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Vaccine for human cytomegalovirus

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease.

23 Jun 2007

Current status of neuroblastoma treatment and trends for the near future

Childhood cancers are fortunately rare, but among them, neuroblastoma is a special case, accounting for 7 percent of all childhood cancers, but 15 percent of childhood cancer deaths.

23 Jun 2007

Extra vitamin A does not help mothers and children in developing countries

Giving mothers and children in developing countries twice the WHO recommended doses of vitamin A, as suggested by an international vitamin group, does not have a beneficial effect.

23 Jun 2007

Pulmonary function testing in children aged 2 to 6

The ATS and European Respiratory Society (ERS) published a new statement on pulmonary function testing in preschool children.

23 Jun 2007

EPA wants stronger air quality standards for smog

EPA is proposing to strengthen the nation's air quality standards for ground-level ozone, revising the standards for the first time since 1997.

23 Jun 2007

Smoking declines in New York City

smoking rate has plummeted since a comprehensive program against smoking was launched in 2002, according to findings issued today in the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

23 Jun 2007

New risk marker for overweight children

A study of 40 overweight children in Edmonton has revealed they all share something in common aside from being heavy: each one of them has high levels of apoB48, a structural protein found in intestinal cholesterol.

23 Jun 2007

Parents of chronically ill kids are helped by better access to federal and employer leave

Working parents are more able to care for their chronically ill children when given greater access to federal and employer-provided time off from their jobs, according to a RAND Corporation study.

23 Jun 2007

Inherited genes linked to toxicity of leukemia therapy

St. Jude investigators have discovered inherited variations in certain genes that make children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) susceptible to the toxic side effects caused by chemotherapy medications.

23 Jun 2007

U.S. FDA approves Lyrica (pregabalin), the first drug to treat fibromyalgia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Lyrica (pregabalin), the first drug to treat fibromyalgia, a disorder characterized by pain, fatigue and sleep problems.

23 Jun 2007

Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention

Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.

23 Jun 2007

DNA repair by Brca2 prevents medulloblastoma

St. Jude investigators have gained some of the first major insights into how certain genes known to prevent cancer also guide the nervous system's normal development before birth and during infancy by repairing DNA damage.

23 Jun 2007

Review of the routine monitoring of growth in children of primary school age to identify growth-related conditions

No sound evidence supports weight monitoring to identify and treat obese children, according to a review of worldwide research published this month in the United Kingdom.

23 Jun 2007

Irish Smokefree law reduces smoking in the home

Around one in five Irish smokers are lighting up less at home since the introduction of the smoking ban in 2004, new research has revealed.

23 Jun 2007

Minority segregated schools hinder reading skills

Children in families with low incomes, who attend schools where the minority population exceeds 75 percent of the student enrollment, under-perform in reading, even after accounting for the quality of the literacy instruction, literary experiences at home, gender, race and other variables, according to a new study.

23 Jun 2007

Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007

Research links childhood social skills and learning abilities

While federal programs such as No Child Left Behind emphasize the importance of academic skills to school success and achievement, there is growing interest in how social skills develop and how they contribute to learning.

23 Jun 2007

40 percent of parents willing to have their child's DNA stored in a government biobank

Genetic testing holds great promise for the future. Information generated by genetic testing may provide information that leads to new treatments for common diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

23 Jun 2007

Many couples willing to donate unused embryos to stem cell research

In a survey of over a thousand patients who have created and frozen embryos as part of fertility treatment, 60 percent said they would be likely to donate unused embryos for stem cell research, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University.

23 Jun 2007

Kidney specialists review plans for disaster response

Hurricane Katrina and other recent disasters have focused attention on the urgent need for planning to provide health services after natural disasters.

23 Jun 2007