Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Interim results from CEL-SCI's Multikine Phase III study on head and neck cancer

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today that an interim review of the safety data from its open label, randomized, controlled, pivotal Phase III study of Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) investigational immunotherapy by an Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) raised no safety concerns.

23 Oct 2012

PLoS ONE publishes review of AntiViral-HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics clinical trial

ViroStatics, a private Italian/American biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for viral and other chronic diseases, announced that a review of the first human clinical trial to test a new class of anti-HIV medications known as AntiViral-HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics (AV-HALTs) has been published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

22 Oct 2012

TB Alliance and FIND partner to promote development of TB drugs and diagnostics

A new partnership announced today will increase efforts to coordinate the development of complementary novel tools to fight TB, including drug-resistant TB, and identify emerging drug resistance trends around the globe.

19 Oct 2012

GSK, Aeras to advance clinical development of TB vaccine

Aeras announces that it has signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, S.A. (GSK) to jointly advance the clinical development of an investigational tuberculosis (TB) vaccine containing GSK's proprietary M72 antigen and AS01E adjuvant.

10 Oct 2012

New model of influenza transmission can provide real-time information about infections

A new model of influenza transmission, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, using more detailed information about patterns and severity of infection than previous models, finds that cases and transmission rates of H1N1 during the 2009-2010 flu pandemic have been underestimated. This model can provide a more robust and accurate real-time estimate of infection during a pandemic, which will help health services prepare and respond to future outbreaks.

9 Oct 2012

Maths-based tool can quantify the spread and infectiousness of viruses

Mathematicians have developed a powerful tool to quantify the spread and infectiousness of viruses like the pandemic H1N1 flu strain, which can be used together with modern laboratory techniques to help the healthcare system plan its response to disease outbreaks.

9 Oct 2012

Significant increase in genomic Replikin Count of human SARS virus

The identification of the virus responsible for a second case of SARS-like respiratory virus, "London1_novel CoV 2012", has raised concerns over the risk of the disease spreading. These concerns may be justified given the observed rise in virus's genomic Replikin Count.

6 Oct 2012

UCLA project to promote healthy nutrition and physical activity to curb obesity

Researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have been awarded a $20 million federal grant to further their innovative efforts to curb obesity, a global pandemic that has reached the level of a national crisis in the United States.

5 Oct 2012

Britons least likely to adopt protective behaviours against flu

A new international survey published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases has revealed that during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, people in Britain lagged far behind other countries in adopting protective behaviours, such as increasing their practice of covering their mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing.

5 Oct 2012

Cellectis, Medicago complete first step in therapeutic protein research collaboration

Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus Like Particles, and Cellectis plant sciences, a US-based subsidiary of Cellectis Group, the specialist in genome engineering, today announced the successful completion of the first step in their research collaboration to improve therapeutic proteins produced in tobacco plants.

4 Oct 2012

Bas-Congo virus associated with acute hemorrhagic fever in Africa

An isolated outbreak of a deadly disease known as acute hemorrhagic fever, which killed two people and left one gravely ill in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the summer of 2009, was probably caused by a novel virus scientists have never seen before.

28 Sep 2012

Developing world lagging in anesthesia safety

Mortality after general anesthesia has declined over the past 50 years, but the greatest gains have been in developed countries, shows a systematic review in The Lancet.

26 Sep 2012

Public, private sectors must engage to increase chances of success in fighting NCDs

"Some academics and non-profit organizations are skeptical of the motives of the increasing number of multinational companies who seek partnerships to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs)," Derek Yach, senior vice president of global health and agriculture policy at PepsiCo and former head of NCDs at WHO, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

25 Sep 2012

NanoViricides’ oral FluCide dramatically improves survival in animals with H3N2 influenza A

NanoViricides, Inc. reported today that its oral FluCide drug candidates demonstrated dramatically improved survival in animals administered a lethal dose of the H3N2 influenza A virus.

24 Sep 2012

NCDs should be considered a 'human rights concern'

Noting that "non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill four times the number of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that they do in high-income countries," Benn Grover, a health communications specialist who manages policy for the National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, and Felicia Knaul, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, write in the Huffington Post Blog.

21 Sep 2012

TB Alliance, Sanofi partner to discover and develop novel compounds against tuberculosis

Sanofi and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development announced today a new research collaboration agreement to accelerate the discovery and development of novel compounds against tuberculosis (TB), a deadly infectious disease that resulted in almost 1.5 million deaths worldwide in 2010.

21 Sep 2012

Blog examines U.S. presidential candidates' foreign policy, science stances with respect to global health

"If nothing else, this presidential election season has brought the good news that both major party candidates have taken stances against preventable death and disease," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog writes, noting the blog "looked at two recently published examinations of the candidates' foreign policy and science stances, candidates' party platforms and other posted materials for clues to where the candidates diverge on major global health issues."

19 Sep 2012

Compelling data from two ITS Flunisyn Phase I clinical trials against multiple strains of influenza A

Immune Targeting Systems Limited, an emerging leader in the development of vaccines that promote T-cell responses against viruses and cancers, today announces compelling data from two Phase I clinical trials of FlunisynTM, the Company's lead vaccine programme which elicits potent immune responses against multiple strains of influenza-A virus.

18 Sep 2012

SLU study: Many U.S. schools not prepared for bioterrorism attacks, outbreaks of pandemics

Many U.S. schools are not prepared for bioterrorism attacks, outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases or pandemics, despite the recent 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic that resulted in more than 18,000 deaths worldwide, Saint Louis University researchers say.

15 Sep 2012

NDC to advance study and treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases

The Neurodegeneration Consortium (NDC), a transformative multi-institutional initiative, will advance the study and treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, thanks to an inaugural $25 million gift from the Robert A. and Renee E. Belfer Family Foundation to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

13 Sep 2012