News

The current global influenza situation is characterized by a number of trends that must be closely monitored. These include: an increase in the variety of animal influenza viruses co-circulating and exchanging genetic material, giving rise to novel strains; continuing cases of human H7N9 infections in China; and a recent spurt of human H5N1 cases in Egypt. Changes in the H3N2 seasonal influenza viruses, which have affected the protection conferred by the current vaccine, are also of particular concern.

Researchers explore individuals' confidence or reluctance to vaccinate their families and the associated effects on global health, in a collection published on Feb. 25 by the open-access journal, PLOS Currents: Outbreaks. The collection is accompanied by the editorial "Hesitancy, trust and individualism in vaccination decision-making" by Jonathan E. Suk et al. from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Micron Biomedical have been awarded $2.5 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the development of dissolvable microneedle patches for polio immunization. The patches will be studied to evaluate their potential role as part of the worldwide efforts to eradicate polio.

Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a new small molecule drug that may serve as a treatment against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, a form of the disease that cannot be cured with conventional therapies. They describe their findings in a paper published recently in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters.

Every day, every bed in an Ebola treatment unit creates approximately 300 liters of liquid waste. Managing this waste has been a challenge in the Ebola outbreak in Liberia. The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with partners to ensure this waste is effectively decontaminated and no longer poses a threat to health.