Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(6), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph17060691
WHO has published the first-ever guidance on the clinical management of diphtheria. The only previously available guidance was an operational protocol. The new guidance followed the rigorous process for developing guidance at WHO.
It addresses the use of Diphtheria Antitoxin (DAT) in the treatmen...t of diphtheria. There is a worldwide shortage of DAT and evidence based recommendations on the use of DAT were requested by many Member States.
The guidance also includes new recommendations on antibiotics. In patients with suspected or confirmed diphtheria, WHO recommends using macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, erythromycin) rather than penicillin antibiotics.
This clinical practice guideline has been rapidly developed recognizing the global increase in diphtheria outbreaks. Outbreaks of diphtheria in Nigeria, Guinea and neighbouring countries in 2023 have highlighted the urgent need for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of diphtheria. Given the sporadic nature of outbreaks, many clinicians in the affected regions have never managed acute diphtheria and its related complications. Diphtheria remains a neglected disease and vaccination is the top priority. At the same time, for patients with diphtheria, access to antibiotics, DAT and supportive care can be lifesaving.
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2016 ASCO EDUCATIONAL BOOK | asco.org/edbo
2nd edition.
T The Compendium has been developed as a clear and concise instrument to facilitate the understanding and planning of delivery of high-quality care for everybody affected by TB. It incorporates all recent policy guidance from WHO; follows the care pathway of persons with signs or sympt...oms of TB in seeking diagnosis, treatment and care; and includes key algorithms and cross-cutting elements that are essential to a patient-centered approach in the cascade of TB care.
The Compendium is structured into 33 WHO standards and consolidates all current WHO TB policy recommendations into a single resource, with electronic links to the individual, comprehensive WHO policy guidelines
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The document provides detailed guidelines for the production, formulation, and implementation of oral rehydration salts (ORS) to combat dehydration caused by diarrhoea, particularly in children. It focuses on the composition, quality standards, and packaging requirements of ORS, aiming to support na...tional authorities and healthcare providers in ensuring effective and accessible treatment. It also highlights strategies for manufacturing ORS locally while adhering to international health and safety standards.
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This document updates the earlier version published in April 2020. In recent weeks, information on the potential use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of people with COVID-19 has been disseminated in academic journals and public media. Although there are now ongoing clinical tri...als testing the efficacy and safety of several medicines for COVID-19, as of the date of this document, there is a lack of quality evidence to demonstrate chloroquine and/or hydroxychloroquine are effective in the treatment of COVID-19. Evidence is recently emerging via small studies with sub-optimal methodologies that are conflicting.
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This briefing paper provides an overview of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people planning, commissioning or providing HIV prevention activities in the UK. It does this by reviewing thirty key questions about PrEP and how it might be implemented in the UK.
The first important change is a new priority ranking of the available medicines for MDR-TB treatment, based on a careful balance between expected benefits and harms. Treatment success for MDR-TB is currently low in many countries. This could be increased by improving access to the highest-ranked med...icines for all patients with MDR-TB.
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Technical Update
Areas of Africa endemic for Buruli ulcer (BU), caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, also have a high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), with adult prevalence rates between 1% and 5% (Maps). However, there is limited information on the prevalence of BU–HIV coinfection.... Preliminary
evidence suggests that HIV infection may increase the risk of BU disease (1–3). In the Médecins Sans Frontières project in Akonolinga, Cameroon, HIV prevalence was approximately 3–6 times higher among BU patients than the regional estimated HIV prevalence (2). Similarly in Benin and Ghana, BU
patients were 8 times and 3 times respectively more likely to have HIV infection than those without BU (1, 3). Further study is needed to clarify this association and enhance knowledge about the prevalence ofBU–HIV coinfection in endemic areas.
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Guidance statement
Recommendations on contraceptive methods used by
women at high risk of HIV
Previous advocacy efforts have achieved tangible goals in terms garnering political commitments
to increase financing for TB—as seen at the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting on TB. The challenge
now is to ensure that these commitments are actually met within a global biomedical research
ecosystem that... is designed and incentivized to prioritize the health needs of wealthy populations
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19 February 2021
The overall objective of this prospective meta-analyses (PMA) is to estimate the effect of anti-IL-6 therapy compared with usual care in hospitalized patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The primary comparison is of the class effect of anti-IL-6 therapies. It will also es...timate the effects of specific anti-IL-6 therapies.
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S Afr Med J 2018;108(7):546-550. DOI:10.7196/SAMJ.2018.v108i7.13149
Antimicrobial stewardship programmes have been introduced worldwide in response to the rise in antimicrobial resistance. The World Health Organization has mandated each Member State to produce a plan to address this problem. We rep...ort on the organic development of an antibiotic stewardship programme in a rural regional hospital in a resource-limited setting in South Africa. This has resulted in organisational change with increased awareness, participation, monitoring and education in antibiotic stewardship throughout the hospital
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