August 15, 2014
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
New research has found traces of antimicrobial chemicals in the blood of newborn babies and the urine of pregnant women. In addition to contributing to rising levels of antimicrobial resistance, constant exposure to these chemicals could have hormonal side effects. [The Atlantic]
The use of experimental treatments on victims of the Ebola outbreak poses a number of ethical dilemmas. Regardless, the extent of the outbreak pushed the WHO to support the use of these treatments on Ebola patients this week. [NPR, Voice of America]
The WHO says official statistics may be vastly underestimating the scope of the Ebola outbreak. [CBS News]
Research published this week in the journal Cell have developed a new computational method that focuses on the function of disease-causing genes, starting with the protein EXP1 a protein known to be essential to the malaria parasite. [EurekAlert]
Prisons in the US state of Alabama are facing their worst tuberculosis outbreak in five years. [International Business Times]
Deaths from malaria and other infectious diseases could skyrocket in West Africa, where the Ebola outbreak is burdening the health care system. [The Independent]
California legislation that would ban the subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock feed has been passed by the State Assembly. The bill is now with the State Senate for approval with amendments. CDDEP reported on the bill in April. [Food Safety News]
An experimental vaccine to protect against the mosquito-borne viral infection chikungunya performed well in a recent clinical trial, the results of which were published in The Lancet. [National Institutes of Health]
A study published in Science Translational Medicine has shown that injections of bacteria can shrink or eliminate cancerous tumors. [TIME]
CDDEP s recent research on the impact of introducing a rotavirus vaccine to India s Universal Immunization Program was featured in Biospectrum India. In case you missed it. [Biospectrum India]
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