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WHO Director-General pushes for sustained commitment to MDGs at World Health Assembly

During her opening address to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called for increased global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports. Chan also set-up several global health challenges to be addressed during the five-day meeting, according to the news service.

19 May 2010

DanActive drink reduces rate of common sicknesses in daycare children, say researchers

The probiotic yogurt-like drink DanActive reduced the rate of common sicknesses such as ear infections, sinusitis, the flu and diarrhea in daycare children, say researchers who studied the drink in the largest known probiotic clinical trial to be conducted in the United States. An additional finding, however, showed no reduction in the number school days missed.

19 May 2010

Immunizations Across the Lifespan campaign launched to educate adults on current vaccinations

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is urging adults to ensure they are up-to-date on all needed vaccinations.

18 May 2010

New study shows DFA testing for H1N1 influenza unreliable in ICU patients

Direct Immunofluorescence Assay testing for H1N1 influenza is unreliable in ICU patients, according to a new study from Stanford University. Multiple methods exist for diagnosing influenza, but data on the utility and accuracy of these tests for H1N1 are still emerging, given the relatively recent onset of the epidemic.

18 May 2010

Argos Therapeutics presents AGS-004 autologous dendritic cell therapy Phase 2a trial data at 19th CAHR

Argos Therapeutics today announced the presentation of data from the Phase 2a trial of AGS-004, demonstrating that the personalized immunotherapy has a positive impact on the genetic diversity of residual HIV virus, and also results in substantially increased time to viral rebound in HIV patients treated with AGS-004 following antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption.

17 May 2010

Hemispherx Biopharma to conduct study of Ampligen antiviral in China

As part of its expanding international program Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc., announced an agreement with Fountain Medical Development Ltd., a leading Chinese clinical research organization (CRO) to prepare, file and gain approval from the authorities in China to conduct a study of Ampligen, an investigational therapeutic.

17 May 2010

HSPH researchers succeed in locking malaria parasites within infected blood cells

Harvard School of Public Health researchers and colleagues seeking to block invasion of healthy red blood cells by malaria parasites have instead succeeded in locking the parasites within infected blood cells, potentially containing the disease.

15 May 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

As the 193 WHO member states gather at next week's World Health Assembly (WHA) "a draft global code of practice on the international recruitment of health personnel will be on the agenda. Negotiation and adoption of a WHO code of practice is an unprecedented opportunity to advance global consensus to address the critical challenges of migration of health workers and its effect on health systems worldwide," the authors of a Lancet Comment write.

15 May 2010

Novel vaccines for deadly diseases to be presented at AAPS' NBC

Novel vaccines for diseases ranging from the flu to HIV highlight a week's worth of biotechnology research at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' National Biotechnology Conference. Scientists from academia, industry, and government will gather at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square Sunday, May 16 -Thursday, May 20 to share research and advances in biotherapeutics.

14 May 2010

Sinovac Biotech's sales for first-quarter 2010 decrease 32% to $4.4M

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading China-based vaccine manufacturer, announced today its unaudited financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2010.

14 May 2010

U.S. Well-Being Report for April 2010

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was a tie (63.3) for all-time overall well-being in April, revealing a continued recovery of American well-being despite continuing challenges and high unemployment. The only other time in 28 months of measurement the WBI reached 67 was in August 2009.

13 May 2010

New findings could help develop vaccines against respiratory infections

Inducing cellular immunity as a means to protect against influenza virus is the focus of several laboratories at the Trudeau Institute. Researchers here have recently identified two important signaling components required by the immune system that might allow us to pre-position our own virus-fighting T cells to the lungs, the site of initial infection.

11 May 2010

Synexus continues to grow in 2010 and beyond

During the first quarter of 2010 Synexus has seen growth in Germany reach thirty per cent as international sponsors take advantage of the additional patient reach the company can now offer following its acquisition of eight sites there as part of its takeover of Leipzig-based Clinpharm at the end of 2009.

From AES - Accelerated Enrollment Solutions 11 May 2010

Urgent care and retail health clinics can reduce treatment costs for allergy sufferers

In this economy, allergy sufferers are looking for relief from more than sneezing, runny noses, and itchy eyes. And, according to a recent study, they can find relief for both their symptoms and their wallets, saving anywhere from $50 to $400 in out-of-pocket costs per visit if they skip the emergency room and head to urgent care and retail health clinics when they are unable to see their primary physician.

10 May 2010

Challenges and limitations faced in avian influenza

Over the past decade, substantial resources have been spent on tackling avian influenza and building a global capacity for a pandemic response. The catastrophic costs of the 1918 influenza pandemic are well documented, and the swine flu pandemic of 2009-10 has raised the alarm yet again.

7 May 2010

A checklist to stay healthy at every age

Shantanu Nundy, MD, a second-year resident in internal medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center may soon find out. Driven by his mother's health questions and the difficulty of providing simple, reliable answers, Nundy collected all of the "generally accepted truths" about preventing disease, organized them into checklists based on age, and persuaded the Johns Hopkins University Press to publish them as Stay Healthy at Every Age: What Your Doctor Wants you to Know.

7 May 2010

WHO publishes comprehensive report on H1N1

"A year after the H1N1 [swine] flu first appeared, the World Health Organization has issued perhaps the most comprehensive report on the pandemic's activity to date," HealthDay News/Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports (Gardner, 5/5).

7 May 2010

Experts unveil roadmap to improve health and health delivery in the U.S.

A Commission of national health care experts convened by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress has unveiled a roadmap and integrated approach that will put "health" back into our nation's health care system as well as address key opportunities following passage of health care reform legislation.

6 May 2010

Nausea in pregnant women can be a sign of flu: Researchers

Nausea in pregnant women tends to fade after the first three months, but during the second and third trimesters it can be a sign of flu, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a study of expectant women who sought medical care.

6 May 2010

New breakthrough: Seaweed for treatment of swine flu

In a groundbreaking new discovery a Tasmanian company has used seaweed as treatment for swine flu. The lab trials have been going on for the past nine months using the undaria seaweed (better know as wakame seaweed) harvested from waters at Triabunna, of Tasmania's East Coast.

5 May 2010