Sanitization News and Research

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UK tops the list of countries at extreme risk to the spread of swine flu

A Warwick Business School professor and one of the founders of global risks specialist, Maplecroft, has released three new maps and indices revealing the countries most at risk from an influenza pandemic.

12 Jun 2009

Times of Zambia/allAfrica.com examines maternal mortality

The Times of Zambia/allAfrica.com examines abortion in Zambia and efforts to reduce maternal mortality. "Unsafe abortions are one of the top five causes of maternal mortality in Zambia," writes the newspaper, which adds they are one factor keeping the country from meeting the U.N. Millennium Development Goal target of reducing maternal mortality.

9 Jun 2009

International health experts to discuss environmental effects on children's health

International health experts will gather through Wednesday in Busan, South Korea, to discuss the effects of the environment on children's health for the Third WHO International Conference on Children's Health and the Environment, the Korea Times reports.

9 Jun 2009

Ongoing refugee crisis in Pakistan overwhelms health system

The AP/Washington Post examines how the millions of Pakistani refugees fleeing from the army's offensive against the Taliban in the northwest of the country are overwhelming the country's health care system. "The crisis has exhausted doctors, used up limited supplies of medicines and buried hospitals in a mountain of red tape as they try to get money and medicine for the crisis" pushing the entire health system to the brink of collapse, the AP/Washington Post writes.

9 Jun 2009

WHO recommends worldwide use of rotavirus vaccine for children

To reduce an estimated half million deaths and two million hospitalizations from diarrhea caused by rotavirus each year, the WHO on Friday recommended that oral rotavirus vaccines be added to national childhood immunization programs, broadening access to the vaccine in the developing world, Reuters reports.

5 Jun 2009

WHO recommends global use of rotavirus vaccines - can protect millions of children from diarrhoeal diseaseas

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that rotavirus vaccination be included in all national immunization programmes to provide protection against a virus that is responsible for more than 500,000 diarrhoeal deaths and 2 million hospitalizations every year among children. More than 85% of these deaths occur in developing countries in Africa and Asia. This new policy will help ensure access to rotavirus vaccines in the world's poorest countries.

5 Jun 2009

Report shows Jamaica's progress towards achieving U.N. MDGs

Jamaica has already achieved some U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets and is "on track" to attain five more, according to a report that mapped the country's progress toward the MDGs, the Jamaica Observer reports.

2 Jun 2009

Researchers gain ground in efforts to fight parasite infection

New findings by researchers UT Southwestern Medical Center are accelerating efforts to eradicate worm infections that afflict a third of the world's population.

26 May 2009

American Indian tribes to get $500 million in stimulus funds for health projects

Newly appointed IHS Director Yvette Roubideaux on Friday announced that American Indian tribes will receive $500 million as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package to fund health care projects, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports.

18 May 2009

Global poverty eradication efforts should start with health issues, opinion piece says

"Eradicating global poverty starts with the health of the world's poor," Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority leader and currently a member of the Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) Board of Directors, writes in a Charlotte Observer opinion piece.

18 May 2009

Transmission of MRSA and Clostridium difficile through dogs

In a letter to the Editor of the Journal of Hospital Infection, published by Elsevier, S. Lefebvre and J.S. Weese from the University of Guelph in Canada describe a study that investigated whether MRSA and C.difficile could be passed between pet therapy dogs and patients.

7 May 2009

Sustainability of ongoing interventions key to successful schistosomiasis control

A decade after the conclusion of a schistosomiasis control program in Mali, prevalence of the disease had regressed to pre-intervention levels, according to a study published May 5 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

4 May 2009

DNA "barcodes" used to map mosquito species in West Africa that spread lymphatic filariasis

New biotechnologies that allow scientists to quickly and accurately distinguish species based on a simple DNA analysis are being creatively deployed for the first time in the war against a major global disease.

29 Apr 2009

Safety of bird flu drug Tamiflu in children questioned

A prominent Japanese researcher reporting on the bird flu drug Tamiflu says the drug may not be safe for children.

20 Apr 2009

Diarrhoea treatment fails to reach the poorest children

Acute dehydration caused by diarrhoea is one of the most common causes of death amongst children in low and middle-income countries. A new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet now shows that almost half a billion cases of child diarrhoea a year could be treated if they all received treatment equal to the best standards in their home countries.

7 Apr 2009

Intestinal parasites significantly reduce immune response to the cholera toxin

Cholera patients also infected with parasitic intestinal worms have a significantly reduced immune response to the cholera toxin, according to a report published March 31st in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Mar 2009

Africa's ongoing cholera epidemic "unconscionable"

Although illness rates and mortality from cholera have been drastically reduced in a vast majority of the world, Africa remains plagued by soaring cases and deaths from the waterborne intestinal disease.

24 Mar 2009

FDA shuts down a flour tortilla manufacturer for repeated violations

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Del Rey Tortilleria Inc., Chicago, Ill., its president, and two general managers have entered into a consent decree of permanent injunction that prevents Del Rey Tortilleria from manufacturing and distributing soft-shell flour tortillas until the company obtains FDA approval.

8 Mar 2009

Broken health system aggravates cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe

A widespread cholera outbreak, under-resourced and under-staffed health system, and inadequate access to safe drinking water and hygiene are threatening the wellbeing of thousands of Zimbabweans. As of 9 December, 16,141 suspected cases of cholera and 775 resultant deaths (case fatality rate of 4.8%) had been recorded since August in two-thirds of the country's 62 districts.

10 Dec 2008

Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe

As of 1 December 2008, the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe has reported a total of 11 735 cholera cases with 484 deaths since August 2008, affecting all provinces in the country. The overall case fatality rate is 4% but has reached up to 20¨C30% in remote areas. Out of the total number of cases, 50% have been reported from Budiriro, a high density suburb of the capital city, Harare.

2 Dec 2008