Leishmaniasis parasites evade death by exploiting the immune response to sand fly bites
Cutaneous leishmaniasis, a disease characterized by painful skin ulcers, occurs when the parasite Leishmania major, or a related species, is transmitted to a mammalian host by the bite of an infected sand fly. In a new study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, scientists have discovered L. major does its damage by not only evading but also by exploiting the body’s wound-healing response to sand fly bites, as reported in the August 15 issue of Science. Read more
Nano vaccine for hepatitis B shows promise for third world
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Chronic hepatitis B infects 400 million people worldwide, many of them children. Even with three effective vaccines available, hepatitis B remains a stubborn, unrelenting health problem, especially in Africa and other developing areas. The disease and its complications cause an estimated 1 million deaths globally each year.
International Red Cross adopts cholera prevention program in Kenya, developed by Hebrew U. students
Under consideration by Kenyan Ministry of Public Health & Sanitation
A cholera prevention program developed by students of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School’s International Masters in Public Health Program has been adopted by the Red Cross in Kenya.
The system, which was utilized by the Red Cross in the displaced persons camps during the recent political crisis in Kenya, was found to be highly effective in prevention and management of the disease. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (IFRC) is now preparing to implement the program beyond the camps.
Africa Cardiovascular Health News Update: August 2008
Africa Cardiovascular Health News Update: August 2008
Cardiovascular disease prevention news in Africa Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Global.
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Africa: Librarian workshop
The World Health Organization Africa Regional Office organized the first workshop for WHO/AFRO Country Office librarians/documentalists on 7-11 July 2008 in Brazzaville, Congo. Participants came from WHO country offices, the WHO Geneva Library and the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa based in Pretoria, South Africa. Further information will be available at the upcoming AHILA (Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa) 11 Congress on 6-10 October 2008 in Maputo, Mozambique.
WHO/AFRO Library: http://www.afro.who.int/library/index.html
Tonga RHD prevention program receives 2008 Heart Hero Award
ProCor is pleased to announce that the Rheumatic Heart Disease Prevention Program in Tonga has been selected to receive the 2008 Louise Lown Heart Hero Award. The program screens primary school children for rheumatic heart disease and provides early, effective treatment.
Rheumatic heart disease deaths occur almost exclusively in developing countries, primarily affecting children, adolescents, and young adults. Many cases are detected too late, when the disease has progressed to cardiac failure. A study recently published in Nature Clinical Practice reported that Tonga has the highest prevalence (confirmed by echocardiogram) of rheumatic heart disease in the world (1).
Prevalence of dementia in the developing world underestimated
Previous estimates of levels of dementia in the developing world may have substantially underestimated the problem, according to research published today. The findings suggest that policymakers in low-income and middle-income countries may need to re-examine the burden and impact that dementia places on their health services.
Read more
An effective vaccine against malaria has been developed and could be licensed by 2010, scientists say
Many other candidate vaccines are in development, but experts say trial results of this one, published in the Lancet, are the most promising yet.
The vaccine was used to protect 2,022 children in Mozambique and cut the risk of developing severe malaria by 58%.
Read more
Group A rotavirus in Kenyan children and using the best evidence to guide TB diagnosis
Group A rotavirus in Kenyan children
Combining prospective hospital-based surveillance with demographic data in Kilifi, Kenya, James Nokes (of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme) and colleagues assess the burden of rotavirus diarrhoea in young children. They find that over 2% of children in Kilifi are admitted to hospital with group A rotavirus diarrhoea in the first 5 years of life. “This translates into over 28,000 vaccine-preventable hospitalisations per year across Kenya,” say the authors, “and is likely to be a considerable underestimate.”
Citation: Nokes DJ, Abwao J, Pamba A, Peenze I, Dewar J, et al. (2008) Incidence and clinical characteristics of group A rotavirus infections among children admitted to hospital in Kilifi, Kenya. PLoS Med 5(7): e153.doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050153
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050153
Malaria control goals are likely to be unachievable
For malaria control goals to be achieved, we must in the future tie funding commitments closer to level of need, says new research by Bob Snow and colleagues from the Kenyan Medical Research Institute-Oxford University-Wellcome Trust Collaborative Programme.
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New research links International Monetary Fund loans with higher death rates from tuberculosis
nternational Monetary Fund (IMF) loans were associated with a 16.6% rise in death rates from tuberculosis (TB) in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern European countries between 1992 and 2002, finds a study in this week’s PLoS Medicine.
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Whooping cough: bacterial monitoring for better prevention
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Institut Pasteur in Lille have analyzed the consequences of intensive vaccination of young children against whooping cough on the bacterium agent of the disease. Their observations highlight the importance of continuing bacterial evolution in order to adapt vaccine strategies. Read more
Genetic variation increases HIV risk in Africans
A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 per cent, according to new research. Conversely, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years.
Genetic cause of innate resistance to HIV/AIDS
MUHC and CHUM researchers demonstrate how 2 specific genes are involved in an innate resistance to HIV infection
Some people may be naturally resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The results of a study conducted by Dr. Nicole Bernard of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) bring us closer to a genetic explanation. Her study findings were published on July 16 in the journal AIDS. Read more
Mutation in human gene helps protect against fatal malaria
TORONTO, ON. – New research suggests that not everyone who is bitten by a malaria-infected mosquito develops life threatening health problems according to scientists at the University of Toronto.
Malaria causes an estimated 500 million clinical cases worldwide with symptoms ranging from headache, high fevers and nausea to more than 1 million deaths annually. Read more
Study shows paradoxical relationship between dengue hemorrhagic fever and its carrier mosquitoes
A study by researchers in Thailand, Japan, and the UK has shown a negative correlation between dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and the density of the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the virus. The study, published July 16th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, explains how current efforts to reduce the mosquitoes may actually increase the incidence of the potentially fatal viral disease.
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Disease Outbreak News- BMC Infectious Diseases
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