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Removing the Barriers for CKD Management

Daphne Knicely — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 09:32:31 +0000

This week in BMC Nephrology, an article by Neale et al. evaluated the barriers and enablers to the detection of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the primary healthcare setting. In this BMC Nephrology World Kidney Day blog, Blog Editor Dr. Daphne Harrington Knicely examines the benefits of early CKD detection and management and how we can enhance efforts in primary healthcare for early CKD diagnosis.

Genetic uncertainty: Our changing understandings of genetic health data

Julia El Mecky & Lennart Johansson — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:06:50 +0000

The more we discover about the human genome, the more we understand how changes in its sequence influence our health and disease. For subjects who had their genome sequenced in the past, these updates might potentially lead to changes in their diagnosis as well as clinical management.

Strengthening public private partnerships in health in Africa: right timing; challenged beyond capacity or both?

Juliet Nabyonga-Orem — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:00:33 +0000

The role of the private sector in attaining the objectives of the health sector is gaining increasing recognition, especially in low income countries. Arguably, the private sector is not a new player in health. Indeed, the World Bank has advanced the ideology of private sector provision of health services as far back as the days... Read more »

Ecotourism: A Potential Reservoir for Transfer of Antimicrobial Resistant Pathogens between Humans and Non-Human Primates

Erin Lim & Chong Chun Wie — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 10:37:08 +0000

What are the risks ecotourism poses for the transfer of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms between human and non-human primates? A new article in Gut Pathogens investigates the need for clear guidelines to preserve both animal and human safety.

International Women’s Day 2020: Celebrating Southeast Asian women in research

Phaik Yeong Cheah & Nicky Almasy — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:33:31 +0000

This is the first of a weekly blog in March 2020 that coincides with International Women’s Day. Each blog will feature 2-3 amazing women in research.

Antimicrobial use and resistance in animals and environment in Africa

Zuhura Kimera — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 16:19:56 +0000

Despite the potential spread of antimicrobial resistant organisms, there has been little focus on antimicrobial resistance surveillance programme specific for animal and environment across Africa. A recent review published in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control investigated all the information on the status of antimicrobial use, resistance and surveillance systems in food animals and the environment across the continent.

Hybrid speciation in the Culex pipiens mosquito complex?

Matthew Aardema — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 09:00:40 +0000

Mosquitoes are infamous for the challenges they present biologists attempting to classify distinct taxonomic groups. In a recent article, researchers try to answer some challenging questions on the taxonomy of the Culex pipiens species complex.

Why do some people eat their placenta?

Riley Botelle — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 09:00:10 +0000

Human placentophagy, the practice of eating one’s own placenta, has gained popularity in recent year, despite a lack of reliable evidence of the expected benefits of the practice. A new paper in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth examines the reasons why some new mothers engage in the practice. In this blog post, the lead author of the study summarizes their findings, including the reasons the practice has become so popular, and highlight some concerns as well.

MICHELINdb – a new online platform for mining available data on worm-microbiome crosstalk

Riccardo Scotti and Cinzia Cantacessi — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 09:00:33 +0000

Today, Riccardo Scotti and Cinzia Cantacessi discuss the 'MICrobiome HELminth INteractions database' (MICHELINdb), an online resource created to facilitate the mining of worm-microbiota interaction datasets. The database is described in full in their paper Scotti et al., published recently in Microbiome.

Why is cultural safety required over cultural competency in the pursuit of health equity?

Elana Curtis — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:44:42 +0000

In this blog, author Elana Curtis discusses her recent article published in International Journal for Equity in Health, which looks into the importance of cultural safety and cultural competency in achieving equitable health care.