Focus
US lab closures signal stronger international controls
After potentially serious back-to-back laboratory accidents, health officials temporarily closed the flu and anthrax laboratories at the in and halted shipments of all infectious agents from the agency’s highest-security labs. reports that the...Shortage of medical staff ‘keenly felt’ in SA
A shortage of doctors and nurses is a ‘global crisis’ that is keenly felt in SA. reports that with the country annually producing less than half of the doctors needed – only 1,200 doctors graduate each year – SA is part of a global shortage...Debate continues to rage over e-cigarette regulation
Whether it is rising cigarette prices or tightening smoking regulations, more people are turning to electronic cigarettes to kick the habit but the debate about e-cigarettes' safety and efficacy rages, reports . Electronic cigarettes, or...South African and United States scientists in HIV breakthrough
In an advance for HIV vaccine research, a South African- United States scientific team has discovered how the immune system makes a powerful antibody that blocks HIV infection of cells by targeting a site on the virus called V1V2, reports . The...Radical change needed to stop initiation deaths – Rijken
As another initiation season looms, Greg Nicolson writes in the that a new website is trying to improve education around the topic. He says the site has been criticised for flouting tradition with its graphic pictures of injured g enitals. But...