The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said in its latest update today that four countries reported a total of eight new polio cases in the previous week, including vaccine-derived polio cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic.
Experts say the cost of a scale-up is $34 billion but would pay for itself 8 times over.
The Pfizer Foundation this week announced $2 million in grants to help non-governmental organizations, non-profits, and social enterprises in low- and middle-income countries address infectious disease challenges, including the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
An investigation in Cairo has identified vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) in camel meat samples and slaughterhouse workers, Egyptian researchers reported in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
Scientists are seeing high rates of treatment failure as they struggle to eliminate the disease in the region.
In more bad news for polio eradication efforts, several countries reported a slew of new polio cases in the last week, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's (GPEI's) weekly report. A total of 19 cases in 6 countries, as well as several polio detections in heathy case contacts, were recorded across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
The efficacy of malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 in infants and children is sustained for up to 7 years after vaccination, according to an extension study published Jul 9 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases following a previous phase 3 study.
The vaccine "has the potential to save tens of thousands of children's lives."
Today the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) switched its recommendation for first-line treatment for severe malaria to a drug not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because the previously recommended drug will no longer be produced by the manufacturer.
Saudi Arabia's steady rise in MERS-CoV cases continued today, with one more illness reported that appears to be part of a hospital outbreak in Wadi ad-Dawasir, according to a Ministry of Health (MOH) update to its epidemiologic week 10 report.