Global Scans · Global Trends in Infectious Diseases · Weekly Summary

• [New] Integrating research on the spread of infectious diseases, the decline in biodiversity, and climate change could provide mutually beneficial solutions for the health of our planet. SciTechDaily
• Tuberculosis (TB), a global public health emergency, remains a significant threat to human health, and has a high mortality rate among infectious diseases 1, 2. Nature
• Analysts predict escalating economic and financial costs from adverse health impacts across the world, including risks like infectious diseases and water scarcity, affecting health systems and productivity. India Briefing News
• Covid-19 has become a significantly smaller public health threat in recent years, thanks in no small part to vaccination (though it's still harming and killing more people than the flu or any other infectious disease in the U.S.). Gizmodo
• Improving life expectancy in the UK and closing inequality gaps will require a coherent cross-government strategy that promotes healthy lifestyles to prevent disease, identifies and treats illness earlier, and reduces inequalities by improving the health of people in deprived communities. New Statesman
• Numerous scientists have consistently warned about the environmental imbalances linked to the escalating prevalence of infectious diseases and have drawn attention to the imminent risk of a deadly pathogen emerging from the Amazon rainforest. The Ecologist
• The diplomatic maneuvering comes at a time when aid organizations are warning that Gaza urgently needs assistance, with a population suffering from severe malnutrition and the spread of infectious disease. International Law in Switzerland - Professor Andreas R
• Hypertension is the leading preventable risk factor for heart attacks and strokes worldwide, killing more people than any other condition - more than all infectious diseases combined and more than Covid at its peak. The National
• In 2024, the economic and financial costs of adverse health impacts from climate change will increase, with risks related to the spread of infectious disease, insufficient access to clean water, and physical harm to the elderly and vulnerable. National Law Review
• An agricultural fungicide approved in the U.S. and currently under consideration by authorities worldwide could have a devastating effect on a new drug for one of world's deadliest infectious diseases, show University of Manchester scientists. phys.org
• The Japanese pharma will use Depixus' MAGNA technology - based on magnetic force spectroscopy - in its RNA drug discovery, which is focused mainly on oncology, rare genetic diseases, and vaccines for infectious diseases. Pharmaphorum
• An agricultural fungicide approved in the US and currently under consideration by authorities worldwide could have a devastating effect on a new drug for one of world's deadliest infectious diseases, show University of Manchester scientists. University of Manchester
• The UK Health Security Agency has today published its Pathogen Genomics Strategy, laying out a 5 year plan for the organization's role in the wider delivery of pathogen genomics to prepare for and respond to infectious disease threats to public health. GOV.UK
• From 2024 to 2029, Cloudscreen is strategically focusing on developing repurposed drugs in five key therapeutic areas: obesity, rare diseases, infectious diseases, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. PharmiWeb.com
• Building sequencing capabilities across intensive care units in the UK lays the groundwork for the world's first integrated, national respiratory metagenomics and public health detection system and could have profound implications for the navigation of future infectious diseases. Oxford Nanopore Technologies
• By 2025, the U.S. is committed to directly supporting at least 50 countries to strengthen and achieve regional, national and local capacity in five critical areas to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. Global Biodefense
• A third UN body - the World Health Organization - has again warned of a spike in the spread of infectious diseases across Gaza's displaced community. BBC News
• Climate change is expected to increase the spread of infectious diseases in wildlife and Antarctica is not immune. The Conversation
• A lack of sanitation in Gaza's overcrowded shelters is contributing to the rapid spread of infectious diseases, with the situation only expected to worsen. Mondoweiss
• The lack of clean water and the severe overcrowding in the southern part of Gaza - where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the northern part have fled - have markedly increased the risk of outbreak of infectious diseases. Eurasia Review
• As emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases present a global risk to the economic and financial systems, there is a need to ensure standardized reporting of corporate and investment activities in infectious hotspots to reduce the risk of outbreaks at a global scale. Medical Xpress
• Identifying sustainable ways to work with communities to take action to prevent and control modifiable risk factors for heart disease is essential for reducing the global burden of heart disease. ScienceDaily
• Climate change is increasing health risks in every region of the world, including millions more people at risk of heat-related illness, food insecurity, infectious diseases, and poverty. World Health Organization: WHO

Last updated: 17 April 2024