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Health: Infectious diseases

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Here is a list of the latest articles

Model to predict cholera outbreaks earlier, better

A new cholera prediction model can warn of outbreaks 11 months in advance and also describe the possible severity.

14 February 2012 | EN

Young girl having blood drawn as part of malaria trial

Scientists dispute basis for malaria deaths claim

Critics have questioned the methods of a study claiming that the WHO has greatly underestimated the number of malaria fatalities.

10 February 2012 | EN

Pakistani medical labs lax on biosafety, survey finds

Pakistan's medical laboratory workers need better biosafety awareness says a new study.

8 February 2012 | EN

A sand fly

Drug could hit two neglected diseases at once

A drug undergoing clinical trials for sleeping sickness could also treat leishmaniasis, say researchers who have tested it on mice.

6 February 2012 | EN

Laboratorio

Latin American countries launch biomedicine network

Science institutions from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are collaborating on the study of high-impact diseases in the region.

6 February 2012 | ES

Boy with filariasis

Public-private push against neglected diseases unveiled

Unprecedented collaboration by drug firms, ambitious targets and more funds form part of a new fight against neglected tropical diseases.

31 January 2012 | EN | ES

Recién nacido

Argentina to create diagnostic kit for Chagas disease

The Argentinean government and a public-private consortium have allocated US$1.2  million for the improvement of early diagnosis of Chagas disease in newborns.

26 January 2012 | ES

Infant being immunised

Areas with low malaria rates 'need mass vaccination'

A modelling study of a promising malaria vaccine finds low transmission areas would benefit the most from mass vaccination.

25 January 2012 | EN

Nurse tending to TB patient in China

China signs agreement to produce new TB vaccines

China's largest biotechnology company and a non-profit product developer are teaming up to develop new tuberculosis vaccines.

24 January 2012 | EN | 中文

Rutas del comercio de esclavos

Study reveals malaria origin in South America

The origin of two genetic sub-types of the malaria parasite P. falciparum in South America has been traced back slaves arriving from Africa, a study says.

24 January 2012 | ES

<i>Artemisia annua</i>

Malaria hopes rise as chemists produce cheap artemisinin

The key malaria drug, artemisinin, can now be produced in greater quantities ― from a waste material of the current production process.

23 January 2012 | EN

India faces totally drug-resistant TB

Indian health officials are describing hard to treat cases of TB as 'extra XDR-TB' amid warnings that the disease is not being managed properly.

19 January 2012 | EN

Hembra de mosquito Aedes aegypti

Study provides clues on severe dengue fever

A Nicaraguan study is helping scientists understand why a second dengue fever infection can be more severe than the first one.

16 January 2012 | ES

Aftermath of Haiti earthquake

Twitter data accurately tracked Haiti cholera outbreak

A retrospective study of tweets on the 2010 cholera epidemic in Haiti found them broadly as good as official data at predicting its progress.

9 January 2012 | EN | ES | FR

Gold nanoparticles coating nanowires

Researchers strike gold with nanoparticle virus test

An award-winning, rapid test for hepatitis C that uses gold nanoparticles could be especially useful in the Middle East and North Africa.

27 December 2011 | EN | FR

Drawing blood

New malaria vaccine candidate to enter safety trials

A vaccine candidate that exploits how the malaria parasite enters human red blood cells is set to enter safety trials.

Source: BBC News

22 December 2011 | EN

A test silk chip

Fabric diagnostic 'chips' could detect deadly diseases

Silk 'chips' capable of diagnosing a range of diseases in a matter of minutes could be ready for market by early 2013.

16 December 2011 | EN | FR

Pills

Micronutrient supplementation 'may increase malaria risk'

The WHO recommends supplying iron-deficient children with micronutrients, but a study finds this may increase their risk of malaria.

15 December 2011 | EN

Vivax malaria more deadly than thought, say scientists

Once malaria patients are in intensive care, Plasmodium vivax is just as likely to kill as P. falciparum, according to researchers.

12 December 2011 | EN | ES

HIV testing

Cuts threaten the rollout of promising HIV treatments

A big cut in donor commitments to the global health fund has forced the agency to cancel new programmes.

1 December 2011 | EN | FR