22 Nov 2016 | Our stories
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...
21 Nov 2016 | Our stories
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...
21 Nov 2016 | Our stories
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 will cause rashes on your body and your skin to blister and weep. Once it’s in your blood stream, it...
21 Nov 2016 | Our stories
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,...
21 Nov 2016 | Our stories
Infertility is defined as the inability for a couple having regular unprotected sexual intercourse to have a baby. Globally, the rate of fertility is declining but infertility still affects one in seven couples in New Zealand. In general, humans are generally not...