Following China's 70-year battle against malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that the country has been awarded a malaria-free certification. In a statement, the WHO said that the achievement is notable, given that China reported about 30 million cases each year in the 1940s.
The results of a phase 2b clinical trial indicate 77% efficacy over 12 months of follow-up for a vaccine that targets malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum, according to a preprint study published this week in The Lancet.
Artemisinin-based treatment remains highly effective, but resistance mutations and delayed parasite clearance were found.
A 4-year-old boy living outside of Milan with no travel history is now the earliest confirmed SARS-CoV-2 case in Italy, a team based in Italy reported in a research letter to Emerging Infectious Diseases yesterday.
"World Malaria Report 2020" notes 229 million cases and 409,000 deaths last year, with young kids especially hit hard.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today awarded $19 million for a new diagnostic test that can detect gonorrhea in under 30 minutes—and determine if the infection is susceptible to a single-dose antibiotic. The test is made by Visby Medical, Inc.
A phase 3 clinical trial involving 531 people living along the China-Myanmar border has shown that the antimalarial-antibacterial drug combination naphthoquine-azithromycin (NQAZ) is effective in preventing malarial Plasmodium infections.
Officials reported five more illnesses and three more deaths in a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to figures reported today by the country's multisectoral Ebola response committee (CMRE).
The new developments raise the outbreak total to 17 cases, 14 of them confirmed and 3 listed as probable. The new deaths raise the fatality count to 11.
A study yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine of more than 2,000 Europeans diagnosed as having mild to moderate COVID-19 shows that 87% reported loss of smell, and 56% reported taste dysfunction. The study suggests olfactory symptoms and taste disorders may be a common feature of COVID-19 infection.
A white paper published today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology calls on antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) to take steps to address the potential legal implications of stewardship activities.
