Key weapons in the fight against malaria, pyrethroid insecticides, are losing their edge. Over the past decade, billions of dollars have been spent on distributing long-lasting pyrethroid-treated bed nets and on indoor spraying. Focused in Africa, where most malaria deaths occur, these efforts have greatly reduced the disease's toll. But they have also created intense selection pressure for mosquitoes to develop resistance.
Even as the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station continue to leak radiation, researchers have begun laying the groundwork for studies that will look for any long-term effects on public health.
In a week that has seen little good news about the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, the latest data on radioisotope fallout from the plant is so far offering a glimmer of hope.
Luc Montagnier is applying unorthodox ideas to the treatment of autism. With support from the Autism Research Institute (ARI), based in San Diego, California, the Nobel laureate is about to launch a small clinical trial of prolonged antibiotic treatment in children with autism disorders.
Despite decades of research into drugs and vaccines for neglected diseases such as tuberculosis and dengue fever, few products have made it through clinical development and into the hands of the millions who desperately need them.
Up to 4.2 million people, mostly young children, will die needlessly over the next 6 years unless donors fill a looming multibillion-dollar shortfall in the budget of the GAVI Alliance.
