Here is a look at some interesting infectious disease and health news, opinion and research reported across the globe:
Unsticking malaria
One feature of the most virulent species of malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is its ability to make infected red blood cells stick to the endothelial cells lining blood vessels, including those serving the brain. This process, known as cytoadherence, has been associated with the development of the severe symptoms of the disease known as cerebral malaria.
Research into tropical eye worm, Loa loa, yields new tests to rapidly assess safety of anti-filarial drugs
Co-infection with Loa loa causes loiasis, which is a major barrier to the elimination of onchocerciasis (river blindness) a major neglected tropical disease (NTD). It is intended that the new models will accelerate the development of urgently needed alternative interventions, including novel therapies which are safe in loiasis patients, to accelerate elimination of river blindness in Central Africa.
Diseases cost the African Region $2.4 trillion a year, says WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that nearly 630 million years of healthy life were lost in 2015 due to the diseases afflicting the population across its 47 Member States in Africa, now amounting to a loss of more than 2.4 trillion international dollars ($) from the region’s gross domestic product value annually.
A global team of researchers, led by a research team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), are calling for a review of drug-based strategies used to prevent malaria infections in pregnant women, in areas where there is widespread resistance to existing antimalarial medicines.
With Measles Spreading, What Actually Causes Autism?
If vaccines don’t cause autism, what does? The scientific community owes the world an answer to this question.
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- New York: Invasive meningococcal disease in Far Rockaway, Queens
- Outbreak News This Week Radio Show: Rockland measles outbreak, RFK Jr., Health promotion
- Shigella Outbreak Sickens 107 Wedding Guests In Yamhill County, Near Portland, Oregon
- Legionnaires’ Disease Kills One, Sickens Another in California
- Mumps outbreak in Madrid: Dozens of cases reported at Pontifical University of Comillas
- Rat lungworm: Hawaii reports 2nd case of 2019
- The Epidemiology of the 2017 Plague Epidemic in Madagascar
- Spokane: Meningococcal meningitis case reported in Sacajawea Middle School student
- Malaria treatment: Quinidine discontinued, Artesunate now first-line treatment for severe malaria in US