News for Africa Doc

Coated silica particles filter out toxins, pathogens

Tiny particles of pure silica coated with an active material could be used to remove toxic chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and other hazardous materials from water much more effectively and at lower cost than conventional water purification methods, according to researchers writing in the current issue of the International Journal of Nanotechnology.

Findings from a National Institute of Health (NIH) study indicate that rates of tobacco use during pregnancy, as well as exposure of pregnant women and their young children to secondhand smoke, are significant threats to health in several low and middle-income countries. In a few of the countries sampled, including some in Latin America, rates of tobacco-related exposures may already be high enough to warrant substantial concern.

Results of Phase II study of ARV-based microbicide presented at international meeting in India bolster interest in latest approach

Findings from largest-ever clinical trial of diabetes treatments show no evidence that intensive treatment to lower blood glucose is associated with increased mortality

Montreal, February 28, 2008 - Data from the ADVANCE Study, involving 11,140 high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes, provides no evidence of an increased risk of death among those patients receiving aggressive treatment to lower blood glucose.

African sleeping sickness could be eliminated say tropical disease experts

While the annual number of new detected cases of African sleeping sickness has been falling since the late 1990s, there could still be a resurgence of the disease unless control efforts are maintained, say tropical disease experts in this week's PLoS Medicine.