December 21, 2012
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
Happy holidays from CDDEP!
This year has been a momentous one for the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP). Read more about our work here.
In its latest World Malaria Report 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that stagnant funding in the fight against malaria could reverse recent gains in malaria prevention and treatment. The report also projects that India could achieve 50 to 75 percent decline in malaria cases by 2015. [BBC, Times of India]
Weighing in on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010, an article in The Economist suggests that the time may have come for a review of the world s approach to public health. [The Economist]
NPR s brief animated video documents the history of malaria drugs up to the widespread use of artemisinin. [NPR]
A series of cartoons created by the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas, a predecessor of the CDC, documents how the U.S. officially eradicated malaria in 1951. [NPR]
Research published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases shows that amoxicillin, a common antibiotic to treat respiratory infections, is no more helpful than a placebo in treating patients with a non-pneumonia lower respiratory tract infection. [Scientific American]
The recent restructuring of U.S. global health agencies does not solve the interagency coordination problem, argues an article in the World Politics Review. [WPR]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been withholding data on farm antibiotic use, and will continue to do so, reports Wired s Superbug blog. [Wired]
A new survey shows that 90% of Canadian healthcare workers do not follow proper hand hygiene procedures. [Infection Control Today]
In a study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, a new weather-based model could predict outbreaks of dengue fever up to four months in advance. [SciDev]
The latest new weapon to help detect dangerous Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections could be…dogs? A proof of principle study in the British Medical Journal claims that dogs superior sense of smell could indeed aid doctors in identifying C. diff infections early. [Treehugger, BMJ]
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