Global health review
A weekly round-up of all the latest global health research from MSF projects and beyond
16 April 2021
Hello Everyone,
This week, MSF authors an article in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, describing a series of five pregnant women treated for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis with a novel drug regimen, bedaquiline, delamanid and linezolid, and the outcomes of their children in Khayelitsha, South Africa. Children born to pregnant women with TB are at increased risk of prematurity, hospitalisation, and death, however all children had excellent outcomes and the results support further research into the use of these new TB drugs for pregnant women.
A blog in The BMJ Opinion reflects on workshops in Conakry, Guinea, which brought together Guinea’s scientific and research ethics committees. The workshops provided a platform to discuss the conduct of research in Guinea during COVID-19 and the ethics of research in public health emergencies.
In BMJ Global Health, an article describes a multi-step methodology that can be applied to retrospective studies to support clinical researchers in identifying and including gender factors and their impact on clinical outcomes.
An MSF-authored article in BMC Pediatrics compares the growth and neurodevelopmental delay in low birthweight to normal birthweight infants, who were followed up for 24 months at an obstetric emergency hospital in Port au Prince, Haiti. The results suggest that low birthweight babies who survive neonatal care almost catch up to normal birthweight infants in terms of weight, length and fine motor skills, although there is a delay in the development of gross motor, cognitive and communication skills.
MSF are looking for an Implementer Advisor for Infection, Prevention and Control and Nursing. If you have the relevant experience, please apply by 27 April.
Reminder: The MSF Paediatric Days has taken place this week. The virtual platform will remain open for one week and after that, all the content will be available on the Paediatric Days website.
Best regards,
Austin Heuer, Bharath Kumar, Jodie Pearlman and Holly Baker with MSF-authored article assistance from Patricia Kahn and Zoe Fanning
Antimicrobial resistance
Tropical Medicine and International Health • Article : Genotypic and phenotypic profiles of antibiotic‐resistant bacteria isolated from hospitalized patients in Bangladesh
Conflict, migration and health
The Lancet • World Report : Tigray atrocities compounded by lack of health care
BMJ Global Health • Comment : Military coup during COVID-19 pandemic and health crisis in Myanmar
WHO Bulletin • Practice : Improving care of migrants is key for viral hepatitis elimination in Europe
Conflict & Health • Article : Healthcare governance during humanitarian responses: a survey of current practice among international humanitarian actors
Ebola
WHO Bulletin • Article : Engaging religious leaders to promote safe burial practices during the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak, Sierra Leone
Global health
The Lancet • Perspectives : Racism is the public health crisis
BMJ Global Health • Editorial : The uses of knowledge in global health
BMJ Global Health • Comment : What works in global health partnerships? Reflections on a collaboration between researchers from Vietnam and Northern Ireland
BMJ Global Health • Comment : Community participation in global surgery
Conflict & Health • Article : Working short and working long: can primary healthcare be protected as a public good in Lebanon today?
HIV
WHO Bulletin • Practice : Eliminating mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, syphilis and hepatitis B in sub-Saharan Africa
Malaria
Malaria Journal • Article : Analytical validation of a real-time hydrolysis probe PCR assay for quantifying Plasmodium falciparum parasites in experimentally infected human adults
Malaria Journal • Article : Efficacy of interceptor® G2, a long-lasting insecticide mixture net treated with chlorfenapyr and alpha-cypermethrin against Anopheles funestus: experimental hut trials in north-eastern Tanzania
Malaria Journal • Article : Quantification of the misidentification of Plasmodium knowlesi as Plasmodium malariae by microscopy: an analysis of 1569 P. knowlesi cases
Malaria Journal • Article : Quality of care for adult in-patients with malaria in a tertiary hospital in Uganda
Malaria Journal • Article : Molecular surveillance of drug resistance: Plasmodium falciparum artemisinin resistance single nucleotide polymorphisms in Kelch protein propeller (K13) domain from Southern Pakistan
Malaria Journal • Article : Historical trends and new surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance markers in Angola
Maternal and child health
The Lancet Global Health • Article : Trends in missing females at birth in India from 1981 to 2016: analyses of 2·1 million birth histories in nationally representative surveys
The Lancet Global Health • Article : Trends in missing females at birth in India from 1981 to 2016: analyses of 2·1 million birth histories in nationally representative surveys
BMJ Global Health • Article : Delivering nutrition interventions to women and children in conflict settings: a systematic review
BMJ Global Health • Article : Global burden of maternal bereavement: indicators of the cumulative prevalence of child loss
NEJM • Article : A Microbiota-Directed Food Intervention for Undernourished Children
WHO Bulletin • Article : Implementation of an infant male circumcision programme, Pakistan
Conflict & Health • Article : Strengthening healthcare providers’ capacity for safe abortion and post-abortion care services in humanitarian settings: lessons learned from the clinical outreach refresher training model (S-CORT) in Uganda, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo
BMJ • Blog : Building forward fairer for vulnerable women, children, and adolescents
Neglected tropical diseases
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Article : New regimens of benznidazole monotherapy and in combination with fosravuconazole for treatment of Chagas disease (BENDITA): a phase 2, double-blind, randomised trial and comment New treatment regimens for Chagas disease: light at the end of the tunnel?
