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« Back to NewsResults of remdesivir trial released
30 April 2020
The results of a placebo-controlled randomised trial of remdesivir in COVID-19 patients have been published in the Lancet. Supported by the ISARIC Support Centre, scientists in China launched a trial of remdesivir in patients hospitalised with COVID-19. The results found no clinical benefit from use of the drug; however, while not statistically significant, the time to clinical improvement and duration of invasive mechanical ventilation were shorter in people treated with remdesivir.
Global call for strategic planning for COVID-19 medical products
10 April 2020
Global health experts have united in a call for governments and international organisations around the world to plan strategically for the coordinated production, equitable distribution and surveillance of COVID-19 medical products to ensure access to quality-assured medications for everyone.
Triple drug combinations effective against drug-resistant malaria
11 March 2020
Adding a third anti-malaria drug to current artemisinin-combination therapies (ACTs) provides effective treatment against multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria in Southeast Asia, say Oxford researchers in a study in The Lancet. Using TACTs should extend current malaria drugs so drug-resistant malaria doesn't kill millions more and derail hopes of controlling and eliminating malaria.
Analysing malaria treatments in Africa: a comparison of the two front-line treatments
28 February 2020
A statistical analysis of WWARN data from 4,214 participants across multiple study sites in Africa has been published in BMC Medicine. Results indicate that the local prevalence of resistance-associated markers should be considered when choosing a first-line drug to ensure optimal duration of protection.
Policy Maker’s guide for adopting a gender lens in health systems policy
30 January 2020
Policy makers are interested in practical steps to a more gender-equitable and transformative health system. A guide published by Research in Gender & Ethics aims to help policy makers adopt a gender lens in policy deliberations on health systems. In order to prompt reflections on how gender affects health systems, we include case studies from Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
Stepping up to the challenge: studying drug dosage during an Ebola outbreak
17 January 2020
A specialist technique used to study drugs has been completed for the first time during an outbreak of Ebola virus disease.
Global study highlights the extent and impact of drug-resistant enteric fever and the urgent need for new approaches
23 December 2019
A new study conducted by Christiane Dolecek and colleagues analysed data on antimicrobial resistance of the bacteria Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi, from around the globe, spanning the time from 1990 to 2018. The study highlights the impact of drug resistance and the urgent need for interventions.
New insights into our multi-millenia battle with malaria
18 December 2019
Science Blog - George Busby of Oxford University's Big Data Institute discusses his team's research into human genetic resistance to malaria and humanity's age-old struggle against the disease.
Typhoid vaccine over 81% effective in tackling disease in Nepal
11 December 2019
A large field study of typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) in Nepal has shown a single dose to be safe and effective in reducing typhoid in children aged 9 months to <16 years in an endemic setting. OUCRU-Nepal Professor Buddha Basnyat took part in this study.
Picturing health: dengue in Vietnam published in The Lancet
6 December 2019
Earlier this year, OUCRU Photographer in Residence Pearl Gan conducted a project focusing on dengue. In that project, she took photos of dengue patients and health care workers at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She also took photos of dengue patients in their homes and at research sites in the city. This project was funded by the Wellcome Trust, and this week selected photos from that project have been published in The Lancet as a photo story.
The practice and ethics of participatory visual methods for community engagement in public health and health science
26 November 2019
Mary Chambers (OUCRU Public Engagement Vietnam) and Gill Black (Sustainable Livelihood Foundation, South Africa) have partnered with The Global Health Network training centre to published this online course and handbook
Call for global action on medicine quality
8 November 2019
Noting that substandard and falsified medical products (including medicines, vaccines, biologics, and diagnostics) represent a significant and growing threat to human health, The Lancet Global Health published 'The Global access to quality-assured medical products: the Oxford Statement and call to action'. The Oxford Statement has been signed by 159 attendees at the 2018 Oxford Conference on Medicine Quality and Public Health from governments, multilateral agencies, academia and civil society.
Male and female healthcare managers in Kenya: career trajectories and experiences
5 November 2019
Women continue to be under-represented in leadership positions across a range of sectors and geographic regions. In the health sector specifically, women comprise a substantial proportion of the global health workforce but are over-represented in lower-paying, lower-status occupations. The role of gender in healthcare leadership in LMIC settings remains under-researched. KWTRP undertook a study to understand and explore career progression and experiences of healthcare leaders at sub-national level in Kenya.
