PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

The latest impact factors (for 2007) have just been released from Thomson Reuters. They are as follows:
PLoS Biology - 13.5
PLoS Medicine - 12.6
PLoS Computational Biology - 6.2
PLoS Genetics - 8.7
PLoS Pathogens - 9.3

The following is a statement from Peter Hotez, Editor in Chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, in reaction to President Bush’s announcement yesterday of a new global initiative to combat neglected tropical diseases.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases invited Dr Joana Lowell, Project Director at the non-profit Bio Ventures for Global Health, to write a Guest Blog on the upcoming Partnering for Global Health Forum.

Did Christopher Columbus and his men introduce syphilis into Renaissance Europe, after contracting it during their voyage to the New World? Or does this pathogen have a much older history? A study by Kristin Harper and colleagues published last week in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases lends support to what’s known as the Columbian theory of syphilis’s origin while suggesting that the non-sexually-transmitted subspecies arose earlier in the Old World.

The study spread throughout both mainstream press and science blogosphere alike, as did a related Expert Commentary, written by Connie Mulligan and colleagues, that challenged the methods and findings of the syphilis study.

As Frédéric Tangy and colleagues explained in their recent study in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, "The development of an affordable pediatric vaccine that could provide long-term protection against all four dengue serotypes remains a global public health priority."