Global Health Briefs

November/December 2025 | Volume 24 Number 6

HPV vaccine: single shot proves non-inferior to double shot

A single HPV vaccination could be as effective as two shots to prevent the virus that causes cervical cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded study enrolled more than 20,300 girls between ages 12 and 16 and randomly assigned each to receive one or two doses of a bivalent HPV vaccine or one or two doses of a nonavalent HPV vaccine. The bivalent vaccine protects against HPV types 16 and 18 that cause most HPV cancers; the nonavalent vaccine protects against low-risk HPV types 6 and 11, which cause genital warts, and against HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58, which cause precancers and cancer. The study tracked the girls to see if they developed a new HPV type 16 or 18 infection between months 12 and 60 that persisted for at least 6 months. They found vaccine effectiveness to be at least 97% in each of the four trial groups and identified no safety concerns. Using a single shot of the vaccine can help achieve higher coverage than multiple doses while maintaining sufficiently high efficacy. Fundación INCIENSA in Costa Rica, which partners with NCI on a cancer prevention training program, aided this research. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study.

Case fatality rate of 50% in Ethiopia’s first ever Marburg virus outbreak

As of December 3, 2025, Ethiopia has reported 13 laboratory confirmed cases of Marburg virus disease (MVD), eight of which were fatal, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is Ethiopia’s first outbreak of MVD, originally reported by the Ministry of Health on November 14. It affects its South Ethiopia and Sidama regions. Minister Mekdes Daba said investigations are ongoing to determine timeline, transmission chains, and potential source of the outbreak. Ethiopia is working with countries that previously experienced Marburg outbreaks to exchange expertise and access investigational treatments and experimental vaccines that have yielded positive results. MVD is a rare but highly fatal viral hemorrhagic fever caused by infection with one of two viruses, Marburg virus or Ravn virus, both within the Filoviridae family, which includes Ebola virus. Early “dry” symptoms include fever, aches, chest pains, and fatigue; later “wet” symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and unexplained bleeding. Marburg virus is spread not through airborne transmission but through contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the bodily fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from MVD. Infected animals can also transmit the virus.

Diet quality linked to risk of depression during pregnancy in Nepal

New research published in Maternal and Child Nutrition explores the association between overall diet quality and risk of depression during pregnancy among women in Nepal, a lower-middle-income country with high rates of nutritional deficiencies and unmet mental health needs. The study found that 22.3% of pregnant women in their third trimester showed elevated depressive symptoms. Higher intake of whole fruits, vegetable oil, and refined grains was associated with a lower risk of depression, while frequent consumption of processed meats, sweets, fried foods, sweetened drinks, fish, beans/pulses, and whole grains was linked to a higher risk of depression. Shaun Ranade, a medical student and Fogarty-Fullbright awardee, contributed to this work. His Fogarty project is examining how continuous glucose monitoring technology can improve the management of gestational diabetes mellitus and maternal and neonatal outcomes in Nepal.

Can data science improve health research?

Fogarty’s Laura Povlich, PhD, Amit Mistry, PhD, and Gifty Dankyi, MS, contributed to a research paper on the Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) initiative. Supported by Fogarty, the NIH Common Fund and other NIH institutes, DS-I Africa includes 38 projects that use tools, such as artificial intelligence, big data, and genomics, to address major health challenges, including cancer, malaria, and air pollution. Led mainly by African researchers, the program brings together universities, governments, nonprofits, and private companies to share data, train new scientists, and create new technologies tailored to African communities. To foster strong partnerships, DS-I Africa runs Networking Exchange events where people can meet and form multidisciplinary collaborations across countries and regions. The program nears the end of its first funding phase in 2026 and has begun planning for long-term sustainability, according to the report published in Data Science Journal.

Experimental vaccine shows strong protection against typhoid, salmonella

Researchers at the University of Maryland tested a new vaccine that may protect against both typhoid fever and dangerous non-typhoidal Salmonella infections, two major causes of sickness and death in children in sub-Saharan Africa and a significant health concern globally. In an early phase clinical trial for safety, 22 healthy U.S. adults received either the vaccine or a placebo. Those who received the vaccine, which caused only mild, short-term arm pain and showed no safety concerns, developed strong immune responses. In fact, the vaccine produced long-lasting antibodies and activated white blood cells, suggesting it could offer both gut-level and whole-body protection against Salmonella. Based on the results of this trial, the researchers plan to test the vaccine in young children. Bacteria from raw or undercooked chicken and eggs and contaminated produce cause 1.35 million Salmonella infections and more than 26,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. every year. The study, published in Nature Medicine, was funded, in part, by the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease.

Mother’s education and income influence child survival rates in Africa

Children in sub-Saharan Africa die at much higher rates before age 5 than anywhere else in the world, mostly from preventable illnesses like diarrhea and malaria. Researchers from Washington University studied data from 31 countries to understand why many mothers do not use important health services, such as pregnancy checkups, clean water, and family planning. The study identified three groups of mothers: low, medium, and high users of health services. Countries differed widely in general service use. Low-income mothers often breastfed but had limited access to clean water, safe delivery facilities, or education. Overall, the researchers found that a mother’s education, income, and whether she lives in a rural or urban area strongly affect whether she can access these services. The researchers say that improving education, reducing poverty, and addressing barriers to access, including lack of public transportation, could help save many young lives. The research, supported by funding from NIH’s Office of Dietary Supplements, was published in Nature Communications.

Updated December 12, 2025

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