D058069:Neglected Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014344:Trypanocidal Agents
keywords: drug discovery; high-throughput screening; human African trypanosomiasis