David Schellenberg

PHILADELPHIA—Pharmaco-vigilance was being urged here — as a key part of the strategy to improve malaria control in Africa and elsewhere — in a special session devoted to malaria drug safety at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual conference. With the battle against malaria slowly being won in Africa, the safety of anti-malarial drugs is of paramount importance now they are being used more widely than ever.  Session chair Professor David Schellenberg of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Peter Goodwin about their findings and conclusions.

Russell Stothard

PHILADELPHIA—Scientists in the UK and Uganda have now completed a three year study showing that young children are at continued risk of intestinal schistosomiasis — also known as bilharzia — between the ages of 6-months and five years. In fact, these children should be treated routinely with the anthelminthic praziquantel, just as in older children and adults, for it is proven both safe and efficacious. The Schistosomiasis In Mothers and Infants (SIMI) study was conducted by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine working with the Vector Control Division, Ministry of Health, in Uganda and was reported at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual conference in Philadelphia. Professor Russell Stothard discussed some of the key findings with Peter Goodwin.

David Conway

PHILADELPHIA—Research findings on gene changes enabling malaria parasites to resist anti-malarial drugs were discussed at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting in Philadelphia. This has come in the midst of worries about the slow rise in resistance to the most modern group of drugs — artemisinin combinations — in Cambodia and Thailand. Professor David Conway of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine gave Peter Goodwin some of the details.

Florida Muro

PHILADELPHIA—The recently-introduced rapid diagnostic test kits for malaria are saving lives — and not just among patients with malaria. In research for the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, scientists in Tanzania have found that patients whose fevers are not caused by malaria benefit from potentially life-saving treatments sooner if the cause is recognised by doing an actual test rather than just assuming all fever is malaria. Dr Florida Muro from the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi, Tanzania presented her findings to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene conference here. Afterwards she told Peter Goodwin about her group’s research.

Athina Vlachantoni, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Astrid Walker Bourne

LONDON—The ‘Welfare State’ can be sustained globally — even in the rapidly ageing societies of low- and middle-income countries. Social protection should not be delayed until a country is rich, and should be a state obligation.
These views came out of the Global Health Lab symposium entitled: “Is the welfare state sustainable with an ageing society?” hosted by Professor Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Dr Richard Horton, Editor of the Lancet.
The experts presenting data to the meeting — Professor Athina Vlachantoni from Centre for Research on Ageing at Southampton University, Astrid Walker Bourne of HelpAge International and Professor Peter Lloyd-Sherlock from the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia — explained to Peter Goodwin why there is an urgent need to prioritise the welfare of older citizens.

Richard Hayes

LONDON—A massive new study of HIV/AIDS could help turn the tide of the epidemic globally. The PopART study — of 24 communities in Zambia and South Africa — is testing a powerful combination of approaches to HIV in the community: universal testing, immediate treatment for patients and a range of preventive measures. The $37 million research trial is jointly funded by the Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator, the National Institutes of Health, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Professor Richard Hayes of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine described the rationale and the potential benefit of the PopART study to Derek Thorne.

James Logan

PHILADELPHIA—How populations of mosquitoes become insensitive to insect repellents has been researched by scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, and discussed at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene conference in Philadelphia.  This was one of the many activities of Dr James Logan, who also runs a new service made available by the London School called: the Arthropod Control Product Test Centre, or ARCTEC. Dr Logan told Peter Goodwin about the results of an experiment in which volunteers were exposed to mosquitoes after being sprayed with the powerful insect repellent, DEET. Resistance developed among the mosquitoes with the proportion of DEET-insensitive mosquitoes rising from a normal level of 10 per cent up to 60 per cent in a single generation.

Adam Bourne

LONDON—The extent to which people infected with HIV are marginalised has been highlighted by a report from the Sigma Research Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine looking at black African people living in England in relationships where one partner had diagnosed HIV while the other did not. Dr Adam Bourne described the stigma and fear they face and told Peter Goodwin what needs to be done to improve this.

Richard Oxborough

MOSHI, TANZANIA—New insecticides to control mosquitoes — being tested in Tanzania — promise to overcome the biggest threat to malaria control in Africa: resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. Dr Richard Oxborough from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine explained to Sarah Maxwell how his group’s research evaluating new insecticides for mosquito nets and spraying inside houses, at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi, Tanzania, is bringing hope for sustainable control of pyrethroid-resistant malaria-transmitting mosquitoes. The development of new insecticides for malaria vector control will help continue the decline of malaria in the region when combined with other malaria-control measures including new drugs, a vaccine and better diagnostic tests.

Simon Croft

LONDON —A new weapon in the global battle against infectious disease was recently unveiled in London. The Bloomsbury Institute for Pathogen Research has been launched as a collaboration between two big university research groups to combat pathogens — infectious agents including bacteria, viruses and parasites. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine brings expertise in parasitic and bacterial diseases, while University College London contributes long experience and excellent facilities for researching viral illnesses. Professor Simon Croft from the London School explains to Peter Goodwin how the new institute forms an important tool to be used along with excellent health system planning to fight infections everywhere.