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First high-throughput analysis of Salmonella Typhi gene

For the first time, researchers are able to look at the need for every gene in a bacterial cell in a single experiment. The new method will transform the study of gene activity and the search for weaknesses in bacterial armouries.

19 Oct 2009

Pork consumption is safe, says USDA scientists

"USDA has confirmed that hogs at the Minnesota State Fair may have screened positive for the novel H1N1 virus. USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories expects to have confirmatory results within the next few days. This event is not unexpected given that much like humans, hogs can contract influenza viruses.

19 Oct 2009

More nutrition guidance needed to build good eating habits in growing children, says Nestle FITS survey

Parents and caregivers are hearing and following the feeding guidance for infants, yet continued work needs to be done to help them also build good eating habits for their growing children, suggests data from the Nestle Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) released today at a symposium at the American Dietetic Association's Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo.

19 Oct 2009

Focus Diagnostics' 2009 H1N1 influenza virus test granted FDA emergency use authorization

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a second emergency use authorization (EUA) to Focus Diagnostics, the infectious disease diagnostics business of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, for its 2009 H1N1 influenza virus test. With the EUA, Focus Diagnostics is the only company in the U.S. to offer test kits for detecting the pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus that the FDA has authorized for emergency use by CLIA high-complexity labs, which include certain hospital and regional labs.

19 Oct 2009

Palomar Medical Technologies to continue commercialization of its wrinkle treatment laser device

Palomar Medical Technologies Inc., a leading researcher and developer of light-based systems for cosmetic treatments, today announced the termination of its agreement with Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc ("JJCC"), a Johnson & Johnson company, to develop, clinically test and commercialize home-use, light-based devices for (i) reducing or reshaping body fat including cellulite; (ii) reducing appearance of skin aging; and (iii) reducing or preventing acne.

19 Oct 2009

Rituxan's sBLA receives a Complete Response from the FDA

Genentech, Inc. a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group, and Biogen Idec announced today that the companies received a Complete Response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Rituxan (rituximab) plus methotrexate (MTX) in patients with moderately-to-severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who no longer respond to treatment with a disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), including MTX.

19 Oct 2009

Inaccurate body temperature readings can harm the entire health care system

As we head into a flu season where the 2009 H1N1 swine flu is expected to cause increased sickness, hospitalization and deaths across the U.S., something as simple as inaccurate body temperature measurements may lead to social and economic turmoil – and may cause many more deaths.

19 Oct 2009

Study to examine the impact of LASIK procedure on patients’ quality of life

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the launch of a collaborative study with the National Eye Institute and the U.S. Department of Defense to examine the potential impact on quality of life from Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK), a surgical procedure that uses an eximer laser to permanently change the shape of the cornea.

19 Oct 2009

Government closely monitors swine flu vaccine

The government is closely monitoring the safety of the new H1N1 swine flu vaccine amid people's concerns.

19 Oct 2009

World Food Day marked, Actionaid International releases hunger report

Today marks World Food Day, with the aim of bringing "awareness to the issue of hunger," as the world faces "more mouths to feed but fewer farmers to grow the needed crops," Deutsche Welle reports.

19 Oct 2009

PHARMACIA & UPJOHN COMPANY to pay the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the U.S.

PHARMACIA & UPJOHN COMPANY, INC., a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. ("Pfizer") today was sentenced today in federal court for a felony violation of the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, for misbranding the drug, Bextra, with the intent to defraud or mislead.

19 Oct 2009

FDA grants marketing approval for Elitek

Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval for Elitek (rasburicase) to be used for the initial management of plasma uric acid (PUA) levels in adult patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and solid tumor malignancies who are receiving anti-cancer therapy expected to result in tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) and subsequent elevations of plasma uric acid.

19 Oct 2009

Recent releases in global health

In light of a recent Guttmacher Institute report that indicated 70,000 women in developing countries die each year from unsafe abortion, a Lancet editorial outlines ways to reduce deaths, and says, "The current political climate is favourable, because the global-gag rule (the U.S. Government's policy on banning funding of foreign organisations linked to any type of abortion practice) is out of favour" (10/17).

19 Oct 2009

Also in global health news: Street pharmacies; China health care; Hospital safety; African cardinals; Cells phones for health

Agence France-Presse examines Adjegounle, the "drugs" district in Benin. Although some are able to support their families by selling drugs at "street pharmacies," a minimum of "250 deaths and 340 cases of chronic illnesses linked to such drugs were recorded between April 2007 and June 2008," according to a medical thesis, the news service writes.

19 Oct 2009

FDA approves Gardasil vaccine usage in boys and men for preventing genital warts

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved use of the vaccine Gardasil for the prevention of genital warts (condyloma acuminata) due to human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11 in boys and men, ages 9 through 26.

19 Oct 2009

Gates Foundation to announce grants to promote agriculture at world food prize symposium

During a "keynote speech" Thursday at the World Food Prize Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, Bill Gates, cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expected to announce $120 million in grants "to promote dynamic, home-grown, sustainable agriculture in Africa and India,"

19 Oct 2009

FDA urges consumers to exercise care on online H1N1 drug products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned consumers to use extreme care when purchasing any products over the Internet that claim to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure the H1N1 influenza virus.

19 Oct 2009

Opinions: Fighting hunger; property ownership, trade key to Africa's development

"For one billion people around the world, the daily effort to grow, buy or sell food is the defining struggle of their lives. This matters to them, and to all of us," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton writes in a Times of India opinion piece.

19 Oct 2009

GlaxoSmithKline receives FDA approval for cervical cancer vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved CERVARIX® [Human papillomavirus bivalent (types 16 and 18) vaccine, recombinant] for the prevention of cervical pre-cancers and cervical cancer associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 for use in girls and young women (aged 10-25).

19 Oct 2009

Drought warnings in West Africa raise regional food security concerns

A warning from Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency about drought in northern parts of the country has raised "concern about food security not only in Africa's most populous nation but also in other parts of West Africa," Reuters AlertNet reports.

19 Oct 2009

Food News and Research

First high-throughput analysis of Salmonella Typhi gene

Pork consumption is safe, says USDA scientists

More nutrition guidance needed to build good eating habits in growing children, says Nestle FITS survey

Focus Diagnostics' 2009 H1N1 influenza virus test granted FDA emergency use authorization

Palomar Medical Technologies to continue commercialization of its wrinkle treatment laser device

Rituxan's sBLA receives a Complete Response from the FDA

Inaccurate body temperature readings can harm the entire health care system

Study to examine the impact of LASIK procedure on patients’ quality of life

Government closely monitors swine flu vaccine

World Food Day marked, Actionaid International releases hunger report

PHARMACIA & UPJOHN COMPANY to pay the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the U.S.

FDA grants marketing approval for Elitek

Recent releases in global health

Also in global health news: Street pharmacies; China health care; Hospital safety; African cardinals; Cells phones for health

FDA approves Gardasil vaccine usage in boys and men for preventing genital warts

Gates Foundation to announce grants to promote agriculture at world food prize symposium

FDA urges consumers to exercise care on online H1N1 drug products

Opinions: Fighting hunger; property ownership, trade key to Africa's development

GlaxoSmithKline receives FDA approval for cervical cancer vaccine

Drought warnings in West Africa raise regional food security concerns

Enhancing confidence in chemical ionization spectrometry data eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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