PLoS medicine
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Homicide of children is a global problem. The under-5-y age group is the second largest homicide age group after 15-19 y olds, but has received little research attention. Understanding age and gender patterns is important for assisting with developing prevention interventions. Here we present an age and gender analysis of homicides among children under 5 y in South Africa from a national study that included a focus on neonaticide and infanticide. ⋯ Homicide of children is an extreme form or consequence of violence against children. This national study provides one of the first analyses of neonaticide and infanticide by age and gender and shows the failure of reproductive and mental health and social services to identify and help vulnerable mothers. Multi-sectoral prevention strategies are needed.
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Katie Hampson and colleagues describe their experience of developing and deploying a large-scale rabies surveillance system based on mobile phones in southern Tanzania.
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Observational Study
Experimental Treatment of Ebola Virus Disease with TKM-130803: A Single-Arm Phase 2 Clinical Trial.
TKM-130803, a small interfering RNA lipid nanoparticle product, has been developed for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD), but its efficacy and safety in humans has not been evaluated. ⋯ Administration of TKM-130803 at a dose of 0.3 mg/kg/d by intravenous infusion to adult patients with severe EVD was not shown to improve survival when compared to historic controls.
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Systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare interventions frequently include non-randomized studies. These are subject to confounding and a range of other biases that are seldom considered in detail when synthesizing and interpreting the results. Our aims were to assess the reliability and usability of a new Cochrane risk of bias (RoB) tool for non-randomized studies of interventions and to determine whether restricting analysis to studies with low or moderate RoB made a material difference to the results of the reviews. ⋯ The Cochrane RoB tool highlighted a wide range of risks of bias in studies included in two widely cited reviews and had the potential to change the conclusions of the reviews. Systematic reviews that incorporate non-randomized studies of medical interventions should include a detailed assessment of RoB for each included study.
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Ramanan Laxminarayan and Ranjit Roy Chaudhury examine the factors encouraging the emergence of antibiotic resistance in India, the implications nationally and internationally, and what might be done to help.