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Officials worry about swine flu preparedness amid budget cuts

In light of two reports released this week, public health officials examine preparation plans for a second strain of swine flu amid troubling budget cuts.

5 Jun 2009

Thai HIV/AIDS advocates urge increased treatment access for IDUs

The Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group recently called on the country to launch a comprehensive harm reduction program for injection drug users in an effort to help curb the spread of HIV, Thailand's The Nation reports.

31 May 2009

Arthritis drug Abatacept may be effective in fighting the flu

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that an approved drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis reduces severe illness and death in mice exposed to the Influenza A virus. Their findings suggest that tempering the response of the body's immune system to influenza infection may alleviate some of the more severe symptoms and even reduce mortality from this virus.

26 May 2009

Australia's H1N1 flu cases up to 3

Australia's recorded cases of the new H1N1 flu (Swine flu) has now reached 3 with the confirmation of two new cases.

20 May 2009

Early retroviral use best for AIDS patients with serious complications

HIV-positive patients who don't seek medical attention until they have a serious AIDS-related condition can reduce their risk of death or other complications by half if they get antiretroviral treatment early on, according to a new multicenter trial led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

17 May 2009

Early use of antiretroviral treatment improves survival rate of HIV patients

A clinical study, led by researchers from University College Dublin, Ireland, and Stanford University, California, USA, with international collaborators, demonstrates that mortality rates of HIV patients can be almost halved when early antiretroviral (ARV) therapy is added to the treatment of AIDS-related opportunistic infections (OIs) such as pneumonia, meningitis or other serious bacterial infections.

17 May 2009

Cytomegalovirus may cause high blood pressure

A new study suggests for the first time that cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection affecting between 60 and 99 percent of adults worldwide, is a cause of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

15 May 2009

Australian scientist suggests Swine flu an accident in the lab

The suggestion by an Australian virologist that the new flu virus, H1N1 or swine flu, could have been the result of a laboratory accident has been dismissed by Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the deputy director general of the World Health Organization (WHO).

14 May 2009

Swine flu preoccupies world health leaders

It is expected that the upcoming World Health Organisation's (WHO) annual assembly will be dominated this year by the emergence and spread of the new influenza virus H1N1 (swine flu).

14 May 2009

New mathematical model predicts immune response to influenza A virus

Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a mathematical model to predict immune responses to infection with influenza A viruses, including novel viruses such as the emergent 2009 influenza A (H1N1). This model examines the contributions of specific sets of immune cells in fighting influenza A virus.

13 May 2009

Simple interventions could contain flu spread – focus on children

Although many have touted strategies from travel avoidance to Tamiflu to halt the spread of H1N1 flu or swine flu, a large body of evidence from the Cochrane Library suggests that concentrating on children's hygiene might be the best way to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses.

12 May 2009

Swine flu could come round again!

The Centres for Disease Protection and Control (CDC) says outbreaks of the new H1N1 swine flu continue to spread across the United States and the swine influenza virus is expected to spread to all 50 states and to cause many infections ranging from mild to severe.

11 May 2009

Pandemic influenza preparedness in Latin America: analysis of national strategic plans, health policy and planning

An analysis of pandemic preparedness plans from Latin American countries has indicated that although most now have national strategic plans in place, it is the wealthiest countries that tend to have the most complete plans.

7 May 2009

IBM and University of Texas Medical Branch launch effort to find flu drug treatments

IBM and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) launched an effort using IBM's World Community Grid "virtual supercomputer" to allow laboratory tests on drug candidates for drug-resistant influenza strains and new strains, such as H1N1, in less than a month.

6 May 2009

HIV-positive people worldwide at increased risk of the H1N1 flu

HIV-positive people worldwide are at an increased risk of the H1N1 flu strain, the World Health Organization said on Saturday in guidelines for health workers published on its Web site, Reuters India reports.

5 May 2009

Scientists create human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes the Hepatitis C virus

Taking aim at a leading cause of liver failure in the United States, a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories (MBL) of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) has developed a human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes the Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

5 May 2009

U.S. 'investing every resource necessary' to address H1N1 flu emergency, Obama says

President Obama on Saturday during his weekly radio and Internet address said that his administration is working to address the recent public health emergency involving the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, also known as swine flu, The Hill reports.

5 May 2009

New kind of treatment for sexually transmitted diseases

Yale researchers describe a breakthrough in safe and effective administration of potential antiviral drugs - small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules that silence genes - the first step in development of a new kind of treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The work is reported May 4 as an advance online publication of Nature Materials.

3 May 2009

Warning on fraudulent 2009 H1N1 influenza products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission are alerting the public to be wary of Internet sites and other promotions for products that claim to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

3 May 2009

Research model shows best way to deal with a flu pandemic

According to the latest available research, should a global influenza pandemic become a reality, small stockpiles of a secondary flu medication, provided they are used early enough in local outbreaks, could extend the effectiveness of large primary stockpiles of drugs such as Tamiflu.

30 Apr 2009