July 18, 2014
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
CDDEP extends its condolences to the families of those on the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. We are deeply saddened to learn that many of those lost were health researchers and policymakers en route to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne.
CDDEP WEBINAR: Join CDDEP researchers at 1 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 23rd for an online discussion of their recent study on rising rates of antibiotic consumption and its consequences. Increased consumption both necessary and unnecessary leads to higher rates of antibiotic resistance. This webinar will place particular focus on antibiotic consumption and resistance in the United States. Email [email protected] for information on attending the webinar.
Economic growth has done little to reduce malnutrition and stunted growth in India, according to CDDEP Director Ramanan Laxminarayan. India s stunting problem represents the largest loss of human potential in any country in history, and it affects 20 times more people in India alone than HIV/AIDS does around the world, he told The New York Times. [The New York Times]
CDDEP Director Ramanan Laxminarayan has been scheduled to speak at this year s TEDMED conference, where he will discuss an unusual, yet practical, approach to conserving antibiotics. Keep an eye on our website and weekly digest for updates on his presentation. Click here to see the stage program for TEDMED 2014. [TEDMED]
WIRED s Maryn McKenna interviewed Donald Ainslie Henderson, a leader of the smallpox eradication effort, following the recent discovery of live smallpox virus on the National Institutes of Health campus. [WIRED]
Cases of highly resistant and highly contagious carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) have increased fivefold in community hospitals in the southeastern US, according to a new study. The authors warn that we are rapidly approaching a “CRE epidemic”. [Infection Control Today]
The first cases of locally acquired chikungunya fever have been identified in Florida. [Miami Herald]
Seven UK research councils will collaborate in an effort to combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs. [The Independent]
A study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham revealed that the inappropriate use of antibiotics remains widespread in emergency departments at hospitals. [Birmingham Business Journal]
Papers published this week in the journals Science and eLife propose fighting malaria by genetically modifying mosquito DNA to render the insects resistant to the malaria parasite. [Science, eLife]
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Image via Atilla Siha/Flickr.
