Diarrhea News and Research

Latest Diarrhea News and Research

International commitment to reduce maternal and child deaths by 2015 will not be met

An international commitment to reduce maternal and child deaths by 2015 will not be met at the current pace unless rapid and coordinated action is taken now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

5 Apr 2005

How E.Coli became deadly to humans

Twenty-three years ago a harmless gut bacterium called E. coli developed the ability to kill people through food poisoning, bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure. Normally E. coli bacteria live in the intestine and don’t pose any danger, but some varieties can cause fatal food poisoning.

4 Apr 2005

Study finds direct link between use of alcohol hand gel and reduction in hospital infections

Hospitals whose healthcare workers had access to alcohol gel to disinfect hands had a decreased risk of hospital- associated infections in their patients compared to hospitals whose staff did not have a regular alcohol hand gel program, according to a new study from Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and published in the April 1 edition of Pediatrics.

4 Apr 2005

CDC experts sent to Angola to help with Marburg epidemic

In an effort to control the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola, Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta will assist the World Health Organization by going to Angola to help with outbreak investigation, infection control and laboratory diagnosis of the disease.

30 Mar 2005

Marburg death toll in Angola now up to 122

Carlos Alberto, a spokesman for the Angolan health ministry, says the death toll in the Marburg hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Angola has now risen to 122, just one fewer than in the largest previous outbreak of the disease, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1998 to 200 and killed 123 of 149 people infected.

28 Mar 2005

New estimates of the causes of child mortality worldwide

Seventy-three percent of the 10.6 million child deaths worldwide each year are the result of six causes: pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, neonatal sepsis, preterm delivery and asphyxia at birth.

28 Mar 2005

Most accurate estimates of the causes of child deaths to date

The most accurate estimates of the causes of child deaths to date, published in this week’s issue of The Lancet, reveal that worldwide more than 70% of the 10·6 million child deaths that occur annually are attributable to six causes: pneumonia (19%), diarrhoea (18%), malaria (8%), neonatal sepsis or pneumonia (10%), preterm delivery (10%), and asphyxia at birth (8%).

28 Mar 2005

African genome research given impetus

Millions of victims in Africa, die each year from preventable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria and researchers say only a relatively small proportion of money is spent on developing vaccines, much more is spent on drugs aimed at tackling diseases more prevalent among rich, Western consumers.

21 Mar 2005

Drug-resistant bacteria on uncooked poultry products varies by commercial brand

The presence of drug-resistant, pathogenic bacteria on uncooked poultry products varies by commercial brand and is likely related to antibiotic use in production, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

16 Mar 2005

Thalidomide - new treatment for cancer

Thalidomide, famous in the 60's because of limb deformities in babies born to women who had taken it for morning sickness, was withdrawn in 1961. Now doctors say it could be used as a treatment for cancer.

8 Mar 2005

Norovirus found to cause traveler's diarrhea

A majority of traveler’s diarrhea cases among U.S. travelers to Mexico and Guatemala were attributed to Norovirus, a common cause of nonbacterial gastroenteritis outbreaks usually associated with developed countries, according to a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions.

8 Mar 2005

Lancet neonatal survival series

Three million of the four million newborn babies who die worldwide each year could be saved by low-tech and low-cost interventions, concludes a landmark series of articles published online by The Lancet (Thursday March 3, 2005).

3 Mar 2005

Genome clues to amoebic dysentery

Each year, there are an estimated 50 million cases of amoebic dysentery, causing up to 100,000 deaths, mostly in developing countries. On Thursday 24 February 2005, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their colleagues reported in Nature magazine the genome sequence of the parasite that causes the disease, Entamoeba histolytica.

1 Mar 2005

New compounds for the treatment of HIV/AIDS

Scientists from Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd. presented data on several new compounds for the treatment of HIV/AIDS at the 12th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), held February 22-25 in Boston, MA, USA.

27 Feb 2005

Self-reporting of symptoms by patients with ulcerative colitis better than assessing patients with endoscopy

People living with fatigue, abdominal discomfort and bloody diarrhea caused by the chronic inflammation of ulcerative colitis may no longer need to undergo frequent and uncomfortable endoscopies, a new study shows.

27 Feb 2005

Shigella infects cells by using a secretion system to inject proteins into human cells

According to research published in Science, the team from Imperial College London and Institut Pasteur, Paris, found that shigella, the bacteria which causes dysentery, is able to invade cells, while stopping any response from the immune system.

27 Feb 2005

Common clinical problem, Rosacea

A number of clinical symptoms and signs are included under the broad group Rosacea. Facial flushing, the appearance of broken blood vessels and persistent redness of the face, eruption of inflamed spots & pimples, on the face and thickening of the sebaceous glands of the nose, with swelling & congestion in that area.

24 Feb 2005

Ebola virus outbreaks linked to infected wild animal carcasses

All recent Ebola virus outbreaks in humans in forests between Gabon and the Republic of Congo were the result of handling infected wild animal carcasses, according to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its regional partners

14 Feb 2005

Health risks increase in Guyana with leptospirosis

Leptospirosis has become a health concern in Guyana, as the number of cases continues to rise and 43 people were being treated for suspected cases of the bacterial disease, which is usually caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals.

8 Feb 2005

Study supports giving dehydrated children fluids by mouth, oral rehydration therapy

Oral rehydration therapy, or giving fluids by mouth, is equally effective as giving intravenous fluids to young children dehydrated by common stomach and intestinal inflammations, according to a new study by emergency medicine physicians.

7 Feb 2005