Rising cases of kidney disease linked to climate change

• First malaria vaccine could be approved by 2018

More reasons are emerging on why more Nigerians are coming down with one form of kidney disease or the other.

Researchers in a recent study published in Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found that climate change may boost rates of chronic kidney disease worldwide as rising temperatures and heat stress harm kidneys.

They analyzed global data and found that heat stress-related chronic kidney disease appears to be on the rise in rural communities in hot regions.

The risk of heat stress-related chronic kidney disease has increased due to global warming and an increase in extreme heat waves, and is highest for certain groups of people, such as agricultural workers, according to the study authors.

The authors also noted that decreasing amounts of rain contribute to the growing epidemic of heat stress nephropathy- or chronic kidney disease consistent with heat stress- by reducing water supplies and quality as temperatures rise.

Meanwhile, the world’s first vaccine offering long-term protection against malaria could be available in just two years after successful trials.

The vaccine was developed and produced by Sanaria Inc, of Rockville, Maryland, United States (U.S.) with support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The study was published in the journal Natural Medicine.

The revolutionary new innoculation was found to protect adults from the infection – the world’s biggest killer after tuberculosis (TB) – for more than a year.