Global health review
A weekly round-up of all the latest global health research from MSF projects and beyond
6 November 2026
An important milestone in Ebola vaccine research: the first participant has been vaccinated in a new clinical trial in the DRC, supported by MSF and Epicentre. The trial aims to advance the development of vaccines against the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, for which no licensed vaccine currently exists. Read more about this development here.
This week, an MSF and Epicentre study in PLOS Medicine compared home-based and facility-based care for mild diphtheria during an outbreak in Nigeria. It found no increased risk of mortality, household transmission, or long-term complications with home-based care, supporting its potential to ease pressure on health facilities during large outbreaks.
A study with DNDi contribution published in eClinicalMedicine evaluated oxfendazole as a potential treatment for whipworm infection in Tanzania. A single dose offered no advantage over existing treatments, however a three-day course cured almost 76% of participants and could therefore play a role in targeted treatment schemes.
Finally, in the International Review of Psychiatry, an MSF article explored the psychological impact of continuous exposure to violence and displacement on children and healthcare workers in Gaza. The article highlights the limitations of conventional trauma-focused approaches in settings of ongoing conflict, emphasising the need for mental health support that accounts for continuing threats and insecurity.
Best regards,
Maya Fenyk, Lillian Matthes, and Holly Baker with MSF-authored article assistance from Alys Barton and Amelia Zhao.
All MSF-authored publications can be found on the MSF Science Portal, as well as recordings, abstracts and posters from the MSF Scientific Days 2026 conference.
Climate change and Planetary Health
The Lancet Planetary Health • Article: Accounting for global carbon dioxide production from human metabolism between 1985 and 2015: a modelling study
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Contact in context: How land use histories, sociocultural practices, and animal profiles shape human-animal contact and zoonotic pathogen exposure in a fragmented forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Conflict, migration and health
The Lancet Regional Health • Article: Differential mortality risks associated with ambient temperature among migrants and non-migrants: a space-time-stratified case-crossover study of the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort (2000–2020)
Journal of Migration and Health • Article: The Faith Factor: Examining Religious and Spiritual Practices as Coping Mechanisms for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Journal of Migration and Health • Article: Malnutrition in newly arrived refugee and migrant children in Europe: a systematic review
Journal of Migration and Health • Article: Mental Health and Access to Mental Health Support Among Latin Americans in the United Kingdom: A Scoping Review
Journal of Migration and Health • Article: Needs and perceptions of support systems: a case study of unaccompanied minors (UMs) in Montréal
Ebola
BMJ Global Health • Comment: Beyond evacuation: building epidemic-resilient global surgery partnerships in an era of recurrent Ebola outbreaks
Global health
The Lancet Healthy Longevity • Article: Multimorbidity among older people in three African countries: a population-based cross-sectional study in The Gambia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Viewpoint: Who defines the question in neglected tropical disease research?
TRSTMH • Review: Bee and wasp sting envenomation and clinical toxicology: a narrative review
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Special populations require special research approaches
Health Policy and Planning • Article: Policy coherence for resilient health systems: Do Sierra Leone’s health sector strategies active in the 2025 to 2026 planning window pull in the same direction?
Journal of Migration and Health • Case Study: Towards inclusive health research: the added value of making invitation letters and questionnaires available in minority languages
HIV
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Managing HIV in Primary Care with Project ECHO: Highlighting a Successful Delivery Model
Global Public Health • Article: Rebuilding the social foundations of HIV research: Community-engaged approaches for the next phase of HIV cure research in Sub-Saharan Africa
Infectious diseases
PLOS Medicine • Article: Outcomes of home-based versus facility-based care for mild diphtheria during a large epidemic in Kano State, Nigeria: A retrospective matched cohort study
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Hepatitis E in suspected acute hepatitis cases in Brazil: A comparison with hepatitis A
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: Determinants of Infant Diarrhoea and Respiratory Illness in a Low-Resource Community in South Africa: A Structural Equation Modelling
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: Effects of a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Mobile Health Program on Respiratory Illness in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): WASHmobile PICHA7 Program
Malaria Journal • Article: Determinants of recurrent parasitemia following artemisinin based combination therapy in a high transmission setting in Zambia
Malaria
Malaria Journal • Article: Strengthening capacity in high-burden malaria-endemic countries: a strategic analysis of training gaps and blended learning solutions in national malaria control programs
Malaria Journal • Article: Knowledge and practices of malaria prevention among community members of Kyankende, Kiryandongo, Uganda, 2026
Malaria Journal • Article: Association between Plasmodium falciparum AMA-1, MSP-119, and GLURP- R2 IgG antibody responses and malaria transmission exposure in rural Tanga Region, north-eastern Tanzania
Malaria Journal • Article: Bringing malaria surveillance closer to the people through digitally linking the private health sector in Kisumu Kenya: a prospective cross-sectional implementation study