New research supports co-administration of primaquine with artemisinin-based combination therapies for P. vivax malaria
8 October 2019
An individual patient data meta-analysis of 2,017 patients from 19 studies has found a high risk of recurrence following treatment of P. vivax malaria with artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) unless they are co-administered with primaquine. The research supports recommendations that these artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) should be combined with primaquine.
The 'impossible' job of being a neonatal nurse
26 August 2019
The provision of high-quality care to sick newborns presents challenges in any health system. International guidelines suggest that even for babies who do not require intensive care, there should be one nurse for every 2 – 4 sick babies. However, recent studies conducted in Nairobi show that one nurse takes care of between 20 – 40 newborns. In a recently published policy brief the KEMRI Wellcome Trust programme highlights the experience of nurses in Nairobi’s New Born Units.
Latest research finds primaquine improves haemoglobin by day 42 following treatment of P. vivax malaria
1 August 2019
An IDDO/WWARN study has found that primaquine is not associated with increased levels of anaemia following treatment of patients without G6PD deficiency for P. vivax malaria and should be used as part of a radical cure. In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers carried out a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis which involved 3,421 patients in 29 studies published in BMC Medicine.
Launch of comprehensive public health facility inventory for sub-Saharan Africa
25 July 2019
KWTRP has launched a dataset of comprehensive public health facilities from 50 countries in sub- Saharan Africa. This new dataset locates health facilities in relation to the communities they are intended to serve, to help ensure that services are accessible to the right populations and that no one is geographically marginalized from essential services. This is critical for attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3 on good health and wellbeing.
Antimalarial treatments less effective in severely malnourished children
24 July 2019
MORU researchers have found that severe malnutrition is associated with lower exposure to the antimalarial drug lumefantrine in children treated with artemether-lumefantrine, the most common treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The study, which is the first to specifically address this, calls urgently for further research into optimised dosing regimens for undernourished children.
Rapidly spreading multidrug-resistant parasites render frontline malaria drug ineffective in southeast Asia
23 July 2019
The findings of two studies, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, reveal that by 2016–2018 malaria parasites resistant to both artemisinin and its widely used partner drug piperaquine represented more than 80% of the parasites circulating in northeast Thailand and Vietnam, despite having only emerged in western Cambodia in 2008.
New study shows faster way to cure vivax malaria
19 July 2019
A large clinical trial in Africa and Asia has shown that a 7 day course of high dose primaquine, a drug used to treat P. vivax malaria, is well tolerated and just as effective as the current standard 14 day regimen, according to a study published this week in The Lancet. These findings have important implications for the treatment and elimination of vivax malaria in the Asia Pacific.
Longer follow-up needed for malaria treatment in pregnant women
2 July 2019
New research by Makoto Saito and colleagues at SMRU found that a longer follow-up is required to assess antimalarial drug efficacy in pregnant women. This was found across all drugs assessed in low malaria transmission settings. The report’s authors have called for guidelines specifically for pregnant women and further investigation of optimal follow-up periods in high malaria transmission settings.
BBC News: Big data 'can stop malaria outbreaks before they start'
12 June 2019
A ground-breaking study in Bangladesh co-lead by MORU has found that using data from mobile phone networks to track the movement of people across the country can help predict where outbreaks of diseases such as malaria are likely to occur, enabling health authorities to take preventative measures.
Eliminating malaria in the Asia-Pacific could save 400,000 lives
25 April 2019
Increased funding is needed to eliminate malaria across 22 Asia-Pacific countries and save an estimated 400,000 lives, according to research published in a new collection of studies on Wellcome Open Research.
Guide to sepsis management offers comprehensive, practical advice for resource-limited settings
26 February 2019
On 12 Feb 2019, Professor Arjen Dondorp published a new book: Sepsis Management in Resource-limited Settings. The result of a 3-year project led by MORU and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), the book was written by critical care physicians from around the globe.
