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Spread of Zika raises issues of poverty, women’s rights
The alarming spread of Zika is as much about the poverty and powerlessness faced by women in Latin America, where the virus is rampant, as it is an issue about health, says Alicia Yamin, lecturer on law and…
Should gene-edited mosquitoes be used to stop Zika?
Editing the DNA of the Zika-transmitting mosquito might be a way to wipe out the species entirely and thus stop the spread of the disease—but caution should be exercised in any such move, according to Flaminia Catteruccia, associate…
Link between Zika virus and microcephaly strengthened
New research has found evidence of the Zika virus in the brain tissue of a fetus with microcephaly, providing support for a link between the mosquito-borne disease and a birth defect that causes small heads and underdeveloped brains.…
Zika highlights tension around public health directives
With the mosquito-borne Zika virus linked to a dramatic rise in severe birth defects in Brazil, health officials in nearby countries are advising women to delay plans to become pregnant. But women’s rights advocates have countered that the recommendations…
Climate change expanding range of Zika-carrying mosquito
Evidence suggests that climate change is expanding the territory of the mosquito that transmits the Zika virus, as well as two other tropical viruses now spreading north: dengue and chikungunya. Prolonged warm temperatures also create the conditions for…
Billions needed to prepare for global health crises, says panel
February 2, 2016 — In the wake of the devastating Ebola epidemic of 2014-15 in West Africa, which killed more than 11,000 people and cost about $2.2 billion, an international commission has outlined an ambitious agenda—at an annual cost…
In Zika response, WHO should learn from Ebola mistakes
Assessments of the global response to the recent Ebola epidemic show that the world still isn’t ready to handle emerging pandemics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Lecturer Suerie Moon wrote in a New York Times opinion…
Zika ‘unknowns’ hampering public health response
The mosquito-borne Zika virus now spreading rapidly in several countries in the southern hemisphere—and diagnosed in a reported dozen travelers who have returned to the United States—has been circumstantially linked to the dramatic rise of a severe birth…
Zika virus in Brazil may be mutated strain
January 27, 2016 —The mosquito-borne Zika virus has been linked to a surge in cases of birth defects in Brazil, and is spreading in other countries in the southern hemisphere. Flaminia Catteruccia, associate professor of immunology and infectious…
Progress, challenges in Chilean health system
While Chile has had a publicly funded national health system since the 1950s, private insurance was introduced in the 1980s—and, since then, the mix of public and private insurance has led to mixed results, according to a January…