Research Agreement to Develop New Drugs against Diarrhea

The collaboration between the Center for World Health and Medicine and the Institute for OneWorld Health aims to develop safe and effective anti-secretory drugs.

A research agreement between the Center for World Health and Medicine at Saint Louis University and the Institute for OneWorld Health have been established to develop new drugs to combat diarrhea, the second leading cause of death worldwide in children under age 5.

Each year more than two million children in developing countries die from diarrheal diseases, which are caused by a wide range of bacterial, parasitic and viral pathogens. These organisms can be particularly virulent in the developing world, which is plagued by poor sanitation, unclean water, malnutrition and a lack of knowledge about how to prevent the illnesses.

Diarrhea is frequently a symptom of another disease, such as cholera and  rotavirus, and turns deadly in children who rapidly