Measles News and Research

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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains a leading cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 197 000 people died from measles in 2007, mostly children under the age of five.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. The measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs. It is a human disease not known to occur in animals.

WHO urging Afghans to vaccinate children for measles following outbreak in western region

The WHO "is calling on all Afghans to vaccinate their children after a recent measles outbreak that has been made worse by severe weather that hampers access to immediate treatment as well as low immunization coverage," the U.N. News Centre reports.

24 Feb 2012

PBS NewsHour blog discusses curable, preventable neglected tropical diseases with CDC experts

In this video report, PBS NewsHour's "The Rundown" examines curable and preventable diseases such as measles and river blindness that countries are focusing more effort on fighting. Mark Eberhardt, a neglected tropical diseases expert at the CDC, and Stephen Cochi, a measles and polio expert from the CDC, "describe the diseases and why they still need attention."

22 Feb 2012

MSF warns health, living conditions of refugees in Dadaab camp deteriorating

The medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Thursday said the conditions for hundreds of thousands of refugees living in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp are worsening and people there "are experiencing a 'humanitarian emergency' because of the scaling back of aid work," Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports (2/16).

18 Feb 2012

MV-GFP extends survival of animals with medulloblastoma

A strain of measles virus engineered to kill cancer cells prolongs survival in a model of medulloblastoma that is disseminated in the fluid around the brain, according to a new study by researchers at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and the Mayo Clinic.

16 Feb 2012

Yemen faces child malnutrition crisis after year of unrest

"A year of Yemen's turmoil has exacerbated the number of malnourished children under the age of five to around 750,000, UNICEF said Tuesday, appealing to the government and the international community to help develop the country's infrastructure to tackle the problem," the Associated Press reports (Al-Haj/Batrawy, 1/24).

25 Jan 2012

New NIST clinical SRM can help in accurate CMV detection and treatment

A new clinical Standard Reference Material (SRM) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will help health care professionals more accurately diagnose and treat cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common pathogen that is particularly dangerous for infants and persons with weakened immune systems.

12 Jan 2012

Nigerian leaders sign onto Gates immunization challenge

"Nigeria's 36 Executive Governors and the Federal Capital Territory have signed up to the Nigeria Immunization Challenge launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last year," a Gates Foundation press release states.

10 Jan 2012

Blacklisted British doctor sues journal

A British doctor who lost his medical license in the U.K. in 2010 and who was accused in a journal last year of publishing bogus research filed a defamation suit this week in state District Court in Travis County.

9 Jan 2012

UNICEF aims to vaccinate 1.7M children against measles in DRC

A UNICEF measles immunization campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) aimed to vaccinate 1.7 million children under age five between December 19 and December 21, IRIN reports.

23 Dec 2011

A call for continued investment in global health, development

In this Politico opinion piece, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who chairs the non-profit Hope Through Healing Hands, writes, "Continued investment in the fight to end global AIDS is more than an investment in the lives of families and communities in developing nations -- it is an investment in security, diplomacy and our moral image worldwide."

17 Dec 2011

Nighttime satellite images could provide clues to disease outbreaks, researchers suggest

"The intensity of light shining from cities at night could help identify hot spots where outbreaks of infectious disease are likely to take place," PBS NewsHour's "The Rundown" reports.

14 Dec 2011

Nighttime-lights imagery can pinpoint disease hotspots

Normally used to spot where people live, satellite images of nighttime lights can help keep tabs on the diseases festering among them, too, according to new research.

9 Dec 2011

WHO issues measles warning for Europe

The WHO on Friday issued a measles warning for Europe, where measles outbreaks "have caused nine deaths, including six in France, and 7,288 hospitalizations," BBC News reports.

6 Dec 2011

Measles raises its head again in Europe after years of suppression: Report

According to a new report last Thursday, measles incidence is on the rise in Europe following decades of decline. Up to October European health officials reported more than 26,000 measles cases this year and nine deaths.

5 Dec 2011

Product Development Partnerships 'essential' in fight against global diseases

"If the momentum gained in the last few years" in fighting global diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, measles, and meningitis "is any indicator of our future trajectory, we are standing on the threshold of a revolutionary change in the state of global health," Wendy Taylor, senior adviser of Innovative Finance and Public Private Partnerships at USAID, and David Cook, executive vice president and COO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI),

3 Dec 2011

Shots reduce risk of chicken pox

Infants below the age of one may be too young to get the chicken pox vaccine but far fewer of them got the itchy rash after the U.S. started routinely vaccinating older children in 1995, according to a new study.

29 Nov 2011

Many kids missing vaccinations owing to parental refusal: Report

Figures reveal that more parents are opting out of school shots for their kids. In eight states now, more than one in 20 public school kindergarten children aren't getting all the vaccines required for attendance.

29 Nov 2011

Seizure drug slows spread of uveal melanoma

A drug commonly used to treat seizures appears to make eye tumors less likely to grow if they spread to other parts of the body, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

29 Nov 2011

Scientists isolate and analyze antibody that neutralizes Sudan virus

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and the US Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have isolated and analyzed an antibody that neutralizes Sudan virus, a major species of ebolavirus and one of the most dangerous human pathogens.

20 Nov 2011

U.S., U.N. food agencies downgrade three Somalia famine zones to emergency status

U.S. and U.N. food agencies on Friday said three famine zones in Somalia had been downgraded to emergency status, as aid had reduced death rates, but "three other areas -- including the refugee communities of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu -- remain in the famine zone," the Associated Press/CBSNews reports.

19 Nov 2011