Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness

Could one discovery take on three deadly parasites?

By Meera Senthilingam, for CNN

Updated 1210 GMT (2010 HKT) August 9, 2016

'Kissing bug' could be deadly 01:37

Story highlights

• Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness kill more than 50,000 people a year
• A newly identified compound could help create more potent drugs against all three

(CNN)At first look, three particular tropical diseases could seem unrelated.