Meningitis News and Research

Latest Meningitis News and Research

Study reveals how inflammation weakens muscles during illness

Infections and neurodegenerative diseases cause inflammation in the brain. But for unknown reasons, patients with brain inflammation often develop muscle problems that seem to be independent of the central nervous system. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have revealed how brain inflammation releases a specific protein that travels from the brain to the muscles and causes a loss of muscle function.

13 Jul 2024

Mapping pathogen spread and evolution using genomic and human mobility data

A new way to map the spread and evolution of pathogens, and their responses to vaccines and antibiotics, will provide key insights to help predict and prevent future outbreaks.

3 Jul 2024

Climate change may negatively affect the health of people with brain conditions

Climate change, and its effects on weather patterns and adverse weather events, is likely to negatively affect the health of people with brain conditions, argue a UCL-led team of researchers.

16 May 2024

Keto diet enhances fungal meningitis treatment

For the roughly 150,000 AIDS patients who come down with a life-threatening infection called fungal meningitis each year, there aren't many options.

9 May 2024

50 years of lifesaving vaccinations: WHO's EPI saves 154 million lives

The World Health Organization’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) has prevented 154 million deaths since 1974, significantly reducing global infant mortality and contributing 10.2 billion years of healthy life due to vaccinations.

7 May 2024

Expert warns of the continuous dangers posed by polio and other enteroviruses

Consistently high vaccination rates and global health surveillance programs have helped eliminate poliomyelitis (polio) in almost all countries of the world, except Afghanistan and Pakistan.

28 Apr 2024

WHO and Government of France host high-level meeting to combat meningitis

Global leaders highlight the need to defeat meningitis – a leading cause of disability – at a high-level meeting co-hosted by the World Health Organization and Government of France, under the High Patronage of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic.

26 Apr 2024

Improving public health communication in African epidemics: Lessons learned and future directions

During epidemics of Ebola, COVID-19, Zika and other public health emergencies, effective communication of public health messages is crucial to control the spread of disease, maintain public trust, and encourage compliance with health measures.

25 Apr 2024

154 million lives saved: Landmark study highlights power of vaccination

A major landmark study to be published by The Lancet reveals that global immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million lives – or the equivalent of 6 lives every minute of every year – over the past 50 years.

25 Apr 2024

Study identifies the main types of E. coli bacteria that cause neonatal meningitis

A milestone study led by University of Queensland researchers has identified the main types of E. coli bacteria that cause neonatal meningitis, and revealed why some infections recur despite being treated with antibiotics.

16 Apr 2024

Nigeria first to rollout new Men5CV vaccine against meningitis

In a historic move, Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out a new vaccine (called Men5CV) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which protects people against five strains of the meningococcus bacteria.

15 Apr 2024

Largest-ever global deployment of cholera rapid diagnostic tests for better disease control

The arrival of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits for cholera in Malawi today signals the start of a global programme that will see more than 1.2 million tests distributed to 14 countries at high risk for cholera over the next several months.

10 Apr 2024

An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare machines

Covering the American health care system means we tell some scary stories. This episode of "An Arm and a Leg" sounds like a real horror movie.

10 Apr 2024

Study links pneumonia transmission in seniors to contact with young children

New research being presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024) in Barcelona, Spain (27-30 April) finds that pneumonia-causing bacteria are common in the over 60s and that contact with pre-school and young school-aged children appears to be the most important factor in the onward transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) to the over 60s.

3 Apr 2024

WHO calls for urgent action on rising neurological conditions worldwide

A major new study released by The Lancet Neurology shows that, in 2021, more than 3 billion people worldwide were living with a neurological condition.

30 Mar 2024

WHO recommends R21/Matrix-M vaccine for malaria prevention in children

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a new vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, for the prevention of malaria in children.

27 Mar 2024

Generative artificial intelligence model can easily design billions of novel antibiotics

Researchers at McMaster University and Stanford University have invented a new generative artificial intelligence model which can design billions of new antibiotic molecules that are inexpensive and easy to build in the laboratory.

22 Mar 2024

Rapid rise in syphilis hits Native Americans hardest

From her base in Gallup, New Mexico, Melissa Wyaco supervises about two dozen public health nurses who crisscross the sprawling Navajo Nation searching for patients who have tested positive for or been exposed to a disease once nearly eradicated in the U.S.: syphilis.

21 Mar 2024

More than 3 billion people worldwide lived with a neurological condition in 2021, new study reports

Researchers estimated global, regional, and national health loss due to 37 nervous system conditions and their associated risk factors from 1990 to 2021.

19 Mar 2024

Global health burden of neurological conditions is much greater than previously understood, study reveals

Globally, the number of people living with, or dying from, neurological conditions such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and meningitis has risen substantially over the past 30 years due to the growth and ageing of the global population as well as increased exposure to environmental, metabolic, and lifestyle risk factors.

18 Mar 2024