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Is this promising news from the antibiotic resistance front? According to the BBC, Betsi Cadwaladr, in Wales, has seen a decrease in cases of resistant Clostridium difficile due to strict antibiotic stewardship implementation. The health board’s primary care prescription rate for antibiotics fell by 12.6% from 2017-18 to 2018-19. If true, it is promising news indeed. https://bbc.in/2ZmPfu9
Germs don’t respect borders. Just about anyone knows that. A recent study in the Public Library of Science investigated cross border outbreak responses involving the Netherlands and Germany. The researchers concluded that, “the system has a promising basis to achieve effective coordination. However, future research has to determine what kind of network governance form might be most effective and efficient in coordinating the necessary cross-border response activity.” http://bit.ly/2HiSv3K
Scientific American has published what’s almost a scientific call to arms to address tick-borne diseases such as Lyme Disease. The author compares the current lack of progress to that of the HIV/AIDS crisis during the 1980s. http://bit.ly/2HmiBmy
It’s been 40 years since the first successful heart transplant. Progress has been nonstop and all sorts of new procedures are on the horizon. Enter log hearts. According to the Guardian, “Adapted pig hearts could be transplanted into patients within three years, according to a report citing the surgeon who pioneered heart transplantation in the UK.” He would be Sir Terence English. http://bit.ly/2Zkqyie
Elephants may actually be the vanguard in the fight against global warming. A New York Times article “Forest elephants — the smaller, endangered relatives of African savanna elephants — promote the growth of large trees that excel at storing carbon.” Because of this, illegal poaching may actually having the knock on effect of destroying the world as we know it. https://nyti.ms/2HfYC8U
IMAGE SOURCE: Creative Commons