Latest WWARN publication identifies 15 new mutant alleles in the Kelch-13 gene
18 January 2019
A recent WWARN individual patient meta-analysis has gathered 18 published and unpublished studies from Africa and Asia to explore the relationships between identified Kelch 13 mutant alleles and delayed parasite clearance. The study results show one P. falciparum specific mutant and 20 pfk13 propeller region mutant alleles are strongly associated with the slow clearance phenotype, including 15 mutations that have not been confirmed before. It was reassuring that no pfk13 alleles associated with slow parasite clearance were observed in the parasites from African studies gathered between 2000-2017.
Lancet Highlight 2018: Walking out of the shadows: leprosy care in Bangladesh
22 December 2018
A photo from Pearl Gan, Photographer In Residence for OUCRU, was selected for The Lancet Highlights 2018. The picture shows Senior Nurse Shikh Rema changing the dressing for Jabeda Begom, a 65-year-old woman with leprosy, at the Jalchatra Hospital in Bangladesh. Treatment of leprosy is a lengthy process, but thanks to dedicated staff, patients are given the care and attention they need.
Reviewing the Cardiovascular Safety Profile of Antimalarial Drugs
9 November 2018
A systematic review analyses the results of 177 trials conducted between 1982 and 2016, including 18,436 patients who underwent electrocardiographic evaluation during malaria clinical trials. Nick White and colleagues found that serious cardiovascular side effects, which include sudden cardiac death, are very rare in the treatment of malaria with quinoline antimalarials. The work emphasises the importance of continued pharmacovigilance with the increasing use of quinoline antimalarials in mass treatment strategies such as intermittent preventative treatment and mass drug administration.
Fake drugs: the global industry putting your life at risk
7 November 2018
@Oxford Conferences & meetings MORU Publication
The manufacture and distribution of medicines is a global industry, tainted by fake and substandard products. Not only might these drugs not work as expected, but some are even contributing to antimicrobial resistance. So, what’s in your medicine cabinet? This is an article on Mosaic, a Wellcome publication
The Oxford Statement - lets demand medicines we can trust
7 November 2018
@Oxford Conferences & meetings MORU Publication
Every person has the right to expect that when they use a medical product, whether medicine, vaccine or diagnostic kit, it works. But too often, that is not the case. Substandard medical products result from errors, negligence or poor practice in manufacturing, transportation and/or storage. In contrast, falsified products result from criminal fraud. Both innovative and generic products are affected.
Study details high hidden economic costs of antibiotic consumption
4 September 2018
A team of researchers led by Yoel Lubell at MORU and IDDO used data from the USA and Thailand to link the consumption of antibiotics with the direct and indirect costs of treating patients for five drug-resistant bacterial infections.
New evidence supports radical treatment of widespread form of malaria
20 July 2018
A team of malaria experts from a large international research collaboration has today published results supporting the need for a radical cure strategy to tackle one of the most debilitating forms of malaria caused by the Plasmodium vivax parasite.
Small children and pregnant women may be underdosed with widely used antimalarial drug
13 June 2018
Current recommended treatment regimens for the most widely used medicine for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria may be sub-optimal for small children and pregnant women according to a study led by Professor Joel Tarning.
Safety doubts unwarranted, important anti-malarial drug DHA-PPQ is safe to use
8 June 2018
One of the world’s most widely used anti-malarial drugs is safe to use, say researchers, after a thorough review and analysis of nearly 200,000 malaria patients who’d taken the drug dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PPQ). There is such a low risk of sudden unexpected death from DHA-PPQ, one of the world’s most effective medicines to treat malaria, that there is no need to limit its current use.
Old drug, new role – eLife podcast
1 June 2018
Aspirin helps increase survival from TB meningitis by reducing brain inflammation and preventing the disease from blocking blood vessels in the brain that cause parts of the brain to die, commonly called ‘stroke’.
New age-based regimen for single low-dose primaquine to block malaria transmission
25 May 2018
Primaquine can be used to prevent the transmission of falciparum malaria from human to mosquito. Bob Taylor and colleagues at the Mahidol Oxford Research Unit (MORU) have developed an age-based regimen for single low-dose primaquine to block the transmission of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.
Genetics sheds light on the spread of TB bacteria
22 May 2018
In a first of its kind study into the population and spread of tuberculosis-causing (TB) bacteria in Ho Chi Minh City, Thuong Thuong Nguyn and collegues at OUCRU Vietnam, Australia, UK and Singapore have found that more than half of cases can be attributed to one particular strain of the bacteria.
