Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Part of U.S. aid package for Pakistan will be redirected to fund flood rebuilding, USAID Administrator says

Part of the previously planned $7.5 billion U.S. aid package for Pakistan will be redirected to flood rebuilding projects, said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, the Associated Press reports. Shah also "warned that other nations would only contribute money if Islamabad could ensure it would be well spent."

26 Aug 2010

Advaxis' 'Prokaryotic peptides for enhancing antigen immunogenicity' European patent application allowed

Advaxis, Inc.,, the live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) immunotherapy company, has been notified by the European Patent Office that patent application WO2001/072329, for the use of Prokaryotic PEST-Like Peptides for Enhancing Immunogenicity of Antigen has been allowed for issuance. This patent will be #1,303,299 when granted, and will be licensed exclusively to Advaxis by the University of Pennsylvania.

26 Aug 2010

Opinions: Health and agriculture; GHI's main ideas; Recommendations to improve Haiti's government; China and the Global Fund

In a SciDev.Net opinion piece, Jeff Waage, director of the London International Development Centre, argues for more collaboration between agriculture and health experts. "The relationship between agriculture and health may seem intuitive and simple - grow more crops and people will have more food and live healthier lives.

26 Aug 2010

NeoStem responds to court ruling blocking government funding for embryonic stem cell research

NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the U.S. and China, commented today on the ruling this week of a U.S. District Court blocking the federal government from funding research involving human embryonic stem cells. In issuing a preliminary injunction, the judge said it violated a law first passed in 1996 prohibiting federal money for research where a human embryo is destroyed.

25 Aug 2010

NIH awards University of Rochester Medical Center $15M grant for study with ImmuneRegen's Homspera

ImmuneRegen BioSciences®, a wholly owned subsidiary of IR Biosciences Holdings Inc., today announced that the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has awarded its research partner, the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), a $15 million five-year, continuation grant for studies that will utilize ImmuneRegen's Homspera.

25 Aug 2010

Pakistani President, State Dept. official discuss post-flood rebuilding

It could take Pakistan three or more years to recover from the major floods that have affected the country over the past few weeks, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said, Reuters/MSNBC.com reports (8/24).

25 Aug 2010

Improvement in mumps vaccine administration needed to prevent future outbreaks

Although immunity to mumps is high in the United States, mumps vaccine coverage must be maintained and improved to prevent future outbreaks, according to a new study, now available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/655394), in the September 1, 2010 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

25 Aug 2010

Advanced Life Sciences seeks government funding for development of Restanza antibiotic

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, today announced plans to seek additional government funding for development of its novel, once-daily antibiotic, Restanza.

25 Aug 2010

Researchers develop high-resolution technology to visualize individual virus particles

In the war against infectious disease, identifying the culprit is half the battle. Now, research professor Shaopeng Wang and his colleagues from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, describe a new method for visualizing individual virus particles. Their research opens the door to a more detailed understanding of these minute pathogens, and may further the study of a broad range of micro- and nanoscale phenomena.

25 Aug 2010

Study examines movement of pediatric drug testing outside the U.S.

"A law intended to speed up development of new drugs for U.S. kids has ended up financing clinical trials in poor countries, where the medicines might never become available," suggest the authors of a study published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, Reuters reports (Joelving, 8/23).

25 Aug 2010

As flood waters spread, international aid for Pakistan tops $800M, foreign minister says

International donors have pledged more than $800 million to help Pakistan deal with severe flooding after the U.N. appealed for $460 million in aid, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the country's foreign minister, said on Sunday, the Associated Press reports.

24 Aug 2010

Researchers develop new instrumentation to simplify testing patients for infectious diseases

Arizona State University researchers have demonstrated a way to dramatically simplify testing patients for infectious diseases and unhealthy protein levels.New testing instrumentation developed by Antonia Garcia and John Schneider promises to make the procedure less costly and produce results in less time.

24 Aug 2010

WHO calls on countries to prevent, control spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria

Amid the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, the WHO on Friday urged countries to take greater action to limit the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, CIDRAP News reports. "Calling such pathogens 'a growing and global public health problem,' the WHO said, 'Countries should be prepared to implement hospital infection control measures to limit the spread of multi-drug resistant strains and to reinforce national policy on prudent use of antibiotics, reducing the generation of antibiotic resistant bacteria,'" according to the news service (Roos, 8/20).

