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NIAID launches clinical trials of dengue vaccine

After more than a decade of development, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has started clinical trials to test a vaccine to protect against the dengue virus, a product researchers hope may one day "help prevent a disease to which 2.5 billion people are exposed," CIDRAP News reports (Roos, 8/9).

11 Aug 2010

State News: Ex-Anthem Blue Cross president speaks out; Clinics to fill in N.M. primary care gap

The Los Angeles Times: "The abrupt resignation last month of Anthem Blue Cross' president is offering a glimpse of an internal struggle that has roiled California's largest for-profit health insurer for months. Leslie Margolin was the public face of Anthem this year when it sought to raise individual insurance rates as much as 39%.

11 Aug 2010

Opinions: HIV prevention research; Foreign aid; Sanitation; Aid, self-reliance

"Microbicides, vaccines and other new approaches will one day join proven HIV-prevention strategies, including condoms, male circumcision and clean needles. How soon that day comes will depend on whether funders and the scientific community can develop the more collaborative approaches to HIV prevention research needed to address this fast-moving epidemic," Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise leaders Alan Bernstein, executive director, and Peter Piot, chair, write in a Globe and Mail opinion piece.

11 Aug 2010

Columbus hospital receives PPMD grant to conduct clinical testing for Duchenne

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, the largest non-profit organization in the United States focused on finding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), will award a $600,000 grant to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio to conduct clinical testing of a promising gene therapy technique for muscle disease.

10 Aug 2010

Census Bureau releases schedule for 2009 income, poverty and health insurance estimates

The Census Bureau announced today the public release schedule for the official income, poverty and health insurance estimates for 2009 from the Current Population Survey (CPS), as well as estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS).

10 Aug 2010

Studies show harsh treatment of children still prevails in many countries

Spanking has declined in the U.S. since 1975 but nearly 80 percent of preschool children are still disciplined in this fashion. In addition, corporal punishment of children remains common worldwide, despite bans on corporal punishment that have been adopted in 24 countries since 1979.

10 Aug 2010

Children of incarcerated parent likely to be incarcerated

It comes as no surprise that many children suffer when a parent is behind bars. But as rates of incarceration grew over the past 30 years, researchers were slow to focus on the collateral damage to children.

10 Aug 2010

Al Shabaab demands World Vision to close operations in Somalia

World Vision Somalia received a demand today from Al Shabaab to close operations in Somalia. World Vision guards were disarmed and their keys were taken. Nothing was removed from the offices although Al Shabaab representatives occupied the offices.

10 Aug 2010

Older Americans suffer from full-blown depression: Report

Maureen Duffy's memories of her grandmother are cloudy. Not because of time, but by a condition that cast a shadow over the woman Duffy had visited as a child.

10 Aug 2010

Texas Children's Hospital provides tips to ensure healthy and successful school year

It's August and for many families that means it's time to head back to school. From sleep schedules, nutrition, immunizations, heart health, heat illnesses and more, Texas Children's Hospital in Houston provides parents with tips to ensure their children have a safe, healthy and successful school year.

10 Aug 2010

ADA updates position paper on children’s healthy behaviors

The American Dietetic Association has published an updated position paper on local support for nutrition integrity in schools that calls on schools and communities to work together to provide healthful and affordable meals for all children and to promote educational environments that help students learn and practice healthy behaviors for their entire lives.

10 Aug 2010

Scientific paper explains impact of visual cycle modulation in neurovascular retinopathy

Acucela, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for blinding eye diseases, announced today that a scientific paper co-authored by Ryo Kubota, M.D., Ph.D., chairman, president and chief executive officer of Acucela, has been published in Experimental Eye Research. The paper, "Visual Cycle Modulation in Neurovascular Retinopathy" was also co-authored by scientists from Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and demonstrates for the first time the impact of treatment with a visual cycle modulator (VCM) on retinopathy in an immature eye.

10 Aug 2010

Study on ethnic disparities in pediatric asthma in Latino and non-Latino children

A new study by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and the University of Puerto Rico may help explain some of the well-documented ethnic disparities in pediatric asthma.

10 Aug 2010

NIH begins human clinical testing for dengue virus vaccine

After more than a decade of development at the National Institutes of Health, a vaccine to prevent infection by the mosquito-borne dengue virus has begun human clinical testing. The vaccine was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and is undergoing clinical study at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

10 Aug 2010

Researchers find disparities among children suffering from repeated ear infections

Research has documented that ethnic and socioeconomic disparities exist among patients with conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Now, a new study by researchers from UCLA and Harvard University has found disparities among children suffering from repeated ear infections. The findings, published in the August edition of the journal Laryngoscope, show that frequent ear infections plague white children and children living below the poverty level more than children of other racial or ethnic backrounds or income levels.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists suggest daily intake of vitamin D helps to reduce disease frequency

Anthony Norman, a leading international expert in vitamin D, proposes worldwide policy changes regarding people's vitamin D daily intake amount in order to maximize the vitamin's contribution to reducing the frequency of many diseases, including childhood rickets, adult osteomalacia, cancer, autoimmune type-1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and muscle weakness.

10 Aug 2010

Reports warn of new costs, gaps unfilled in health overhaul

Insurance rates may rise next year even more than anticipated because of the health overhaul for mid-sized companies. "While most major pieces of the new health law don't go into effect until 2014, some reforms affecting health insurance carriers take effect this year. These include provisions that require health plans to cover adult children until age 26, extend coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, end maximum lifetime spending limits and end the practice of retroactively canceling a member's coverage for any reason other than fraud."

10 Aug 2010

U.N. says nearly 14M Pakistanis affected by floods

On Monday the U.N. said that 13.8 million people have been affected by the floods in Pakistan as the death toll has now reached 1,600, Agence France-Presse reports.

9 Aug 2010

Also in Global Health News: Food production and climate change; Poverty and hunger in India; Composting toilets in Malawi

A new discussion paper, led by a researcher from the University of Nairobi and produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute, examines how 10 sub-Saharan African countries have adapted food production to mitigate the effects of climate change, IRIN reports. The paper found that most countries use crops that mature faster and are tolerant of frequent and intense droughts.

9 Aug 2010

New familial link in juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia discovered

A UCSF-led team has discovered a direct link between an inherited genetic mutation, a set of developmental abnormalities and a rare form of childhood leukemia called juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, or JMML. The study demonstrates a new familial link in JMML and has significant implications, the researchers say, for improving the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

9 Aug 2010