August 30, 2013
A weekly roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
According to a new quasi-experimental study assessing WHO’s strategy for improving hand hygiene and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, implementation of the WHO strategies is feasible and sustainable across a range of settings in different countries and leads to significant compliance and knowledge improvement in health-care workers, supporting recommendation for use worldwide. [WHO]
A new study published in the journal Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control analyzed the survival status of different bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and suggested that the type of banknote-paper could influence the transmission of resistant bacteria. [Infection Control Today]
A study published in the journal mBio describes a novel mechanism of action through which vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) develop resistance to daptomycin, one of the few antibiotics able to treat multidrug-resistant enterococci. This study finds that daptomycin-resistant VREs divert the antibiotic away from the drug s principal target to other distinct cell membrane regions, where the drug becomes ineffective. [Infection Control Today]
At a meeting of China s National People s Congress, Li Bin, head of the country s National Health and Planning Commision, states that China has built the world s largest reporting network for infectious diseases and public health emergencies by setting up about 3,500 state-level stations to monitor 28 infectious diseases along with surveillance stations in 285 ports open to foreign countries and 168 healthcare centers for international travel. [China Daily]
Responding to Novartis s allegations that India has discriminatory practices towards multinational firms, S. R. Rao, India s Commerce Secretary states that multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis have been major beneficiaries of India s patent regime. We wrote about this story previously in the Weekly Digest when India s Supreme Court denied a patent to Novartis for its anti-cancer drug Gleevec. [The Hindu]
Cambodia s National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control reports that compared to the first half of 2012, during the first half of 2013, deaths from malaria have declined by 85 percent, while the total number of malaria cases have decreased by 52%. Quoting the WHO, the story writes that these improvements are linked to the country’s large-scale mosquito-net distribution program. [The Phnom Penh Post]
Research published in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience shows how the use of drug-delivering biodegradable nanofibers that release antibiotics directly into the brain in the treatment of brain infections reduce the toxicity associated with parenteral antibiotic treatment and the expense involved with long-term hospitalization. [Nano Werk]
Disposable microneedle patches that are made from biomaterials to diagnose tuberculosis have been tested on guinea pigs, and they are found to be a simpler, more reliable and painless alternative to the traditional injection, according to new research published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. [The Engineer]
A study by MIT researchers published in the journal Atmospheric Environment estimates that there are over 200,000 early deaths annually in the US due to combustion emissions, with road transportation being the most significant contributor. A state-by-state analysis in the study also revealed that California, with about 21,000 annual deaths attributable to air pollution, suffers the worst health impacts. [Red Orbit]
Results from a research letter published in The Journal of the American Medical Association show that immunizing infants with the rotavirus vaccine not only provides protection to infants but also indirectly benefits older children and adults: specifically, this study shows that after vaccination the incidence of rotavirus declined by 80% for children under the age of 4, by 70% for children aged 5 to 14, and by 53% for adults aged 15 to 24. [LA Times]
An article published in Science Translational Medicine explores the impact of multistakeholder collaboration on biomedical innovation, which is most notable in the global pharmaceutical industry, and argues for the development of a science of collaboration that can provide a shared taxonomy, a conceptual framework, and tools to build a knowledge base that informs strategies and tactics for funding, design, management, monitoring, and coordination of new initiatives. [Science Daily]
Authors of a new systematic review of 13 studies on malaria control published in the Cochrane Reviews conclude that larval source management (LSM), a method to control malaria by targeting mosquito larvae, is a feasible policy option for reducing malaria morbidity in both urban and rural areas [in Africa and Asia] where a sufficient proportion of larval habitats can be targeted. [Eureka Alert]
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