24 Aug 2010

Measles outbreak in northern NSW and Queensland

There is a confirmed measles outbreak just south of the Queensland border according to Queensland Health authorities. There have been seven cases of this highly infectious disease at Tweed Heads, NSW, including a person who reportedly visited a McDonald’s restaurant at Coolangatta over the weekend. Any residents who visited the fast food outlet between 8am and 1pm on Saturday are advised to check their vaccination status.

23 Aug 2010

New antisense drugs may help treat accidental infections: Study

New studies show that treatments targeting specific viral genes protected monkeys infected with deadly Ebola or Marburg viruses. Furthermore, the animals were protected even when therapeutics were administered one hour after exposure-suggesting the approach holds promise for treating accidental infections in laboratory or hospital settings.

23 Aug 2010

Hepatitis E vaccine successful in clinical trial: Study

In a Clinical trial in China, a vaccine has been found to protect against Hepatitis E. Hepatitis E virus, usually spread via contaminated food and faeces usually runs its course before the patient recovers. However it can cause severe illness in elderly people and has a mortality rate of 1 to 3 percent. It can also kill 5 to 25 percent of affected pregnant women and those who survive can suffer high rates of miscarriage. Around a third of the world's population have been infected by the virus say researchers.

22 Aug 2010

WHO calls upon countries to be alert to antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) - the ability of micro-organisms to find ways to evade the action of the drugs used to cure the infections they cause - is increasingly recognised as a global public health issue which could hamper the control of many infectious diseases. Some bacteria have developed mechanisms which render them resistant to many of the antibiotics normally used for their treatment (multi-drug resistant bacteria), so pose particular difficulties, as there may be few or no alternative options for therapy.

21 Aug 2010

NIAID's renewed 'Centers for Countermeasures Against Radiation' program to support research at 7 institutions

A major research effort to develop medical products to diagnose, prevent and treat the short- and long-term consequences of radiation exposure after a radiological or nuclear terrorist attack has been renewed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

20 Aug 2010

Research marks new direction to treat Pneumocystis, inflammatory diseases

A drug to treat inflammation plays a surprising role reducing the level of infection caused by an opportunistic bug that is deadly for AIDS and cancer patients and others with weakened immune systems.

20 Aug 2010

Trius Therapeutics second quarter 2010 revenue increases to $2.1 million

Trius Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative antibiotics for serious, life-threatening infections, announced today its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2010.

20 Aug 2010

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Part of U.S. aid package for Pakistan will be redirected to fund flood rebuilding, USAID Administrator says

Advaxis' 'Prokaryotic peptides for enhancing antigen immunogenicity' European patent application allowed

Opinions: Health and agriculture; GHI's main ideas; Recommendations to improve Haiti's government; China and the Global Fund

NeoStem responds to court ruling blocking government funding for embryonic stem cell research

NIH awards University of Rochester Medical Center $15M grant for study with ImmuneRegen's Homspera

Pakistani President, State Dept. official discuss post-flood rebuilding

Improvement in mumps vaccine administration needed to prevent future outbreaks

Advanced Life Sciences seeks government funding for development of Restanza antibiotic

Researchers develop high-resolution technology to visualize individual virus particles

Study examines movement of pediatric drug testing outside the U.S.

As flood waters spread, international aid for Pakistan tops $800M, foreign minister says

Researchers develop new instrumentation to simplify testing patients for infectious diseases

WHO calls on countries to prevent, control spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria

Measles outbreak in northern NSW and Queensland

New antisense drugs may help treat accidental infections: Study

Hepatitis E vaccine successful in clinical trial: Study

WHO calls upon countries to be alert to antimicrobial resistance

NIAID's renewed 'Centers for Countermeasures Against Radiation' program to support research at 7 institutions

Research marks new direction to treat Pneumocystis, inflammatory diseases

Trius Therapeutics second quarter 2010 revenue increases to $2.1 million

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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