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Yashoda Cancer Institute in India to expand use of Varian Medical Systems' RapidArc radiotherapy

A hospital that is using RapidArc radiotherapy to treat cancers of the head & neck and cervix is announcing it will be expanding its use for treatment of other cancers. Yashoda Cancer Institute in Hyderabad has found it can deliver image-guided, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) faster and more precisely using the RapidArc technology from Varian Medical Systems.

19 Oct 2009

Chinese SFDA approves China Medical Technologies' SPR System

China Medical Technologies, Inc., a leading China-based medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets advanced in-vitro diagnostic products, today announced that the Company has received approval for its SPR- based analysis system (the "SPR System") from the State Food and Drug Administration of China (the "SFDA").

19 Oct 2009

IL-2 compound ineffective against HIV-AIDS

An international research team has demonstrated that treating HIV-AIDS with interleukin-2 (IL-2) is ineffective. As a result, the researchers recommend that clinical trials on this compound be stopped.

19 Oct 2009

TheraDoc commences beta testing of new computerized patient surveillance tool

TheraDoc®, the leading provider of clinical decision support technology in healthcare, today announced that it has started beta testing of a new computerized patient surveillance tool that will help hospitals monitor and manage screening programs for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which every year kills more people in the United States than AIDS.

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

New scientific journal from Elsevier

Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services announced today the launch of a new peer-reviewed scientific journal, Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/sste).

19 Oct 2009

Research study on cowpox virus

In the annals of medicine, Edward Jenner's 1796 vaccination of a young boy against smallpox, using fluid from cowpox blisters, remains a landmark case. In a new study, Kathryn Sykes, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and her colleagues have taken a fresh look at cowpox.

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

Antibiotic resistance to be undesirable consequence of antibiotic abuse is inaccurate, reveals report

The perception that antibiotic resistance is primarily the undesirable consequence of antibiotic abuse or misuse is a view that is simplistic and inaccurate, according to a recent report by the American Academy of Microbiology. The reasons behind the spread of resistance are much more complex, including appropriate antibiotic use, lack of proper sanitation and hygiene, and even the environment.

19 Oct 2009

Mothers receiving HAART less likely to transmit HIV virus to their newborns through breastfeeding

Mothers receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to treat HIV-1 infection are less likely than untreated mothers to transmit the virus to their newborns through breastfeeding, according to a new study.

19 Oct 2009

Phase I clinical study of PENNVAX-B preventive DNA vaccine using electroporation technology

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) announced today the initiation of a phase I clinical study of Inovio’s PENNVAX-B preventive DNA vaccine delivered using its proprietary electroporation technology.

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

International human migration needs to be factored into infectious disease policy

When people travel, bacteria and other infectious agents travel with them. As about a billion people cross international borders each year, many more billions of the bugs come along for the ride.

19 Oct 2009

Sangretech Biomedical signs amended license agreement with Bostwick Laboratories

Sangretech Biomedical LLC, a developer of dendritic cell therapies for cancer and infectious diseases, today announced it has executed an amended and restated license agreement with Bostwick Laboratories, Inc. providing Bostwick Scientific, the research division of Bostwick Laboratories, with exclusive rights to Sangretech’s dendritic cell technology in certain territories.

15 Oct 2009

JMCR and Cases Journal return to BioMed Central's publishing portfolio

BioMed Central is once again publishing the Journal of Medical Case Reports (JMCR) and Cases Journals. Since their inception, both these journals, which currently provide over 2000 freely accessible case reports have received widespread recognition and high quality submissions from across the medical community.

15 Oct 2009

FDA approves Ortho Clinical Diagnostics' anti-HIV 1+2 test for use on VITROS 5600 & 3600 systems

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a diagnostic assay for the detection of antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1+2 (Anti-HIV 1+2) for use on the VITROS® 5600 Integrated and VITROS® 3600 Immunodiagnostic Systems.

From Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. 15 Oct 2009

UT Southwestern Medical Center awarded $15.7M NIH contract to develop a new virus database

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $15.7 million contract to UT Southwestern Medical Center and Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop an open-access national online database and analysis resource center that will help scientists study and combat viruses such as those that cause hepatitis, encephalitis, smallpox, acute respiratory distress and dengue fever, as well as newly emerging pathogenic viruses.

15 Oct 2009

Human populations may have some level of existing immunity to the pandemic H1N1 influenza, say researchers

University of California, Davis, researchers studying the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, formerly referred to as "swine flu," have identified a group of immunologically important sites on the virus that are also present in seasonal flu viruses that have been circulating for years. These molecular sites appear to result in some level of immunity to the new virus in people who were exposed to the earlier influenza viruses.

15 Oct 2009

Cytheris initiates Phase I/IIa dose escalation study of patients suffering from ICL

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced the initiation of a Phase I/IIa dose escalation study of patients suffering from idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia (ICL).

15 Oct 2009

SHEA urges CDC to remove the use of N95 respirators from its recommendations for routine care

Today's announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that it is modifying its guidance regarding measures that should be taken by healthcare workers who are in contact with either confirmed or suspected cases of H1N1 was met with concern by the scientific community that had submitted its recommendations to CDC.

15 Oct 2009

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Yashoda Cancer Institute in India to expand use of Varian Medical Systems' RapidArc radiotherapy

Chinese SFDA approves China Medical Technologies' SPR System

IL-2 compound ineffective against HIV-AIDS

TheraDoc commences beta testing of new computerized patient surveillance tool

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

New scientific journal from Elsevier

Research study on cowpox virus

Inaccurate body temperature readings can harm the entire health care system

Antibiotic resistance to be undesirable consequence of antibiotic abuse is inaccurate, reveals report

Mothers receiving HAART less likely to transmit HIV virus to their newborns through breastfeeding

Phase I clinical study of PENNVAX-B preventive DNA vaccine using electroporation technology

Recent releases in global health

International human migration needs to be factored into infectious disease policy

Sangretech Biomedical signs amended license agreement with Bostwick Laboratories

JMCR and Cases Journal return to BioMed Central's publishing portfolio

FDA approves Ortho Clinical Diagnostics' anti-HIV 1+2 test for use on VITROS 5600 & 3600 systems

UT Southwestern Medical Center awarded $15.7M NIH contract to develop a new virus database

Human populations may have some level of existing immunity to the pandemic H1N1 influenza, say researchers

Cytheris initiates Phase I/IIa dose escalation study of patients suffering from ICL

SHEA urges CDC to remove the use of N95 respirators from its recommendations for routine care

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