Using management thinking to fight the superbug crisis
11 May 2018
Dr Marco J Haenssgen discusses the application of management thinking to solving the growing global problem of antimicrobial resistance.
Getting rid of malaria possible, if we try something new, say experts
25 April 2018
The rapid elimination of potentially untreatable P. falciparum malaria in South-East Asia is possible, according to a ground-breaking new study published today in The Lancet. The study authors say that setting up community-based malaria clinics for early diagnosis, treatment and monitoring, combined with mass antimalarial drug administration (MDA) to everyone living in ‘hotspot’ areas.
Paracetamol protects kidney in severe malaria patients
10 April 2018
Giving paracetamol (acetaminophen) to patients ill with severe malaria made them less likely to develop potentially fatal kidney failure. Each year severe malaria causes close to half a million deaths globally. Acute kidney injury occurs in 40% of adults and at least 10% of children with severe malaria, killing an estimated 40% of these adults and 12-24% of the children. The study reported for the first time that giving regular doses of paracetamol protects the kidney in adult patients with severe falciparum malaria.
Making malaria visible
27 March 2018
Professor Kevin Baird, Head of EOCRU in Jakarta, Indonesia, talks about how more needs to be done to mitigate the threat of malaria in Asia Pacific. This article includes photos from Pearl Gan who travelled through the Asia Pacific region to capture the stories of people and communities impacted by malaria.
Cultural barriers to tackling the superbug crisis
9 March 2018
Research led by Dr Marco Haenssgen has revealed how the complex cultural and social environment in developing countries can complicate the use of new diagnostic technologies to fight the global superbug crisis.
Could aspirin be used to treat tuberculous meningitis?
6 March 2018
Science Blog. Professor Guy Thwaites, Director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam, explains the discovery of yet another use for one of the most ubiquitous and ancient of drugs – aspirin.
Salmonella and antibiotic residues found in meat in Vietnam
9 February 2018
Over two-thirds of meat samples from Ho Chi Minh City were found to contain Salmonella bacteria, according to a study by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU). Researchers purchased 117 samples of chicken meat, beef and pork from retail sites in 2016-2017; 68.4% of those samples were found to contain Salmonella bacteria.
Labels showing antibiotics used to produce food a must to fight drug-resistant superbugs Labels showing antibiotics used to produce food a must to fight drug-resistant superbugs
31 January 2018
To fight the growing global threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, food labels around the world should include an ‘antibiotic footprint’ section that clearly shows the type and amount of antibiotics used to produce that food, say scientists in a study led by Associate Professor Direk Limmathurotsakul.
Mobile phones can worsen healthcare inequalities
23 January 2018
The fast spread of mobile phones across low-income countries like India can make it harder for poorer people without phones to access essential health services, new research by Dr Marco Haenssgen suggests.
115 years of malaria in Africa
11 October 2017
115 years of malaria data collected in Africa gives the most detailed picture yet of where efforts to control malaria infection are being won and lost across the continent.
115 years of malaria in Africa - interview
11 October 2017
KWTRP Publication Research Video
Interview of Professor Bob Snow, who tells us about his paper published in Nature in October 2017
Superbug’s spread to Vietnam threatens malaria control
21 September 2017
A highly drug resistant malaria "superbug" from western Cambodia is now present in southern Vietnam, leading to alarming failure rates for dihydroartemisinin (DHA)-piperaquine — Vietnam’s national first-line malaria treatment, leading malaria scientists warn.
Improved home designs may fight malaria in Africa
21 August 2017
Changing home designs and materials to make homes cooler and harder for mosquitoes to enter could reduce malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new study in The Lancet Planetary Health.
Antibodies may reveal timing of previous influenza infection
1 August 2017
The amount of influenza-specific antibodies present in an individual’s blood can indicate not only if they experienced the flu, but potentially when - a finding that could improve disease monitoring in the tropics, where flu season is unending. In the largest study of its kind, an international team, led by researchers from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Penn State University, identified antibody concentrations that correspond to recent and past exposure to the flu strain H1N1 - the strain involved in the 2009 flu pandemic.