PLoS Medicine: New Articles

Developing Global Maps of the Dominant Anopheles Vectors of Human Malaria

2010-02-09T08:00:00Z

Simon Hay and colleagues describe how the Malaria Atlas Project has collated anopheline occurrence data to map the geographic distributions of the dominant mosquito vectors of human malaria.

The Global Research Neglect of Unassisted Smoking Cessation: Causes and Consequences

2010-02-09T08:00:00Z

Simon Chapman and Ross MacKenzie review the evidence and argue that health promotion messages should emphasize that the most successful method used by most ex-smokers is unassisted cessation.

Impact of Antiretroviral Therapy on Incidence of Pregnancy among HIV-Infected Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cohort Study

2010-02-09T08:00:00Z

A multicountry cohort study in sub-Saharan Africa by Landon Myer and colleagues reveals higher pregnancy rates in HIV-infected women on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Causes of Acute Hospitalization in Adolescence: Burden and Spectrum of HIV-Related Morbidity in a Country with an Early-Onset and Severe HIV Epidemic: A Prospective Survey

2010-02-02T08:00:00Z

Rashida Ferrand and colleagues show that HIV infection is the commonest cause of hospitalization among adolescents in a high HIV prevalence setting.

Measuring hsCRP—An Important Part of a Comprehensive Risk Profile or a Clinically Redundant Practice?

2010-02-02T08:00:00Z

James McCormack and Michael Allan discuss issues and questions surrounding hsCRP measurements in patients.

Adolescent HIV—Cause for Concern in Southern Africa

2010-02-02T08:00:00Z

Glenda Gray discusses the implications of a new study that found that almost half of all adolescents hospitalized in Zimbabwe were HIV-infected.

Ghostwriting at Elite Academic Medical Centers in the United States

2010-02-02T08:00:00Z

Jeffrey Lacasse and Jonathan Leo assess ghostwriting policies at 50 academic medical centers in the United States and find that only 10 explicitly prohibit ghostwriting.

PLoS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 7(1) January 2010

2010-01-26T08:00:00Z

Science must be responsible to society, not to politics.

Recent high-impact collisions between health research and politics include a US Senate vote to disregard updated US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines for breast cancer screening, and the UK Home Secretary's dismissal of drug abuse advisor Prof. David Nutt. Considering the prospects for unbiased comparative effectiveness research in light of such events, the PLoS Medicine Editors argue that "evidence-based medicine deserves better than a push out of the frying pan of partisan politics into the fire of vested interests," and urge politicians to remember that "society encompasses not only the corporate engines of economic growth and decline, but also individuals whose lives depend on the quality of health care data."

Image Credit: Chris Pichado

The Global Health System: Lessons for a Stronger Institutional Framework

2010-01-26T08:00:00Z

In the last in a series of four articles highlighting the changing nature of global health institutions, Suerie Moon and colleagues propose future actions to strengthen these institutions.

Microscopy Quality Control in Médecins Sans Frontières Programs in Resource-Limited Settings

2010-01-26T08:00:00Z

Derryck Klarkowski and Daniel Orozco describe the Médecins Sans Frontières program for monitoring the quality of microscopy for malaria, pulmonary tuberculosis, and leishmaniasis.

Quantifying the Number of Pregnancies at Risk of Malaria in 2007: A Demographic Study

2010-01-26T08:00:00Z

By combining data from the Malaria Atlas Project with country-specific data, Feiko ter Kuile and colleagues provide the first contemporary global estimates of the annual number of pregnancies at risk of malaria.

Science Must Be Responsible to Society, Not to Politics

2010-01-26T08:00:00Z

The PLoS Medicine Editors discuss how collisions between science and politics slow progress in public health.

Meeting the Demand for Results and Accountability: A Call for Action on Health Data from Eight Global Health Agencies

2010-01-26T08:00:00Z

Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO, and the heads of seven other global health agencies, call for a concerted global effort to collect better health data.

The Global Health System: Linking Knowledge with Action—Learning from Malaria

2010-01-19T08:00:00Z

In the third in a series of articles on the changing nature of global health institutions, Gerald Keusch and colleagues examine institutional arrangements for malaria research.

Male Circumcision at Different Ages in Rwanda: A Cost-Effectiveness Study

2010-01-19T08:00:00Z

Agnes Binagwaho and colleagues predict that circumcision of newborn boys would be effective and cost-saving as a long-term strategy to prevent HIV in Rwanda.

The Relationship between Anti-merozoite Antibodies and Incidence of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

2010-01-19T08:00:00Z

A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the association between anti-merozoite antibody responses and incidence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria by Freya Fowkes and colleagues aids identification of antigens that confer protection from malaria.

Neonatal Circumcision for HIV Prevention: Cost, Culture, and Behavioral Considerations

2010-01-19T08:00:00Z

Seth Kalichman discusses a new study that finds neonatal circumcision in Rwanda to be a cost-saving HIV prevention strategy.

The Global Health System: Strengthening National Health Systems as the Next Step for Global Progress

2010-01-12T08:00:00Z

In the second in a series of articles on the changing nature of global health institutions, Julio Frenk offers a framework to better understand national health systems and their role in global health.

“Working the System”—British American Tobacco's Influence on the European Union Treaty and Its Implications for Policy: An Analysis of Internal Tobacco Industry Documents

2010-01-12T08:00:00Z

Katherine Smith and colleagues investigate the ways in which British American Tobacco influenced the European Union Treaty so that new EU policies advance the interests of major corporations, including those that produce products damaging to health.

Mapping the Distribution of Invasive Staphylococcus aureus across Europe

2010-01-12T08:00:00Z

Franklin Lowy discusses a new study in PLoS Medicine in which the investigators developed an interactive tool for analyzing the spatial distribution of invasive Staphylococcus aureus.

Geographic Distribution of Staphylococcus aureus Causing Invasive Infections in Europe: A Molecular-Epidemiological Analysis

2010-01-12T08:00:00Z

Hajo Grundmann and colleagues describe the development of a new interactive mapping tool for analyzing the spatial distribution of invasive Staphylococcus aureus clones.