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Infectious Diseases
HPV vaccine significantly lowers infection rates in teen girls — CDC study
A US Centres for Disease Control and Infection study found that since the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was introduced in 2006, vaccine-type HPV prevalence...
Bedaquiline-delamanid combo for resistant TB — SA and Peru trial
The results of a National Institutes of Health-funded phase 2 study indicate the new tuberculosis (TB) drugs delamanid and bedaquiline, when combined, have only...
Blood biomarker able to predict risk for TB disease progression
A blood biomarker of tuberculosis discriminated between people at high risk for tuberculosis and those who remained healthy, but an effective preventive therapy for...
Candidate TB vaccine appears safe and immunogenic in treated patients
A candidate therapeutic vaccine for prevention of post-treatment TB recurrence has proved efficacious in a phase 2 clinical trial involving the universities of Cape...
New TB regimen reduces treatment time by a third — clinical trial
Lung health researchers have announced important developments in tuberculosis (TB) research at the Union World Conference. This includes promising data from a clinical trial...
Self-sampling for STIs in rectum and throat just as accurate
Self-sampling for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the rectum and throat is just as accurate as testing performed by a healthcare worker, investigators from...
Successful TB vaccine moves forward after phase 2 trial
Results from the Phase 2 trial of the DAR-901 tuberculosis (TB) vaccine have been announced by investigators at Dartmouth University's Geisel School of Medicine....
Kruger Park study: Human activity promotes disease-spreading mosquitoes
Disease-spreading mosquitoes may be more likely to occupy areas impacted by human activities like pesticide use and habitat destruction, than they are areas less...
Promising new treatment regimens for MDR-TB
New treatment regimens for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have shown early effectiveness in 85% of patients in a cohort that included many people with serious...
Malaria deaths could double this year if prevention is interrupted by COVID-19
Malaria-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 could be more than double those of 2019 if malaria-prevention activities are interrupted due to COVID-19, suggests...
Tuberculosis cases and deaths predicted to spike due to COVID-19
The global COVID-19 pandemic could significantly increase the global burden of tuberculosis (TB) due to disruptions to health services, and delays to diagnosis and...
Shorter antibiotic treatment effective for acute uncomplicated cystitis
Duration of treatment with third- and fourth-generation quinolones and pivmecillinam could be shorter than the currently recommended regimens and still serve to effectively manage...
TB spread from animals to humans may be greater than previously thought
The number of human tuberculosis (TB) cases that are due to transmission from animals, as opposed to human-to-human transmission, may be much higher than...
Despite price, rifampin can be a less costly alternative in TB prophylaxis
While rifampin is a more costly tuberculosis treatment, its shorter treatment length and fewer adverse events resulted in a lower total cost across study...
Influenza: New treatment reduces spread of virus
A large international collaboration in an animal model (ferrets) found that baloxavir reduced the transmission of influenza across all settings, and did so immediately,...
Oxford University way ahead of the pack in race for COVID-19 vaccine
In the worldwide race for a vaccine to stop the coronavirus, sprinting fastest isOxford University, with of their new coronavirus vaccine involving more than...
When three epidemics collide: TB, HIV and COVID-19 in South Africa
Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV pose a significant burden on South Africa’s health system. And now there's the coronavirus.
There’s a close relationship between the TB...
Drug combo for six months successful in treating drug-resistant TB
The new anti-tuberculosis drug combination of bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid cures 90% of people with deadly drug-resistant TB if given for six months, researchers...
Booster shots for tetanus and diphtheria not necessary if vaccinated in childhood
Adults don't need tetanus and diphtheria boosters if they were fully vaccinated as children, a study has found. The conclusion aligns with the World...
HPV vaccination prevents more deaths than previously estimated
HPV vaccination has higher health benefits and is more cost-effective than previously estimated, according to a study. The research, led by the London School...
Low southern hemisphere incidence of COVID-19: Is it the sunshine and heat?
There has been much speculation that the low confirmed incidence of COVID-19 infections in Africa and the rest of the southern hemisphere may be...
Cruise ship quarantine resulted in more COVID-19 infections
The cruise ship Diamond Princess was quarantined for over two weeks resulting in more coronavirus infected passengers than if they would have disembarked immediately....
WHO's malaria vaccine study a 'serious breach of ethical standards'
A large-scale malaria vaccine study led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been criticised by a leading bioethicist for committing a “serious breach”...
Second antibiotic no advantage for treating super-bug Golden Staph
A world-first, three-year multi-centre study involved 352 patients at 27 hospitals in Australia, Singapore, Israel and New Zealand has called into question the effectiveness...
COVID-19: SA 'would struggle' because of specialist shortage
Despite only one person in Africa so far diagnosed with Covid-19, experts warn of the potential for imminent havoc on an under-prepared, under-resourced continent,...
Long-term effectiveness of shortened DR-TB treatment regimen
Results from an International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union)-led observational study show that a nine-month shortened treatment regimen for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis...
Intravenous TB vaccine found to be more effective
Delivering a high dose of a vaccine against tuberculosis intravenously, instead of under the skin, greatly improves the drug’s ability to protect against the...
Just one dose of the HPV vaccine found to be effective
A new study revealed that one dose of the HPV vaccine may prevent infection from the potential cancer-causing virus, according to research from The...
WHO issues guidance on LAM use in diagnosis of TB
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated its guidance for the use of lateral flow urine lipoarabinomannan assay (LAM) in the diagnosis of tuberculosis...
Encouraging results from study into new TB vaccine
Final results from M72/AS01E candidate vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) announced at the TB Science Conference, Hyderabad, India. Scientists from the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine...
Measles wipes out immune system's memory — 2 studies
Inoculation with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine did not impair children’s overall immunity. Importantly, it also prevented measles from depleting people’s antibody...
Does latent TB last for life? Researchers say 'mostly not'
An analysis challenges the longstanding notion that tuberculous infection is a life-long infection that could strike at any time and cause tuberculosis (TB). Based...
Once-daily Dolutegravir-based regimen safe and effective for people taking rifampicin for TB
A study from Botswana provides important scientific evidence, but not strong enough data for a policy change, on the use of a dolutegravir-based antiretroviral...
Treatment-decision score for children with HIV and suspected tuberculosis
A new treatment-decision score for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in children with HIV performed well, and when used in an algorithm may facilitate...
Updated guidelines on diagnosis treatment of community-acquired pneumonia
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have published updated guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of adults...
Ingestible sensor could revolutionise TB treatment
An ingestible sensor that enables health workers to check that patients have taken their medication could revolutionise tuberculosis treatment, particularly in developing countries, The...
New test assists with quicker treatment decisions for sepsis
A new rapid blood culture test system for sepsis can reduce identification to 12 hours, from the two-to-three days of standard-of- care culture...
Surgical masks match respirators for flu and respiratory virus protection
A US study reported “no significant difference in the effectiveness” of medical masks versus more expensive N95 respirators for prevention of influenza or other viral respiratory...
Electronic nose detects bacteria in breath
An ‘electronic nose’ that can sniff out bacteria could be used to curb the use of antibiotics when not necessary, according to scientists at...
Vaccine could have prevented over 90% of HPV-related cancers
Nearly 35,000 people develop cervical, anal, oral and other cancers linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) each year, and most of these are caused by...