Wash your hands, doc

Follow Up

Right medicine?

Doubts are raised over the efficacy of two herbal medicines for asthma

Infectious diseases spreading fast

PRET: WHO launches initiative to make world better prepared for future pandemics

The current focus of the initiative is on respiratory viruses but will soon include other groups of pathogens

World not prepared to cope with re-emerging infectious diseases: WHO Director General

Director General Margaret Chan was addressing the World Health Assembly being held in Geneva

Wildlife markets in Laos host dangerous pathogens, finds study

There is a high risk of transmission of these pathogens to humans posing a potential threat to gloabl health

Poo transplants can eliminate two superbugs from the gut: mice study

Two of the most common antibiotic-resistant bacteria circulating in hospitals can be wiped out by transplanting faeces from a healthy animal into …

Frogs are falling silent

The decline of the frog population is an early warning that something is seriously wrong with living conditions on Earth

Pox Americana

Is the West a victim of its own past?

What next?

Extreme weather events continue to hamper access to potable water, sanitation; urgent action needed: WHO 

The world is not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation for all by 2030

New WHO panel to investigate rise in zoonotic diseases and build action plan

The experts will advise several international organisations on how future outbreaks can be averted

India joins global research hub on antimicrobial resistance

The country is the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world — consumption increased by 103 per cent from 2000 to 2015, the highest in …

Health report 2016: a glance at major developments

Down To Earth takes a probing look into key health issues that raised concerns and dominated medical discourse in 2016

Zika-the new global pandemic

After dengue and chikungunya, the Aedes mosquito is delivering a new emergency— Zika. Down To Earth looks into the reasons behind the …

Ineffective magic bullets: Antibiotic resistance is now the leading cause of deaths across the globe

Young children were found to be particularly affected by AMR

Long COVID: Here’s what we can learn from chronic sequelae of other infectious diseases

Long COVID-like conditions were recorded in patients of ebola, polio and chikungunya as well

‘Adaptation’ and ‘mitigation’ can reduce impacts of global pandemics

Mitigation programmes can save nearly US $360 billion over the next 100 years, says new study

Monkey business

Coping with the nuisanceof urban monkeys may be beyond human patience. But shooting or declaring them pests will not serve the problem. Only a …

Betel benefit

Compounds in paan leaf can kill several pathogenic bacteria

Green plans

Shaken and stirred

Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021: Why India needs to re-examine its pediatric practices

Children often receive multiple courses of antibiotics every year since viral infections are recurrent. This makes them more vulnerable to …

All about ACE-2 — the molecule that helps novel coronavirus invade cells

SARS-CoV-2 has a high-binding capacity for ACE2 — between 10 and 20 times more that of original SARS virus