Global health review
A weekly round-up of all the latest global health research from MSF projects and beyond
15 November 2024
This week, in International Health, MSF evaluated the use of person-centred care for treatment adherence in individuals with multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (TB) and alcohol use disorders, finding good adherence. Those who experienced challenges in adherence were primarily individuals dealing with hepatitis C, substance misuse issues, or receiving limited outpatient support. In Journal Of Clinical Tuberculosis And Other Mycobacterial Diseases, MSF also reported positive results when treating isoniazid (INH)-resistant TB patients with rifampicin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, and levofloxacin for 6 months in Mumbai, India.
The Lancet HIV published two papers examining HIV healthcare among refugees and asylum seekers. In one paper, MSF outlined key challenges faced by displaced people with HIV in various regions and proposed solutions to meet their needs. Another paper outlined the challenges related to access and continuity of HIV care that migrants face along their migration trajectory.
In Journal Of Public Health In Africa, Epicentre examined factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake in Cameroon, finding significantly high hesitancy. that participants had a high level of trust in information provided by health workers, suggesting that vaccination and communication strategies should be led by medical and community health workers.
Finally, an opinion piece in The BMJ urged for increased protection of healthcare workers in conflict zones, highlighting that WHO has documented more than 7,400 attacks on healthcare since 2018.
Best regards,
Zhi Wei Ching, Lydia Lampiri, Ononna Thuli and Holly Baker with MSF-authored article assistance from Amelia Zhao and Zaineb Chaudhry.
All MSF-authored publications can be found on MSF Science Portal, as well as recordings, abstracts and posters from the MSF Scientific Days 2024 conference.
Antimicrobial resistance
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Review: Antimicrobial resistance among refugees and asylum seekers: a global systematic review and meta-analysis
JAMA • News: UN Meeting Highlights Antimicrobial Resistance “Epiphany”—Lack of Antibiotic Access Is a Key Driver
Conflict, migration and health
The BMJ • Opinion: The global health community must act to protect Lebanon’s healthcare system
The BMJ • Opinion: The international community is failing to protect healthcare in armed conflict
Ebola
PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Long-term physical and mental health outcomes of Ebola Virus Disease survivors in Kenema District, Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional survey
HIV
Who Bulletin • Perspectives: A women’s life-course approach for HIV programmes, WHO African Region
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • News: Gilead under fire over HIV drug licensing
The Lancet HIV • Series***MENTIONS MSF***: Humanising and optimising HIV health care for refugees and asylum seekers
Infectious diseases
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Article: A series of patients infected with the emerging tick-borne Yezo virus in China: an active surveillance and genomic analysis
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Comment: A step closer to elimination of meningococcal disease
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Viewpoint: Research and product development for Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: priorities for 2024–30
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Correspondence: Virological characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 XEC variant
Malaria
Malaria Journal • Article: Assessing the impact of ecological, climatic, and socioeconomic factors on age-specific malaria incidence in India: a mixed-model approach using the Global Burden of Disease Study (2010–2019)
Malaria Journal • Article: Association between RANTES/CCL5 levels with Plasmodiuminfections and malaria severity: a systematic review
Malaria Journal • Review: Cost of treating severe malaria in children in Africa: a systematic literature review
Malaria Journal • Article: CYP3A4-mediated metabolism of artemisinin to 10β-hydroxyartemisinin with comparable anti-malarial potency
Malaria Journal • Article: Emerging threat of artemisinin partial resistance markers (pfk13 mutations) in Plasmodium falciparum parasite populations in multiple geographical locations in high transmission regions of Uganda
Malaria Journal • Article: Examining malaria treatment and prevention spending efficiency in malaria-endemic countries, 2000–2020
TMIH • Article: Household satisfaction with health services and response strategies to malaria in mountain communities of Uganda
TMIH • Comment: Insecticide-treated bednets and chemoprophylaxis reduce malaria mortality and parasite prevalence
Malaria Journal • Article: Perspectives of postpartum women on intermittent presumptive treatment in Uganda: implications for malaria prevention: a qualitative study
Malaria Journal • Article: Preserving nets, protecting children: an evaluation of factors influencing the utilization and physical integrity of long-lasting insecticidal nets among under-five children in Osun State, Nigeria
Malaria Journal • Article: Societal uses of the main water bodies inhabited by malaria vectors and implications for larval source management
