Strengthening public health decision-​making using surveillance data in the ‘meningitis belt’ - Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in collaboration with national health authorities, conducted a technical mission from 14 to 17 September 2026 to support the country’s progress towards the goals of the global road map to defeat meningitis by 2030 and advance regional and national efforts to eliminate bacterial meningitis as a public health problem. The mission brought together national teams in epidemiology, laboratory services, clinical care, immunization and health promotion, alongside PAHO specialists and international experts. Activities included a multidisciplinary national workshop, visits to public health facilities of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Service in Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros, and technical exchanges at the Dr. Defilló National Reference Laboratory. Building on the country’s existing surveillance systems, laboratory capacity and committed health teams, participants identified practical opportunities to strengthen the continuum of care, from early recognition and timely diagnosis to treatment, notification and follow-up for people affected by meningitis.

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) could transform diabetes management for millions of Americans with type 2 diabetes who don't take insulin, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The clinical trial found that adults using CGMs spent approximately five additional hours each day within their target blood sugar range compared with those receiving routine care. Nearly twice as many CGM users also achieved an A1c level below 7%, a common treatment goal for people with diabetes.

Patients who wore noise-canceling headphones during minimally invasive gynecological surgery were significantly less likely to experience postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), suggest findings from a randomized clinical trial presented at the Anesthesiology 2026 annual meeting.

“Beyond Detecting Cancer Recurrence: Can Whole-Genome Sequencing-Based ctDNA Monitoring Help Personalize Adjuvant Treatment? An exciting new study published in The Oncologist highlights the clinical potential of Signatera Genome, a whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based, tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assay, not only for detecting molecular residual disease (MRD), but also for potentially informing adjuvant treatment decisions.