Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy

A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.

India is home to over a quarter of the world's preschool children suffering from Vitamin A deficiency. A new CDDEP visualization maps state-by-state Vitamin A Supplementation coverage of children aged 12-23 months, with some surprising results. [CDDEP]

According to new research published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the published literature on organic food “lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious” but notes that their consumption “may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.” [Food Safety News]

A Swiss survey shows that almost 29 percent doctors and nurses did not want patients to remind them to wash their hands, with 27 percent of them saying that such queries would be either upsetting or humiliating. [US News]

Ralph Nader writes an editorial for Truthdig titled “Where’s the War on Lethal Superbugs?” [Truthdig]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention link a recent multi-state Salmonella outbreak with the handling of turtles, lizards, and other reptiles. [RedOrbit]

In a paper published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, scientists describe the structure of a regulator controlling “the expression of the multidrug efflux pump in Mycobacterium tuberculosis” that enables the bacteria to resist antibiotics. [PhysOrg]

The Center for Health Reporting finds that a recent report that highlighted a 10 percent drop in hospital central line infections in California included errors such as “an overall 38 percent undercount of central line associated bloodstream infections.” [Center for HealthCare Reporting]

Prabha Fernandes, CEO of Cempra Pharmaceuticals, talks with Bloomberg TV about the burden of hospital-acquired infections and new antibiotics in the works. [Bloomberg]

New research published in the journal PLoS ONE shows that despite years of armed conflict, which normally weakens malaria control programs and increases risk of outbreaks and epidemics, Sri Lanka has eliminated malaria incidence by 99.9% since 1999. [Science Codex]

Participants at the national medical conference Sepsis Update held in India push for urgent formulation and implementation of strict policies to prevent the rising tide of antibiotic resistance. [Times of India]

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Turtle image via Sea Frost/Flickr