A child’s potential claim for negligent misdiagnosis: The case of H v. Fetal Assesment Centre

South African law recognises a financial claim against a health provider for negligently failing to advise an expectant mother that she might give birth to a child suffering from a severe health condition or congenital disability. In December 2014, the Constitutional Court handed down a judgment that could lead to financial claims by the child, who was subsequently born with a severe health condition or disability. This judgment thus creates a framework to legally recognise a claim by a child whose current health condition was negligently misdiagnosed before birth. The contents and effects of the judgment are discussed in this article

Reporting sexual offences involving child patients: What is the current law following the Constitutional Court judgment?

The Constitutional Court of South Africa has recently invalidated certain sexual offences involving adolescents and placed a moratorium on reporting adolescents who engage in ‘lawful’ sexual activity. In evaluating the constitutionality of the law that criminalises sexual activity between adolescents, the Court recognised how the reporting obligations could exacerbate the violation of children’s constitutional rights. However, in light of the Court’s narrow focus, its judgment only slightly amends the reporting obligations of healthcare providers in terms of adolescent patients, and for the most part the current law remains intact. Despite this judgment, adolescent patients can still be exposed to the negative effects of the reporting obligations placed on healthcare providers, and healthcare providers are still faced with the challenges created by their duty to report sexual offences involving young patients. This article explores the judgment in order to clarify the current law on reporting sexual conduct involving adolescents, and also provides some analysis to assess the implications of the judgment for healthcare providers

Human plague: An old scourge that needs new answers

Yersinia pestis, the bacterial causative agent of plague, remains an important threat to human health. Plague is a rodent-borne disease that has historically shown an outstanding ability to colonize and persist across different species, habitats, and environments while provoking sporadic cases, outbreaks, and deadly global epidemics among humans. Between September and November 2017, an outbreak of urban pneumonic plague was declared in Madagascar, which refocused the attention of the scientific community on this ancient human scourge. Given recent trends and plague’s resilience to control in the wild, its high fatality rate in humans without early treatment, and its capacity to disrupt social and healthcare systems, human plague should be considered as a neglected threat. A workshop was held in Paris in July 2018 to review current knowledge about plague and to identify the scientific research priorities to eradicate plague as a human threat. It was concluded that an urgent commitment is needed to develop and fund a strong research agenda aiming to fill the current knowledge gaps structured around 4 main axes: (i) an improved understanding of the ecological interactions among the reservoir, vector, pathogen, and environment; (ii) human and societal responses; (iii) improved diagnostic tools and case management; and (iv) vaccine development. These axes should be cross-cutting, translational, and focused on delivering context-specific strategies. Results of this research should feed a global control and prevention strategy within a “One Health” approach

Malagasy Dye Plant Species: A Promising Source of Novel Natural Colorants with Potential Applications – A Review

International audienceDue to the potentially harmful effects of some synthetic dyes, there is an increasing demand for natural colorants. Recent literature has emphasized the necessity of investigating new sources of dyes. This review discusses the biological sources of dyes derived from the rich plant diversity of Madagascar. As one of the first contributions on the use of these dyestuffs for dyeing textiles, it provides an overview of 128 dye plant species with other potential applications for coloring materials in industry. A detailed description of the botanical and chemical properties of these dyestuffs is given. We believe that the Madagascar plant diversity may be a promising source of novel colorants not yet investigated. We considered it worthwhile to carry out a thorough scientific study of a set of Malagasy plants carefully selected for their coloring properties together with their potential use and valorization in specialized industries where use of natural colorants would be a particular interest