{ "items": [ "\n\n
Caring for sick newborns in a poorly resourced hospital is a very challenging job. Yet this is not the only challenge many nurses face as they juggle supporting families and lives in a busy city. Some nurses have developed ways to cope in these difficult circumstances but for many the relentless pressure may cause them harm while upholding the ideals of nursing may seem impossible.
\n \n\n \n \nSick newborns require large amounts of nursing time, so what happens when nurses have to care for too many babies? By making direct observations of the care that is given this important new research identified how much care is missed. More care is missed when nurses have more babies to care for, showing the direct consequences of health care worker shortages.
\n \n\n \n \nTo really understand the work of nurses in very busy wards where care for sick newborns is provided, you have to be there. Using detailed observations, day, night and weekends, linked to narrative interviews, the routines, compromises and coping strategies that characterise the delivery of hospital care for newborns are brought to light providing critical information to understand why care is missed and to guide improvement efforts.
\n \n\n \n \nThis course is a full-time, one-year multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary programme that examines major challenges to the health of populations in resource-limited contexts. Embedded within the Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, the course benefits from the Centre's reputation and expertise in Global Health research and practice.
\n \n\n \n \nBasic hospital care may be key to saving newborn lives. Professor Mike English outlines a multidisciplinary project engaging policy-makers and practitioners in Kenya. This project demonstrated poor coverage of Nairobi\u2019s 4.25 million population if a sick newborn baby needs quality hospital care. Using novel research approaches the team also identified how severe shortages of nurses contribute to poor quality of care for patients and negatively affect nurses themselves.
\n \n\n \n \nThe Oxford Tropical Network (OTN) Conference will take place from Sunday 8th until Wednesday 11th September at St Catherine's College, Oxford, United Kingdom; it is open to delegates by invitation only. The conference is an opportunity for colleagues in our Overseas Programmes and associated Oxford departments to learn about each other\u2019s work in the areas of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, and to forge new collaborations on mutual areas of research.
\n \n\n \n \nAlthough incidence of malaria has decreased in Vietnam, the burden of infectious diseases remains high and weighs heavily on the health care system. Clinical research aims to allow investments to go further: findings in the laboratory, tested in clinical trials and then applied to the community, help improve diagnosis and management.
\n \n\n \n \nThe role of biostatisticians in clinical research is to contribute to trial design, by calculating sample size for example, and to help draw correct conclusions from the data, discriminating important information from noise. They are instrumental in the translation of a practical problem into a statistical model, and the translation of the result into practice.
\n \n\n \n \nAntibiotics are widely used in Vietnam, leading to widespread antimicrobial resistance. Monitoring antibiotic use helps inform the government to change treatment guidelines and implement antibiotic stewardship programmes. This may also prevent the transmission of resistant bacteria outside the country.
\n \n\n \n \nThis video tells the story of Jacob Kazungu, one of our School Leavers\u2019 Attachment Scheme Students. Following the attachment, Jacob pursued a career in science and has now published several 1st author articles, and has been awarded with a Wellcome Master's Fellowship.
\n \n\n \n \nTuberculosis meningitis affects a fractions of TB patients but causes high levels of mortality and morbidity. A recent trial at OUCRU showed that aspirin can greatly improve outcomes. Such trial is typical of the work done in our Vietnam units, where all the research is focussed on improving the outcome for patients directly.
\n \n\n \n \nOUCRU laboratories provide support to the unit\u2019s extensive clinical research programme, from level 2 laboratory to SAPO 4 laboratory for high-risk pathogens responsible for zoonotic infections. Early diagnosis and detection of antimicrobial resistance help prescribe the right medicine in time, contributing to better patient management.
\n \n\n \n \nIndonesia is a very populous country with a huge burden of infectious diseases such as TB, malaria, HIV and CNS infections. Running clinical trials requires high levels of expertise, currently developed and strengthened by institutions such as IOCRL (Universities of Indonesia and Oxford Clinical Research laboratory). Better collaborations will also help great ideas make a bigger impact.
\n \n\n \n \nVivax malaria used to be considered benign but is now recognised as an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Resistance to chloroquine (given to treat the parasite blood stage) is growing and ACT (artemisinin-based combination therapy) is becoming common treatment for vivax malaria. New drugs and better public health strategies can help elimination targets, anticipated for 2030.
\n \n\n \n \nBrain infections such as meningitis and encephalitis are highly debilitating diseases, and an accurate diagnostic is essential to give patients the best treatment available. For cryptococcal meningitis, clinical trials focus on prevention, for an early diagnosis, and novel ways to use existing treatments or repurpose old drugs.
\n \n\n \n \nAntimicrobial resistance is a huge burden in Nepal, particularly in hospitals where many nosocomial infections are caused by resistant pathogens. With limited resources, little infection controls and proper guidelines in place, finding out the main risk factors helps reduce infection rates within a hospital and better target vaccination campaigns.
\n \n\n \n \nMany households in Vietnam raise animals for food production, particularly chickens, using large amounts of antimicrobials with no veterinary support, and those antimicrobials find their way into the food chain. The ViParc project conducts intervention trials similar to human clinical trials, to help farmers reduce the level of antimicrobials used when raising chickens.
\n \n\n \n \nThe MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine is open to candidates from a variety of academic backgrounds, both medical and non-medical.
\n \n\n \n \nInfections such as dengue and Japanese encephalitis are important problems in Laos but confirmed data are lacking, particularly from outside the capital Vientiane. Rapid diagnostic tests that can be kept at tropical room temperature help better diagnosis and treatment, and also inform policy to implement vaccination programmes.
\n \n\n \n \nScrub typhus is an infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, a bacteria transmitted by the bite of an infected chigger mite. Characterised by a variety of symptoms and a high mortality rate, scrub typhus is an underfunded, neglected tropical disease not even listed by the WHO. Better diagnostic tests and optimised treatments are being developed since no vaccine is currently available.
\n \n\n \n \n