Cholera News and Research

Latest Cholera News and Research

Obama pledges $73 million to Zimbabwe

Following talks with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House Friday, President Obama pledged $73 million in aid to the country, AFP/Google.com reports (Carmichael, AFP/Google.com, 6/13).

15 Jun 2009

Zimbabwean PM to meet with Clinton, Obama in appeal for foreign aid

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met with U.S. lawmakers in Washington, D.C., Wednesday in an attempt to secure donations for a country in economic collapse, ZimOnline reports.

11 Jun 2009

New York Times examines varying definitions of 'pandemic'

"The new swine influenza virus [H1N1], which appeared suddenly after years of warning about a potential pandemic of avian influenza, upset the WHO's assumptions that most people have the same understanding of the word pandemic," says the New York Times in a report that examines the difficultly health experts have had when attempting to agree upon what constitutes a pandemic.

9 Jun 2009

Report examines Zimbabwean refugees In South Africa

According to a report released Tuesday by Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF), "Zimbabweans continue to cross the border [into South Africa] every day, legally and illegally, in massive numbers as a matter of survival," AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/2).

4 Jun 2009

U.N. agencies increase request for foreign donations to Zimbabwe

In the midst of Zimbabwe's growing humanitarian crisis, U.N. agencies on Monday released a revised statement of appeal for foreign donations totaling $718 million for "food, clean water, AIDS medicines and other aid – up from an estimate of $550 million in November," the AP/Washington Post reports (Shaw, AP/Washington Post, 6/1).

2 Jun 2009

Climate change linked to increase of cholera cases in Zambia

A study lead by researchers from the Madrid Carlos III Institute of Health associates the increase of cholera cases in Zambia with climatic factors.

23 Apr 2009

Oral rehydration solution for diarrhea

Newer polymer-based formulations of oral rehydration solution given to treat diarrhoea may offer some benefits over older sugar-salt formulations.

14 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

War wounded at risk for superbugs

Soldiers who survive severe injuries on battlefields such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan can be at risk from developing infections of their wounds with multidrug resistant bacteria.

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

Houseflies may contribute to the dispersion of drug-resistant bacteria

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found evidence that houseflies collected near broiler poultry operations may contribute to the dispersion of drug-resistant bacteria and thus increase the potential for human exposure to drug-resistant bacteria.

16 Mar 2009

Next generation antibiotic compounds that do not provoke bacterial resistance

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of medicine's most vexing challenges.

15 Mar 2009

New mouse model for peanut allergy

Chicago researchers report the development of a new mouse model for food allergy that mimics symptoms generated during a human allergic reaction to peanuts.

12 Jan 2009

Blocking mechanism found for antibiotic resistance in bacteria

It's as simple as A, T, G, C. Northwestern University scientists have exploited the Watson-Crick base pairing of DNA to provide a defensive tool that could be used to fight the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria -- one of the world's most pressing public health problems.

18 Dec 2008

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

Live oral Shigella vaccine licensed to PATH

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has licensed a pediatric vaccine against Shigella bacteria to PATH, an international nonprofit group, to support clinical trials, with the goal of developing a vaccine suitable for children in resource-poor countries.

24 Nov 2008