Malaria Journal • Article: Health burden, spatiotemporal heterogeneity, and productivity losses associated with malaria in Peru: a multisource longitudinal study
Malaria Journal • Article: Socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in insecticide-treated net utilization in Tanzania: evidence from a multilevel and concentration index analysis of TDHS-MIS 2015–2016
Malaria Journal • Article: Beyond coverage: a systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis of factors influencing community engagement in malaria mass drug administration
Maternal and child health
The Lancet Regional Health • Article: Maternal mortality in the Americas, 2000–2023: an ecological study of temporal trends, socioeconomic inequalities, and progress towards 2030 targets
Lancet eClinical Medicine • Article: Brain injury after single fetal demise in monochorionic twin pregnancies: an international multicentre retrospective cohort study
Lancet eClinical Medicine • Article: Prenatal exposure to acrylamide and neuropsychiatric disorders: a biomarker-based birth cohort study with 34 years of follow-up
BMJ Global Health • Article: Health insurance coverage and quality of care for reproductive and maternal health in LMICs: a multicountry propensity score matching study
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Antenatal Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections to Reduce Preterm Birth or Low Birthweight (Philani Ndiphile Study): A Randomized 3-Group Trial
Mental health
Lancet eClinical Medicine • Article: Predicting PANSS symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders using speech only: an international, multi-centre, computational secondary analysis across multiple languages
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: Effect of Relaxation Techniques Combined With Cognitive Behavioural Therapy on Depression, Anxiety and Quality of Life Among Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Northern Ethiopia: Multicentre Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Neglected tropical diseases
Lancet eClinical Medicine • Article: Efficacy and safety of oxfendazole in adults with Trichuris spp. infection in Pemba Island, Tanzania: a double-blind, phase 2a, randomised controlled trial
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Knowledge, attitude, and practices towards anthrax among Communities in the Southern and South-western Ethiopia
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Persistence of viral full-length genomic RNA and replication-associated RNA transcripts and proteins in sheep tissues following acute Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus infection
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Viewpoint: Challenges and opportunities for strengthening South American responses to insecticide resistance in disease vectors: Lessons from the WINSA workshop in Bogotá, Colombia
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Viewpoint: Letter to the editor: “The underestimated burden of placental schistosomiasis in endemic regions: Findings from a cross-sectional, diagnostic proof-of-concept study on placental schistosomiasis in Gabon”
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Leptospirosis occurs as frequently as malaria among adolescent and adult acute febrile patients in Hoima, Uganda: A prospective health facility-based study
TRSTMH • Article: Cystic echinococcosis in Afghanistan: addressing evidence gaps through regional one health collaboration with WHO EMRO
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Relationships between Schistosoma mansoni infection intensity, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), and anemia type among preschool-aged children in Uganda
Non-communicable diseases
Lancet eClinical Medicine • Article: Excess adiposity and early cardiometabolic risk markers among adolescents and young adults in 70 countries: a multi-country cross-sectional study
Lancet eClinical Medicine • Article: Efficacy and safety of intrathecal chemotherapy in leptomeningeal disease: a global retrospective multicenter analysis and review of the literature
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Snakebite epidemiology and health-seeking behavior in fringe communities of the Kakum Conservation Area in Ghana
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: Geographic Variations and Determinants of Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Among Indonesian Adults: Evidence From the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey
Research and reporting
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: A new semi-automated, motility-based screening assay for discovery of compounds with activity against the juvenile stage of Fasciola hepatica
Malaria Journal • Article: Performance assessment of laboratory professionals on malaria smear microscopy and associated factors in West Oromia malaria external quality assessment centers, Ethiopia 2025
Sexual and reproductive health
BMJ Global Health • Article: Impact of family planning messages on modern contraceptive use: an observational study of women of reproductive age in Zambia 2007–2018
Tuberculosis
The Lancet Microbe • Article: Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strain discordance among people with tuberculosis and a history of household contact: a systematic review and meta-analysis
BMJ Global Health • Article: Tuberculosis preventive treatment and care cascade among household contacts of patients starting tuberculosis treatment in Southern Africa: a multicountry cohort analysis
BMJ Global Health • Article: Real-world multicountry programmatic assessment of contact investigation for people with drug-resistant tuberculosis: evidence from five high-burden countries
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Genomic microdiversity of Mycobacterium africanum in Sénégal
Vaccines
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Review: Determinants of Measles Vaccine Failure and Breakthrough Infections: A Systematic Review of IgG Avidity Based Immunological Markers and Host Genetic Polymorphisms