Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
The Ebola death toll has risen to 61 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where health officials are working to contain the outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Most of the fatalities have been in Mabalako, where 50 people have died. Another three fatal cases are reported in …
Finally, anti-bodies to three major Ebola viruses have now been developed. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are a step closer to developing a broadly effective antibody treatment against these viruses that cause the lethal disease in humans. Researchers found that the isolation of two potent monoclonal antibodies from human …
Health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are to begin an immunisation campaign in an attempt to halt the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. The experimental vaccine proved effective when used in limited trials during the outbreak in West Africa in 2014-16. At least 25 people are believed …
Cape Town — One of the crucial aspects of the largest HIV prevention trial in the world is nearing an end, with HIV counsellors wrapping up four years of door-to-door visits to many thousands of homes in and around Cape Town and the Winelands region. Over the past four years, …
JOHANNESBURG – The World Health Organization (WHO) says one in 10 drugs sold in developing countries is fake or substandard leading to tens of thousands of deaths. Health officials say African children receive many fake drugs, resulting in ineffective treatments for pneumonia and malaria. The organisation says the internet is …
Dr. Fatorma Bolay, co-principal investigator of the joint clinical research partnership between the Liberian and U. S. governments through the Ministry of Health of Liberia and the US National Institutes of Health, says PREVAIL 1 results have shown that the two test vaccines, cAd3-EBOZ, and rVSV-ZEBOV, pose no major safety …
A new vaccine that could prevent up to nine-in-10 cases of typhoid fever has been recommended by the World Health Organization. Experts say it could have a "huge impact" on the 22 million cases, and 220,000 deaths, from typhoid each year. Crucially it works in children, who are at high-risk …
Scientists have engineered an antibody that attacks 99% of HIV strains and can prevent infection in primates. It is built to attack three critical parts of the virus - making it harder for HIV to resist its effects. The work is a collaboration between the US National Institutes of Health …
Anti-inflammatory drugs could cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes, a study of 10,000 patients suggests. A trial of the drug canakinumab could represent the biggest breakthrough in treatment since the advent of statins to lower cholesterol, its authors say. The study reported a 15% reduction in the risk …
Plants have been "hijacked" to make polio vaccine in a breakthrough with the potential to transform vaccine manufacture, say scientists. The team at the John Innes Centre, in Norfolk, says the process is cheap, easy and quick. As well as helping eliminate polio, the scientists believe their approach could help …
GENEVA - The World Health Organization published a new classification of antibiotics Tuesday that aims to fight drug resistance, with penicillin-type drugs recommended as the first line of defense and others for use only when absolutely necessary. The new 'essential medicines list' includes 39 antibiotics for 21 common syndromes, categorized …
Interdisciplinary research at the University of Leicester has explored the impact of black carbon on bacteria in the respiratory tract Researchers from the University of Leicester have for the first time discovered that bacteria that cause respiratory infections are directly affected by air pollution -- increasing the potential for infection …
There is hope for over 37 million people infected with HIV globally after five people were reported to be virus-free after undergoing treatment. According to a study published in New Scientist, a new vaccine allowed the patients to stop taking regular antiretroviral (ARV) drugs – the current method of suppressing …
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has warned that the prices of essential medicines in the country, such as anti-malarial drugs and antibiotics have risen by over 150 per cent in less than two years. According to the PSN, the implementation of a 20 per cent duty on imported medicines …
The National Centre for Disease Control has faulted the claim by a Nigerian professor of discovering the cure for HIV. Maduike Ezeibe, a Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Clinical Virology at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umuahia was widely reported of developing a drug that eliminated the deadly virus …
Trials conducted in Guinea, one of the West African countries most affected by an outbreak of Ebola that ended this year, show it offers 100% protection. The vaccine is now being fast-tracked through regulatory approval. Manufacturer Merck says it will make 300,000 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine available for future …
In their paper, Neutralization Mechanism of a Highly Potent Antibody Against Zika Virus, Associate Professor Lok Shee-Mei and her team at the Emerging Infectious Disease Programme of Duke-NUS further explored the previously discovered C10, which is believed by most experts as the most potent antibody that can neutralize the Zika …
The world is in the grip of a global crisis that kills the equivalent of the populations of Philadelphia, Kampala or Prague - around 1.6 million each year. A new report by a University of Manchester academic, published today in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, documents how many countries do …
One drug can treat three deadly and neglected infections - Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness - animal studies show. It has been described as a "new hope" for tackling the parasitic infections which affect millions of people in the poorest parts of the world. The discovery, reported in the …
A new vaccine allows pneumonia-causing bacteria to colonize inside the body, springing into action only if the bacteria pose a threat. The breakthrough approach, coupled with the protein-based vaccine's potential to counteract more than 90 strains of the bacteria, has the makings to override how vaccines have worked (destroying bacteria …
