Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
The Unit of Tropical Diseases has for long been part of the Department of Clinical Sciences, under the leading of Prof. Emeritus Jef Van Den Ende. It is led now since November 2012 by Prof. Emmanuel Bottieau (MD internal medicine/infectious diseases). It has strong collaborative links with the other units of the department, in particular the Unit of Travel Medicine, of Tropical Laboratory Medicine and of the recently created Unit of HIV/Neglected Tropical Diseases, and with the Medical Services. Beyond the department, several current research projects are shared with different biomedical (Medical Helminthology, Veterinarian Helminthology, Malariology, Diagnostic Bacteriology,…) and public health (Disease Control,…) units.
In terms of research, the Units of Tropical Diseases and Unit of Travel Medicine have traditionally merged their activity for evident reasons of cross-fertilization between developed and low-resource contexts. Regarding post-travel pathology, both units actively contribute to surveillance and clinical research within well-established international networks of travel clinics (GeoSentinel, TropNet,…). The Unit of Tropical Diseases works with several Southern institutions (DR Congo, Burkina Faso, Mali, …) within research consortia. The main research topics are:
- The integrated management (diagnosis-treatment) of febrile illness in the tropics and in travelers, with a focus on malaria, arboviral infection and rickettsiosis
- The clinical management of neglected tropical diseases, with a focus on cysticercosis, schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis and filarial infection
- The clinical decision-making in complex syndromes (neurological disorders, febrile illness, chronic diarrhea,...) in low-resource settings
- In collaboration with the Unit of Travel Medicine: high altitude illness, rabies vaccination,…
The unit is responsible of the “classic” postgraduate course of Tropical Medicine (Module 2 of the course “Tropical Medicine and International Health), renamed in 2016 as “Tropical Medicine and Clinical Decisions Making” since there is an important component of Clinical Decision-Making beyond the descriptive pathology.
In terms of service delivery, the unit contributes to international clinical courses (such as the Gorgas course of Clinical Tropical Medicine in Peru), national and international working groups/advisory committees (on malaria vaccine and treatment, dengue vaccine, treatment and investigational drugs for neglected tropical diseases such as leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness,…) and reference networks (Chagas, strongyloidiasis,…).
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Assessing the burden and improving the diagnosis and clinical management of hyperreactive malarial splenomegaly patients in Northwest Ethiopia
Asres, M. S., Bottieau, E., van Griensven, J., Kassahun, A., Diro, E. & Berens-Riha, N.
1/01/25 → …
Project: PhD-project
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ID-BQI: Investigating and defining neglected Bartonella quintana infection and ectoparasitosis among populations experiencing houselessness
Peeters, K., Joffe, M., Bottieau, E., Cheng, M. P., Shapiro, J., Sabiston, L., Van Bortel, W. & Boodman, C. G.
1/01/24 → 31/12/26
Project: Research Project
Research output
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An unusual case of acute cholestatic hepatitis: visceral leishmaniasis with secondary haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
Gestels, N., Bottieau, E., De Vooght, A., van Ierssel, S., Libbrecht, S., Driessen, A., Francque, S., Vanwolleghem, T. & Kwanten, WJ., 2025, In: Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica. 88, 1, p. 79-85 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
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Epidemiological and clinical features of mpox during the clade Ib outbreak in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: a prospective cohort study
Brosius, I., Vakaniaki, EH., Mukari, G., Munganga, P., Tshomba, JC., De Vos, E., Bangwen, E., Mujula, Y., Tsoumanis, A., Van Dijck, C., Alengo, A., Mutimbwa-Mambo, L., Kumbana, FM., Munga, JB., Mambo, DM., Zangilwa, JW., Kitwanda, SB., Houben, S., Hoff, NA., Makangara-Cigolo, JC., & 20 others , 2025, In: Lancet. 405, 10478, p. 547-559 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
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Evaluation of a rapid lateral flow assay for the detection of taeniosis and cysticercosis at district hospital level in Tanzania: a prospective multicentre diagnostic accuracy study
Van Damme, I., Trevisan, C., Kabululu, M., Stelzle, D., Makasi, CE., Schmidt-Urbaneja, V., Mwape, KE., Mubanga, C., Zulu, G., Moller, KS., Jansen, F., Reynders, D., Noh, J., Handali, S., Bottieau, E., Winkler, AS., Dorny, P., Magnussen, P., Gabriël, S. & Ngowi, B., 2025, In: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 19, 3, 19 p., e0012310.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access