September 19, 2014
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
President Obama signed an Executive Order this week announcing a series of new actions combating antibiotic resistance on a federal level. Read more about the initiatives at the CDDEP blog, and view the announcement at the White House website.
According to a study published this week in Pediatrics, US doctors prescribe antibiotics for children with upper respiratory infections almost twice as often as is necessary, leading to around 11 million unneeded courses of antibiotics taken each year. [NPR]
The UN stated on Tuesday that the worldwide child mortality rate has fallen by almost half since 1990, though nearly 6.3 million children under five still died last year, many of preventable causes. [AP]
A recent study by French researchers suggests that some malaria parasites may be able to sense and react to the presence of nearby mosquitoes, in order to more successfully be carried to new hosts. [The New York Times]
The US government pledged an additional $763 million and 3000 military personnel to Ebola-fighting efforts this week. The latest WHO report lists more than 2500 deaths and a total of 5000 sickened by the outbreak. [USA Today]
A Reuters investigation published this week found widespread systematic use of antibiotics for non-therapeutic purposes in US factory farms. [Reuters]
Dengue fever, a sometimes fatal mosquito-borne illness that struck dozens in Japan earlier this month, may have met its match: a group of Australian scientists recently released thousands of mosquitoes carrying a bacteria that, when passed on to offspring, they believe can “virtually eliminate” dengue in local areas. [WSJ]
A more affordable Hepatitis C treatment could soon be available in the developing world. Drug manufacturer Gilead Sciences made agreements with seven generic drug makers in India to sell Sovaldi – currently one of the most expensive medicines in the world, at over $1000 per pill in the US – at significantly reduced prices. [The New York Times]
The majority of children who experience seizures and develop epilepsy after being vaccinated have an underlying cause for the disorder that is unrelated to the vaccinations, according to a new Pediatrics study. [Reuters]
A CDC study published this week found that US hospitals could save more than $163 million by implementing appropriate antibiotic prescribing practices. [Healthcare Finance News]
What happens when we all live to 100? There could be over 100 million Americans over the age of 65 by 2050; as life expectancy continues to increase, the US and the world will face new challenges. [The Atlantic]
In a CDDEP blogpost this week, Professor Ken Outterson writes about how the simple numbers of FDA antibiotic approvals in the last 30 years don’t tell a complete story. View his post and a new visualization at the CDDEP blog.
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