Guest Work • Oct 26, 2017 •
By Alistair Woodward, University of Auckland In August last year, a third of the residents of the North Island township Havelock North fell acutely ill with gastroenteritis after their water was contaminated with campylobacter. More intense rainfalls have caused flooding throughout New Zealand, as seen here in Northland. From www.shutterstock.com, CC BY-ND Following a long dry spell, … Read More
Public Health Expert • Jun 26, 2017 •
Professor Nick Wilson, Dr Matt Boyd, Dr Osman Mansoor, Professor Michael G Baker Countries prepare for future pandemic risks because of pandemic influenza, novel emerging infectious agents and possible synthetic bioweapons. In a study we just published in a journal, we explored the costs and benefits of complete border closure in NZ in response to new pandemic threats. We found … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Nov 24, 2016 •
Last week was World Antibiotic Awareness week, an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance. To follow-up, here at Te Pūnaha Matatini we are having a week-long conversation about the health, social, economic, and environmental impacts of infectious diseases in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this post, I want to touch on what … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 22, 2016 •
Infectious diseases are far from defeated. They pose a unique health threat because they are caused by living micro-organisms. This biological fact has two important consequences: firstly it means that these micro-organisms are constantly evolving to exploit new ecological opportunities, and secondly they are transmissible (they spread from person-to-person and from infected animals and contaminated environments). The constant evolution of … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 22, 2016 •
In another life I used to sit on teams that developed something called ‘clinical guidance’. We would draw together published evidence and make recommendations on what best practice should look like. I sat on one such group for rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever (RF) is a disease now seen mainly in developing countries (apart, of course, from the poor pockets of … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 21, 2016 •
Parent Tiff Mora shares her experience of living with MRSA, as a contribution to InfectedNZ – an online campaign to raise awareness about infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. Wash your hands all you want. Don’t touch things. Clean your cuts and grazes. Be careful all you can… but it won’t make any difference. An open wound will grow; it … Read More
InfectedNZ • Nov 21, 2016 •
HIV seems like a scourge of the eighties, but today new HIV diagnoses and the costs of medication are escalating out of control in New Zealand. The world’s most dangerous infectious disease epidemic of the modern era is being revived, fuelled by invisibility, indifference and inaction. HIV has a terrifying ability to evolve and evade control when our guard is … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Nov 21, 2016 •
Today marks the start of World Antibiotic Awareness week, an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness and understanding of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. To coincide, here at Te Pūnaha Matatini we are launching a week-long conversation about the health, social, economic, and environmental impacts of infectious diseases in Aotearoa New Zealand. Where possible, in … Read More
Guest Work • Nov 18, 2016 •
By Derek Gatherer, Lancaster University I recently had my annual flu shot. Along with all the others who’ve received it, I’ll be hoping that it does the job of preventing me catching flu this winter – or at least reducing the severity of the disease if I do get it. Most years, it works, but occasionally things … Read More
Guest Work • Sep 28, 2016 •
By Simon Hendel, The Conversation. Manuka honey could prevent serious urinary tract infections caused by catheters – tubes used to drain patients’ bladders, new laboratory research has found. The research showed honey from New Zealand’s manuka plant slows the speed of bacterial growth and formation of biofilms, which are thin layers that build up on surfaces and harbour infection. Read More