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: The role of connectivity on malaria dynamics across areas with contrasting control coverage in the Peruvian Amazon
Maternal and child health
PLOS Global Public Health • Article: An assessment of the content of antenatal care provided by obstetricians in Lebanon: A cross-sectional study
The Lancet Psychiatry • Article: Feasibility and acceptability of the Problem Management for Moms programme for improving maternal mental health in Zambia: an open-label trial
The Lancet • Article: Global, regional, and national stillbirths at 20 weeks' gestation or longer in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2021: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Conflict and Health • Article: Maternal and newborn health prioritization in Yobe State, Nigeria: analysis of stakeholders’ perspective
The BMJ Global Health • Article: Research agenda for ending preventable maternal deaths from postpartum haemorrhage: a WHO research prioritisation exercise
Mental health
The Lancet Psychiatry • Comment: Youth mental health in Tunisia: challenges and resources
Neglected tropical diseases
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Association of the humoral immune response with the inflammatory profile in Plasmodium vivax infections in pregnant women
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Buruli ulcer surveillance in south-eastern Australian possums: Infection status, lesion mapping and internal distribution of Mycobacterium ulcerans
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Clinical anemia predicts dermal parasitism and reservoir infectiousness during progressive visceral leishmaniosis
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: First evidence of circulation of multiple arboviruses in Algeria
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Heart function enhancement with Nrf2-activating antioxidant in acute Y-strain Chagas disease, not in chronic Colombian or Y-strain
The BMJ • Feature: How climate change made 2024 the deadliest year of dengue
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Mapping schistosomiasis risk landscapes and implications for disease control: A case study for low endemic areas in the Middle Paranapanema river basin, São Paulo, Brazil
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Review: Oro-facial filariasis–A systematic review of the literature
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Phenotypic and molecular characterization of Prototheca wickerhamii from a Brazilian case of human systemic protothecosis
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: The gut microbiota is essential for Trichinella spiralis—Evoked suppression of colitis
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Variable effects of transient Wolbachia infections on alphaviruses in Aedes aegypti
Non-communicable diseases
The Lancet • Comment: Learning from long COVID: conceptualising action to tackle infection-associated non-communicable diseases
The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health • Article: Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis disease in the first decade of life: a South African birth cohort study
The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health • Comment: The underestimated burden of tuberculosis in children
PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Urine lipoarabinomannan concentrations among HIV-negative adults with pulmonary or extrapulmonary tuberculosis disease in Vietnam
Outbreaks
The Lancet • Comment: Addressing transnational exploitation and armed conflict in the response to mpox
JAMA • News: WHO Approves 3 Mpox Tests Amid Surging Cases in Africa
Research and reporting
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Development of an automated artificial intelligence-based system for urogenital schistosomiasis diagnosis using digital image analysis techniques and a robotized microscope
The Lancet HIV • Feature: Highlights of the 5th HIVR4P Conference
Tuberculosis
International Health • Article***MSF AUTHOR***: Supporting multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB treatment adherence in people with harmful use of alcohol through person-centred care
J Clin Tuberc Other Mycobact Dis. • Article***MSF AUTHOR***: Treatment outcomes among patients with isoniazid mono-resistant tuberculosis in Mumbai, India: A retrospective cohort study
Vaccines
The BMJ Global Health • Article: A comparative analysis of supply chain factors impacting COVID-19 vaccine security in high-income countries (HICs) and low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs)
J Public Health Afr. • Article***EPICENTRE AUTHOR***: Dynamic factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Cameroon between 2021 and 2022
TMIH • Article: How well do different COVID-19 vaccines protect against different viral variants? A systematic review and meta-analysis
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Correspondence: Impact of JN.1 booster vaccination on neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 variants KP.3.1.1 and XEC
The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Article: Safety and immunogenicity of a pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine versus a quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine in adults in India: an observer-blind, randomised, active-controlled, phase 2/3 study
Zika
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: The effects of seasonal human mobility and Aedes aegyptihabitat suitability on Zika virus epidemic severity in Colombia