Communicable Disease News and Research

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Communicable Disease is a disease capable of being transmitted from an infected person or species to a susceptible host.

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis - tick-borne disease found in China

It appears that for the first time human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), an emerging tick-borne infectious disease found in the U.S. and Europe, has been identified in China and apparently was transmitted from person to person, according to a study in the November 19 issue of JAMA.

18 Nov 2008

Performance-enhancing drug use by high school athletes

Stories about doping - using performance-enhancing drugs - among professional and Olympic athletes have been regular fodder for the news media in recent years, but what about the trend in use by younger, more vulnerable high school-aged athletes?

17 Nov 2008

House Democrats send letter to President Bush urging 'swift action' on reversal of rule banning HIV-positive foreigners from entering U.S.

Lawmakers and HIV advocates are urging the Bush administration to take action on reversing the current ban HIV-positive foreigners from entering the U.S., the AP/Los Angeles Times reports (Abrams, AP/Los Angeles Times, 9/20).

22 Sep 2008

India to treat all MDR-TB cases by 2010, WHO official says

India is expanding tuberculosis diagnostic and prevention activities and plans to treat all cases of multi-drug resistant TB nationwide by 2010, the Seoul Times reports.

22 Sep 2008

World Health Organization cautions against claims made by ‘electronic cigarette’ manufacturers

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an attack on advertisers who are claiming that an electronic cigarette - a battery-powered product usually made of stainless steel and resembling a real cigarette - is a safe or legitimate nicotine replacement therapy for smokers trying to quit.

22 Sep 2008

Health response launched for Haiti

WHO and its partners urgently need US$ 4.2 million to provide health care for many of the 800,000 people - including children and pregnant women - affected by successive tropical storms in Haiti.

14 Sep 2008

423,000 people in Pakistan need urgent health care

Some 423,000 people in Pakistan need urgent health care after being affected by recent conflict and flooding. WHO and partners are requesting US$ 9.76 million to undertake life-saving health responses to this humanitarian crisis.

9 Sep 2008

Bullying parents' top concern for obese kids

As the new school year begins, many parents with overweight and obese children are worried about how their kids will be treated by other students on the playground and in the classroom.

8 Sep 2008

Convenience, cost driving more kids to retail clinics for care

Convenience and lower costs are driving even more parents to seek routine health care for their children - including vaccinations and physicals - at retail clinics in their communities.

11 Aug 2008

Thirteen Indonesian villagers clear of bird flu

Health officials in Indonesia say 13 people from a village on Sumatra who were hospitalised with suspected bird flu, have all tested negative for the H5N1 virus.

11 Aug 2008

Previous estimates of levels of dementia in the developing world underestimated

Previous estimates of levels of dementia in the developing world may have substantially underestimated the problem, according to research published today. The findings suggest that policymakers in low-income and middle-income countries may need to re-examine the burden and impact that dementia places on their health services.

27 Jul 2008

Leeds project aims to boost parents' confidence in MMR choices as measles rates rise

With several hundred thousand unvaccinated children across the UK, health protection experts are hoping that new research at the University of Leeds will give parents better information about the MMR vaccine and lead to an increase in immunisation.

27 Jul 2008

Amgen announces positive results for Denosumab postmenopausal osteoporosis trial

Amgen has announced findings from the pivotal fracture trial evaluating its RANK Ligand inhibitor, denosumab, in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

27 Jul 2008

Old bones could hold the key to tuberculosis

Close to 50 boxes of human and animal bones excavated in Jericho and held in the University of Sydney's Nicholson Museum could hold the key for an international medical team to unlock the causes of tuberculosis.

16 Jul 2008

Obesity ranks as top health concern for kids, poll finds

As children's waistlines continue to grow, so have concerns about childhood obesity. According to a report released today by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, childhood obesity is now the No. 1 health concern for kids in 2008, topping smoking and drug abuse. In 2007, childhood obesity ranked third among parents' top 10 overall health concerns for kids.

14 Jul 2008

Worsening malnutrition and the threat of disease add to crisis in Ethiopia

Worsening malnutrition and the threat of disease outbreaks are compounding Ethiopia's humanitarian crisis. WHO is working with the Government of Ethiopia and health partners to support the 4.6 million people needing urgent emergency food relief nationwide.

13 Jul 2008

Potential new way to prevent graft-versus-host disease

A new University of Michigan study in mice suggests that a drug recently approved to fight cancer tumors is also able to reduce the effects of graft-versus-host disease, a common and sometimes fatal complication for people who have had bone marrow transplants.

10 Jul 2008

HIV/AIDS cases among adults ages 50, older in Georgia increasing

New HIV/AIDS diagnoses among adults ages 50 and older in Georgia has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, according to recent data from the state Department of Human Resources' Division of Public Health, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

2 Jul 2008

Cancer and tobacco are growing health concerns in Africa

In an unprecedented meeting between the media, cancer and tobacco control nongovernmental organizations, and the health care sector, African journalists gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa yesterday to discuss Africa?s growing cancer and tobacco crisis. This first ever summit was convened in order to address ways in which journalists can communicate lifesaving messaging about cancer, and tobacco-related deaths.

25 Jun 2008

Quick responses to influenza outbreaks reduces illness and death

Influenza outbreaks were shorter and resulted in fewer cases and fewer deaths at long-term care facilities that started residents on preventive antiviral medications within five days of the first case, compared to those that started later, according to a new study in the July 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

11 Jun 2008