News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Polio cases in Africa were almost halved in 2011, but the disease shows worrisome trends in some countries, health officials reported today as the continent geared up to vaccinate 111 million children against the disease.

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity remained low in the Northern Hemisphere last week, with only a few countries, such as Costa Rica and Cameroon, reporting spikes in the number of cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

Costa Rica is the only tropical country in the Americas to report increasing numbers of cases, which are primarily influenza A/H3N2, the WHO said.

(CIDRAP News) – A few of the world's tropical countries are reporting active flu transmission, as the flu season continues in Australia and New Zealand, though activity is declining, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The first cases in Haiti's cholera outbreak were confirmed nearly a year ago, and public health lessons from the experience and scientific clues about the Vibrio cholerae strain continue to emerge, including new details from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its research partners.

(CIDRAP News) – Australian public health officials yesterday reported a cluster of oseltamivir (Tamiflu)-resistant 2009 H1N1 infections, one of the largest to date, centered in one region of New South Wales state.

(CIDRAP News) – With the Southern Hemisphere entering its flu season, the only country to see a dramatic activity spike so far is South Africa, where the 2009 H1N1 virus is dominating and has been linked to an increase in severe infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.