Global Health : NPR

Your Kitchen Spices Can Often Harbor Salmonella

Pepper is the spice most commonly contaminated with salmonella and other pathogens. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

Your Kitchen Spices Can Often Harbor Salmonella

August 29, 2013 • Spices may add more than flavor to your food: Some harbor dangerous bacteria. Contamination has caused big outbreaks in the United States, and the FDA is looking into how to reduce the risk.

How Money Worries Can Scramble Your Thinking

Worrying about finances can tax the brain just as much as staying up all night. Illustration by Katherine Streeter for NPR hide caption

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Illustration by Katherine Streeter for NPR

How Money Worries Can Scramble Your Thinking

August 29, 2013 • People are much worse at solving puzzles when they're first reminded of money problems, scientists say. Fretting about about finances can slow down your thinking as much as losing a night's sleep, researchers say.

In South Africa, A Clinic Focuses On Prostitutes To Fight HIV

A prostitute in Johannesburg waits for a client on a street corner. An estimated two-thirds of sex workers in South Africa are HIV positive. Yoav Lemmer/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Yoav Lemmer/AFP/Getty Images

In South Africa, A Clinic Focuses On Prostitutes To Fight HIV

August 28, 2013 • Treating sex workers infected with HIV can save their lives and reduce the odds that they will spread HIV to clients. To make it easier for prostitutes to get care, a university-run clinic in Johannesburg is located in a neighborhood where they work.

In South Africa, A Clinic Focuses On Prostitutes To Fight HIV

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Illicit Drugs And Mental Illness Take A Huge Global Toll

A homeless man smokes crack in the Barrio Triste neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia. Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images

Illicit Drugs And Mental Illness Take A Huge Global Toll

August 28, 2013 • Disability and illness caused by opioids, amphetamines, cocaine and cannabis increased by more than 50 percent over the two decades prior to 2010. Opioid dependence in particular has become much more common.

After Missteps In HIV Care, South Africa Finds Its Way

A nurse takes a blood sample from Nkosi Minenhle, 15, in a mobile clinic set up to test students for HIV at Madwaleni High School in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

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After Missteps In HIV Care, South Africa Finds Its Way

August 27, 2013 • The nation with the worst HIV epidemic on the planet is finally turning the corner on the disease. South Africa is simplifying AIDS care and giving antiviral drugs to nearly 2 million people every day.

After Missteps In HIV Care, South Africa Finds Its Way

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Dengue fever cases have cropped up in southern Florida. CDC hide caption

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CDC

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Dengue Fever Pops Up In Florida

August 26, 2013 • Dengue fever was commonplace in Florida until the 1930s. Air conditioning, window screens and better mosquito control helped break the dengue cycle. Now the mosquito-borne illness is back.

Deadly Middle East Coronavirus Found In An Egyptian Tomb Bat

So cute, but not cuddly. The Egyptian tomb bat, Taphozous perforatus, is a likely carrier of the Middle East respiratory syndrome virus, or MERS. Courtesy of Jonathan H. Epstein/EcoHealth Alliance hide caption

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Courtesy of Jonathan H. Epstein/EcoHealth Alliance

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Deadly Middle East Coronavirus Found In An Egyptian Tomb Bat

August 21, 2013 • Just a fragment of genes in bat guano was enough for researchers trying to find out how a deadly new virus spreads. It's the first time the Middle East respiratory syndrome virus has been found in an animal, and offers strong evidence that bats carry the virus.

Ebola Treatment Works In Monkeys, Even After Symptoms Appear

The Ebola virus forms threadlike structures under the microscope. Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC hide caption

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Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC

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Ebola Treatment Works In Monkeys, Even After Symptoms Appear

August 21, 2013 • An experimental drug rescued three out of seven monkeys from lethal doses of Ebola. The study marks the first time researchers have shown that a drug can successfully treat Ebola in animals even after the infection is well underway.

Violence Causes Doctors Without Borders To Exit Somalia

Somali women and children wait to get medicine in July 2008, from a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders about 20 miles south of Mogadishu. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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AFP/AFP/Getty Images

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Violence Causes Doctors Without Borders To Exit Somalia

August 14, 2013 • After suffering dozens of attacks against staff members, including kidnappings and murders, the nonprofit is closing all operations in Somalia. In many parts of the country, the aid group was the only source of health care.

In Rural Uganda, Homemade Bikes Make The Best Ambulances

Bike ambulance driver Grace Kakyo transports a patient in northern Uganda. Photo courtesy CA Bikes hide caption

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Photo courtesy CA Bikes

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In Rural Uganda, Homemade Bikes Make The Best Ambulances

August 12, 2013 • A Ugandan who has studied engineering in the U.S. is working to solve medical transportation problems in his homeland. A nonprofit he founded is helping villagers build bicycle ambulances from scrap metal.

New Vaccine Beats Malaria in Early Trials

August 9, 2013 • Reporting in Science, researchers write of an intravenous vaccine that offered complete protection against malaria in a small clinical trial — but only after five doses. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discusses steps needed to turn this early success into a practical vaccine.

New Vaccine Beats Malaria in Early Trials

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Camels May Be A Source Of The Middle East Coronavirus

A dromedary camel waits for a tourist to hop on its back in Petra, Jordan. The country has recorded two cases of the Middle East respiratory syndrome. Chris Jackson/Getty Images hide caption

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Chris Jackson/Getty Images

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Camels May Be A Source Of The Middle East Coronavirus

August 9, 2013 • Scientists find the a tantalizing clue about where people may be catching the Middle East respiratory syndrome. Camels on the Arabian Peninsula and Canary Islands show signs that they've been infected with the virus or a close relative.

Experimental Malaria Vaccine Shows Promise In Human Test

A red blood cell infected with malaria parasites (blue) sits next to normal cells (red). NIAID/Flickr.com hide caption

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NIAID/Flickr.com

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Experimental Malaria Vaccine Shows Promise In Human Test

August 8, 2013 • In a preliminary study, a new type of vaccine offers strong protection against malaria when given at high doses. The study was extremely small and short-term. But health leaders say they are cautiously optimistic about the approach.

Experimental Malaria Vaccine Shows Promise In Human Test

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Scientists Disclose Plans To Make Superflu In Labs

Some scientists think new types of bird flus should arise only in chickens, not in labs. Here a worker collects poultry on a farm in Kathmandu, Nepal, where the H5N1 virus was infecting animals in October 2011. Prakas Mathema/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Prakas Mathema/AFP/Getty Images