Indian rotavirus vaccine found effective during clinical trial

A vaccine against rotavirus infection, developed in India as a low-cost alternative to available vaccines, has shown positive results in Phase III clinical trials. Rotavirus is the most severe and lethal cause of childhood diarrhoea, and is responsible for the death of approximately 100,000 small children in India each year. The vaccine, Rotavac, developed as part of a public-private partnership endeavour, will cost about 50 times less than currently available vaccines. See also:  function rotavirus() { var popurl="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/themes/DTE/htm/rotavirus.htm" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=520,height=460,scrollbars=yes") } A brief profile of rotavirus Resources from the IEP A brief profile of rotavirus Direct costs of hospitalization for rotavirus gastroenteritis in different health facilities in India India leads in rotavirus infection deaths: Lancet Vaccine campaign to target deadly childhood diarrhoea  

South Asian countries give sanitation charter to SAARC

Parliamentarians from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the UK, along with international charity, WaterAid, and other development organisations launched the South Asian Regional Campaign on Sanitation in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 19. About 16 members of parliament from South Asia and UK handed over a citizens’ charter demanding universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene services by 2030 within the post 2015 development framework to the SAARC Secretary General Ahmed Saleem at the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu.

Suspected cholera outbreak in Gujarat

Heat wave coupled with lack of clean drinking water has wreaked havoc in the northern part of Gujarat. Over 221 cases of diarrhoea have been reported from Dhanera town of Banaskantha district in the state in the past five days. Ten per cent of the patients are children. The disease has also caused the death of five people in the town.

Dying of progress

*Every year, 4 million children in Africa and Asia die of diarrhoea. * Nearly 800 million people in the 2 continents are at serious risk of contracting chronic respiratory diseases and cancer from indoor air pollution. * It is believed that global warming could trigger epidemics of tropical diseases worldwide. * More than 1 billion city dwellers the world over are regularly exposed to pollution from industry and transport.

Science and Technology - Briefs

HEALTH Why you puke

Policy draft backs new vaccines

THE national vaccine policy draft, submitted in the Delhi High Court recently, strongly favours inclusion of new vaccines in the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

Ex-Unicef head joins Nestle

The recent move of Ann Veneman, former executive director of Unicef, to Nestle Board has left nutrition campaign groups worried. While Unicef supports breastfeeding, Nestle, the food and drinks giant, undermines it.

Lalitpur’s baby formula

It was a cold January morning. As the mist cleared, groups of women could be seen wending their way to the aanganwadi (kindergarten) in Khitwans village in Lalitpur district’s Birdha block. The women were either pregnant or lactating mothers. Pramilla Jha, a counsellor for infant feeding, was waiting for them.

Chhattisgarh unsure of disease outbreak

Already marred by violence, tribals from the interior villages of Dantewada are facing a new challenge. A number of people last month died of or fell a victim to a water-borne disease. Though the state government maintains it is DVD (diarrhoea-vomiting-dysentry), experts suspect it to be as severe as cholera.

Never let an idea die

Spice up the meat preparation or get respite from sore throat—ginger is always around to help. Grandmother’s ginger tea for coughs never fails.