BMJ • Editorial : Chagas disease in non-endemic settings
PLOS NTDs • Article : Seroprevalence of chikungunya virus infection among HIV-infected adults in French Caribbean Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe in 2015: A cross-sectional study
Non-communicable diseases
Tropical Medicine and International Health • Article : Incidence and mortality from thyroid cancer in Latin America
WHO Bulletin • News : Improving access to insulin
Outbreaks
The Lancet Global Health • Correspondence : Recorded but not revealed: exploring the relationship between sex and gender, country income level, and COVID-19
The Lancet Global Health • Article : Effect of socioeconomic inequalities and vulnerabilities on health-system preparedness and response to COVID-19 in Brazil: a comprehensive analysis and comment Brazil's response to COVID-19: commercial determinants of health and regional inequities matter
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Article : Diagnostic performance of different sampling approaches for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Comment : Lack of detail in population-level data impedes analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and clinical outcomes
The Lancet Respiratory Medicine • Personal View : Confronting COVID-19-associated cough and the post-COVID syndrome: role of viral neurotropism, neuroinflammation, and neuroimmune responses
BMJ • News : Covid-19: Brazil breaks record daily death toll as crisis spreads through South America
BMJ • Editorial : Covid-19 vaccine passports: access, equity, and ethics
BMJ • Blog : Covid-19: a strategy to optimise global vaccination coverage
BMJ • Blog : Covid vaccine costs and equity: a delicate balance as yet unachieved
BMJ • Blog : What is behind the low covid-19 vaccine take-up in some ethnic minorities?
BMJ • Blog: The catastrophic Brazilian response to covid-19 may amount to a crime against humanity
NEJM • Perspectives : Health Care Worker Strikes and the Covid Pandemic
WHO Bulletin • Article : Lessons for effective COVID-19 policy responses: a call for papers
WHO Bulletin • Practice : Public health policies and health-care workers’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand
Research and reporting
BMJ Global Health • Practice : Identification and inclusion of gender factors in retrospective cohort studies: the GOING-FWD framework
BMJ • Blog : Julian Sheather: Ethics of research in public health emergencies—perspectives from Guinea on the response to covid-19
BMJ • Research methods and reporting : Guidance for the design and reporting of studies evaluating the clinical performance of tests for present or past SARS-CoV-2 infection
Sexual and reproductive health
BMJ Global Health • Comment : Unmasking power as foundational to research on sexual and reproductive health and rights
WHO Bulletin • Practice : Transgender health in medical education
WHO Bulletin • Practice : Control of sexually transmitted infections and global elimination targets, South-East Asia Region
Conflict & Health • Article : Intimate partner violence against women on the Colombia Ecuador border: a mixed-methods analysis of the liminal migrant experience
Conflict & Health • Article : Sexual and reproductive health self-care in humanitarian and fragile settings: where should we start?
Tuberculosis
The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal • Article ***MSF AUTHOR***: Outcomes of Children Born to Pregnant Women With Drug-resistant Tuberculosis Treated With Novel Drugs in Khayelitsha, South Africa: A Report of Five Patients
IJTLD • Article : Pretomanid with bedaquiline and linezolid for drug-resistant TB: A comparison of prospective cohorts
Vaccines
NEJM • Correspondence : Neutralizing Response against Variants after SARS-CoV-2 Infection and One Dose of BNT162b2
NEJM • Article : Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCov-19 Vaccination
NEJM • Article : From Vaccine Nationalism to Vaccine Equity — Finding a Path Forward