Diarrhoea News and Research

RSS

Cattle plague – rinderpest, eradicated for good

As welcome news, world farm monitors on Wednesday declared a cattle-killing virus that has been a curse through the ages as eradicated. This is the first time an animal disease has been eradicated in human history. The global watchdog for farm-animal trade approved a report certifying that the last 14 countries of the world were free of rinderpest, also called cattle plague.

26 May 2011

Leopoldina recommends improvements for global access to clean drinking water and sanitation to G8 states

Together with the national science academies of the other G8 states, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has prepared two statements for the G8 states in the run-up to the G8 Summit of Heads of State and Government.

21 May 2011

The Lancet publishes two pirfenidone Phase 3 trial results in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

InterMune, Inc. today announced the publication of results from two Phase 3 trials demonstrating that treatment with pirfenidone, a novel antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory drug, was associated with favorable effects on lung function, 6-minute walk test distance and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

16 May 2011

Parasites in human waste fertilizers alarm health experts

It has been suggested that human faeces used as fertiliser on farms are leading to the spread of ‘Third World’ parasites causing a serious stomach illness across Sydney.

8 May 2011

Study shows possibility of women living with AIDS to breastfeed with lower risk

In low-income countries, 1.4 million women are living with the Aids virus. If no prevention measures are taken, the risk for future mothers of transmitting HIV to their child in utero, during delivery or when breastfeeding is 35%.

20 Apr 2011

IBD patients at greater risk of death if infected with Clostridium difficile

Patients admitted to hospital with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) face a sixfold greater risk of death if they become infected with Clostridium difficile, a new study has found. The researchers say IBD patients should be screened on admission to protect them from serious illness.

20 Apr 2011

How peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome

University of Adelaide researchers have shown for the first time how peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which affects up to 20% of the population.

20 Apr 2011

Experts to discuss latest findings in IBD research at Rome meeting

Experts from 11 countries will gather this week in Rome to discuss innovative strategies for studying and treating Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

12 Apr 2011

Scientists confirm presence of infectious life forms in waste, drinking water treatment plants

"The presence of two resistent forms of protozoons, the oocysts from the Cryptosporidium genus and cysts of the Giardia genus, is one of the greatest public health problems in water supply, because these parasites can easily survive our water treatment systems", Jos- Antonio Castro Hermida, a scientist at the Galician Institute for Food Quality in the Xunta de Galicia, tells SINC.

24 Feb 2011

Scientists find bovine colostrum can massively reduce leaky gut syndrome

Scientists investigating natural ways to enhance athletic performance have found that bovine colostrum can massively reduce gut permeability - otherwise known as 'leaky gut syndrome.'

24 Feb 2011

Report finds neglected diseases research funding up in 2009, funding for related non-profits down

"A rise in global funding for research into neglected diseases needs to be matched by a continued focus on delivering practical new ways to curb sickness in the developing world," according to the third annual report by the Global Funding of Innovation for Neglected Diseases released on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

18 Feb 2011

GAVI chair calls for greater reductions in vaccine prices for developing countries

On Monday, the same day the GAVI Alliance helped oversee the roll out of a routine pneumococcal vaccine in Kenya, GAVI chairman Dagfinn Hoybraten highlighted the need for greater reductions in vaccine prices in developing countries during an interview with Reuters, the news service reports. The piece examines the funding mechanism in place to finance the pneumococcal vaccines, known as Advance Market Commitment (AMC), as well as the budget shortfall facing the group (Kelland, 2/14).

16 Feb 2011

Guardian online series explores global health worker issues

The Guardian reports, as part of an online feature about health care workforces worldwide done in association with the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA), that "Africa is desperately short of doctors and nurses. So is much of Asia. In 57 countries, the situation is deemed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be at crisis point ... But in contrast to some other developing world problems, this is an issue that really does affect all of us. The world needs an estimated 4.2 million more health workers."

19 Jan 2011

Clostridium bacteria may offer a greener alternative to petrol

A diverse family of bacteria that can cause a potentially fatal illness in humans but could offer a greener alternative to petrol to power our cars will be the subject of a talk by a University of Nottingham academic at an international conference.

12 Jan 2011

AlertNet features 20 low-cost ideas that could improve health, reduce poverty

AlertNet posed health, technology, water and other experts questions, such as, "[w]hat cheap, low-tech innovations could be used to improve the lives of the poor? Which potentially life-saving ideas have been knocking around for years but still aren't widely practised?"

11 Jan 2011

Floods may become a healthcare challenge, warns the AMA

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has issued warnings to the Queensland health authorities to prepare for the rise of illnesses and injuries caused by the floods.

10 Jan 2011

Inadequate sanitation costs India close to $54B, World Bank report finds

"Inadequate sanitation cost India about 6.4% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or the equivalent of $53.8 billion (Rs.2.4 trillion today) in 2006, according to a new report (.pdf) from the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), a global partnership administered by the World Bank," Livemint reports (Ghost, 12/21).

22 Dec 2010

Zealand receives EUR 500,000 milestone payment from Helsinn Healthcare for ZP1846 development program

Zealand Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative peptide drugs that recently listed on NASDAQ OMX, today announces the receipt of a EUR 500,000 (DKK 3.73 million) milestone payment as part of its license agreement with Helsinn Healthcare for the development of ZP1846 for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhoea. This milestone payment has no impact on the Company's outlook for 2010.

9 Dec 2010

Gavi Alliance elects new chair to continue global immunisation efforts

Former Norwegian Minister of Health and current member of parliament Dagfinn Høybråten was unanimously elected by the GAVI Alliance Board as its new Chair, GAVI announced on the first day of its board meeting taking place in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

30 Nov 2010

RCSI researchers discover potential new target for diarrhoea associated intestinal diseases

A study by researchers in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has uncovered a potential new target for the treatment of a range of intestinal diseases that are associated with diarrhoea. Current medications are often ineffective and can have serious side effects so this discovery gives hope for the development of new treatments for sufferers of intestinal disease.

30 Nov 2010