Tropical medicine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tropical medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with health problems that either occur uniquely in tropical and subtropical regions or are either more widespread in the tropics or more difficult to prevent or control.

Many infections that are classified as "tropical diseases" used to be endemic in countries located in temperate or even cold areas. That was the case for leprosy, cholera, malaria, hookworm infestations, amoebiasis, among others. The disappearance of those diseases from developed countries was primarily caused by improvements in housing, diet, sanitation, and personal hygiene. Since climate is not the main reason why those infections remain endemic in tropical areas, there is a trend towards renaming this speciality as "Geographic Medicine".