Polio News and Research

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Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause severe paralysis. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Polio mainly affects children under five years of age. Naturally occurring polio was eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere by 1991; however, worldwide efforts are continuing towards eradication of this contagious and devastating disease.

All Children's Hospital joins Johns Hopkins Medicine

All Children's Hospital, in St. Petersburg, Fla., is now a part of the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) and a fully integrated member of Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM). All Children's is the first U.S. hospital outside of the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., region to become integrated with JHM, which includes the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System.

4 Apr 2011

Rsearchers define new step that controls programmed cell death in cancer cells

When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death.

2 Apr 2011

Loss of SKIP sensitizes cancer cells to apoptotic effects of DNA damage-inducing anticancer drugs

When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death. In contrast to other stress-induced genes, which dispense with the regular transcriptional entourage, p21Cip1 still requires SKIP, a transcription elongation factor that also helps with the editing of transcripts, to be expressed, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

2 Apr 2011

Closer to deciphering the 'language of the brain'

The moment we open our eyes, we perceive the world with apparent ease. But the question of how neurons in the retina encode what we "see" has been a tricky one. A key obstacle to understanding how our brain functions is that its components-neurons-respond in highly nonlinear ways to complex stimuli, making stimulus-response relationships extremely difficult to discern.

1 Apr 2011

International experts meet to focus on impact of vaccines on global health at a time of public scepticism and complacency

International experts gather in Prague today for a three day meeting focused on the impact of vaccines on public health, at a time of increasing concern that public scepticism and complacency could undermine the positive impact of current and future vaccine campaigns.

31 Mar 2011

Gates discusses foundation's global health priorities in India during visit to country

During a visit to the Indian state of Bihar, Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on Thursday discussed his foundation's work in India and global health priorities, ANI/Sify News reports.

28 Mar 2011

Biologists decipher molecular code regulating availability of brain channel linked to neuronal excitability

A key question in protein biochemistry is how proteins recognize "correct" interaction partners in a sea of cellular factors. Nowhere is that more critical to know than in the brain, where interactions governing channel protein activity can alter an organism's behavior.

23 Mar 2011

Global chronic disease burdens are increasing rapidly: Research

Those working for healthier humans around the globe are making headway in fighting communicable diseases such as AIDS, malaria and diarrheal illness, according to research from the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures in the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies.

15 Mar 2011

UNICEF requests $1.4b to assist women, children in humanitarian crises worldwide

UNICEF on Sunday released the Humanitarian Action for Children Report, 2011 (.pdf) "requesting $1.4 billion in its appeal to donors to assist children and women caught in the throes of crises.

8 Mar 2011

Also in global health news: EU-India talks; China's health system funding; water in Ethiopia; nonprofit offering health services abroad to sell off assets; polio in India

BMJ News Examines Ongoing EU-India Trade Talks' Impact On Access To Affordable Medicines

8 Mar 2011

Rotary International, Itzhak Perlman join Chicago Symphony Orchestra to present Concert to End Polio

Rotary International, violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman and guest conductor James DePreist join members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to present the Concert to End Polio to benefit the global effort to eradicate this disabling childhood disease.

5 Mar 2011

Genetic switch increases blood vessels in skeletal muscle of non-exercising mice

Many people suffer from a devastating condition known as critical limb ischemia (CLI) that can lead to muscle wasting and even amputation. The disease is linked to the blockage of blood flow to the skeletal muscle and current treatment options include rehabilitative exercise and surgical bypass of blood vessels. New preclinical research suggests there may be a way to restore blood supply in skeletal muscle without traditional intervention.

2 Mar 2011

Sanofi Pasteur to participate in first international bell-ringing event to eradicate polio

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, today will participate in the first international bell-ringing event by a company listed on NYSE Euronext. The events will acknowledge past successes and future challenges in the battle to eradicate polio at the stock exchanges in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon.

