The genus Listeria consists of eight species: Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, Listeria ivanovii, Listeria seeligeri, Listeria welshimeri, Listeria grayi, Listeria rocourtii and Listeria marthii. Among Listeria species only L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are pathogenic to humans and...

The promotion of maternal health and mortality reduction is of worldwide importance, and constitutes a vital part of the UN Millennium Development Goals. The highest maternal mortality rates are in developing countries, where global and regional initiatives are needed to improve the systems and...

The history of measuring maternal mortality reflects eflects the evolution of two broader strategic priorities: maternal health (safe motherhood) and health information systems. Three main periods can be distinguished: mid-1980s to 2000, 2000-2010, and 2010 to the present day, which broadly...

Three different definitions of maternal death should be distinguished: maternal deaths, pregnancy-related deaths and late maternal deaths. Four indicators are used to describe different aspects of the level of maternal mortality: maternal mortality ratio, maternal mortality rate, maternal...

Six million babies die each year either as late fetal deaths in the last trimester or the first month of life (neonatal deaths); 98% occur in developing countries and 75% in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, which is also where 87% of global maternal deaths occur. Between 1995 and 2008,...

Safe and effective fective interventions exist to prevent and treat the major causes of maternal mortality and morbidity which are: postpartum haemorrhage, sepsis, pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, obstructed labour and unsafe abortion. To successfully introduce and adopt evidence-based clinical...

The discovery of phenylketonuria (PKU) in 1934 by Asbørn Følling has led to many advances involving identification, diagnosis, classification, and treatment not only for PKU, but for many other inborn errors of metabolism. It took 20 years after the discovery before the first amino acid mixture was ...

Increased intake of animal-source foods is a key means to improve nutritional status in populations with high levels of nutrient deficiencies. However, there are few examples of programming models that have successfully improved both access to and consumption of animal products in resource-poor...

Iron deficiency is the most widespread dietary deficiency in the world affecting close to two billion people or one-third of the world's population. Its most visible impact is iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) which contributes significantly to high levels of maternal and neonatal deaths in poor,...

The MDGs are a contract between the developed and the developing world to improve the quality of life in developing countries, laying out the responsibilities of both groups of countries in working towards achieving these goals. Developed countries are expected to provide 0.7% of GNP in official...