24 Feb 2011

Progeria-derived iPS cells may treat aging-related disease in children

The current pace of population aging is without parallel in human history but surprisingly little is known about the human aging process, because lifespans of eight decades or more make it difficult to study. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have replicated premature aging in the lab, allowing them to study aging-related disease in a dish.

24 Feb 2011

Polio: Myanmar plans vaccination campaign after confirming first new case in three years; India fights disease in rural areas

UNICEF said that Myanmar is planning a mass polio vaccination campaign of children under age five after the country confirmed its first case of the disease in three years, Agence France-Presse reports.

24 Feb 2011

Mass polio vaccination campaigns in Burma and Sudan

After a seven-month-old baby was diagnosed with polio, Myanmar is planning a mass polio vaccination said the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF revealed that just one case is enough to trigger an “emergency response”, and health officials promptly vaccinated 10,000 children in the Mandalay region, central Myanmar, after the illness was first suspected in December 2010.

23 Feb 2011

New nanoparticle can help develop vaccines against HIV, malaria

MIT engineers have designed a new type of nanoparticle that could safely and effectively deliver vaccines for diseases such as HIV and malaria.

23 Feb 2011

Salk receives $2 million gift to establish Endowed Chair in Vision Research

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies today announced a generous gift from Mr. Conrad Prebys, a Salk Trustee, to establish the Conrad T. Prebys Endowed Chair in Vision Research for Dr. Tom Albright. As part of their senior scientist endowed chair challenge, Joan and Irwin Jacobs will match the donor's gift with an additional $1,000,000 to establish the donor's named chair at $3,000,000.

19 Feb 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

Factors Contributing to Health Of Women Worldwide: The Kaiser Family Foundation features a narrated slide tutorial by epidemiologist Laurel Spielberg on the health issues facing women around the world. The tutorial touches on issues such as economic status and biological, social, and cultural factors that affect women's health, as well as access to health services such as family planning (2/17).

19 Feb 2011

Rotary club plans variety of awareness and fundraising activities to eradicate polio

What do Italy's Trevi Fountain, India's Charminar monument, and the New York Stock Exchange building have in common? Each of these iconic landmarks will provide a dramatic backdrop for an equally dramatic message: End Polio Now. Those three words – representing Rotary's pledge to rid the world of this crippling childhood disease -- will be projected onto each structure during the week surrounding Feb. 23, the humanitarian service organization's 106th anniversary.

18 Feb 2011

Polio News and Research

Further Reading

All Children's Hospital joins Johns Hopkins Medicine

Rsearchers define new step that controls programmed cell death in cancer cells

Loss of SKIP sensitizes cancer cells to apoptotic effects of DNA damage-inducing anticancer drugs

Closer to deciphering the 'language of the brain'

International experts meet to focus on impact of vaccines on global health at a time of public scepticism and complacency

Gates discusses foundation's global health priorities in India during visit to country

Biologists decipher molecular code regulating availability of brain channel linked to neuronal excitability

Global chronic disease burdens are increasing rapidly: Research

UNICEF requests $1.4b to assist women, children in humanitarian crises worldwide

Also in global health news: EU-India talks; China's health system funding; water in Ethiopia; nonprofit offering health services abroad to sell off assets; polio in India

Rotary International, Itzhak Perlman join Chicago Symphony Orchestra to present Concert to End Polio

Genetic switch increases blood vessels in skeletal muscle of non-exercising mice

Sanofi Pasteur to participate in first international bell-ringing event to eradicate polio

Progeria-derived iPS cells may treat aging-related disease in children

Polio: Myanmar plans vaccination campaign after confirming first new case in three years; India fights disease in rural areas

Mass polio vaccination campaigns in Burma and Sudan

New nanoparticle can help develop vaccines against HIV, malaria

Salk receives $2 million gift to establish Endowed Chair in Vision Research

Recent releases in Global Health

Rotary club plans variety of awareness and fundraising activities to eradicate polio

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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