Hygiene News and Research

RSS

Popular antimicrobial chemicals may not be safe for human health and environment

Killing microorganisms has become a national obsession. A pair of antimicrobial compounds known as triclosan and triclocarban are lately the weapons of choice in our war of attrition against the microbial world. Both chemicals are found in an array of personal care products like antimicrobial soaps, and triclosan also is formulated into everyday items ranging from plastics and toys to articles of clothing.

10 Nov 2010

Malaria drug artesunate found more effective than quinine at preventing severe falciparum malaria deaths in children, study says

Researchers found that the death rate among children diagnosed with severe falciparum malaria was almost one-fourth lower when they received the drug artesunate rather than the standard treatment of quinine, according to research which was presented at the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) over the weekend and published Monday in the Lancet, HealthDay News/U.S. News and World Report writes.

10 Nov 2010

Inviragen to present data on CHIKV vaccine at ASTMH meeting

Inviragen, a biotechnology company developing vaccines to protect against infectious diseases worldwide, together with investigators at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and the Division of Vector Borne Diseases (DVBD) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will make an oral presentation today at the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) meeting on preclinical results of the Company's experimental chikungunya virus (CHIKV) vaccine.

8 Nov 2010

Resveratrol in grapes may help fight severe malaria: Study

A compound found in the skin of grapes and used to make red wine may help fight severe malaria, raising hopes of finding a new adjunctive therapy against an illness that kills an estimated 1 million people a year, according to a study presented today at The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 59th Annual Meeting.

8 Nov 2010

New malaria drug can save millions of lives: Study

A landmark trial showed that the replacement of the standard malaria drug Quinine with the newer drug Artesunate for children with severe malaria could save 100,000 lives a year. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended that artesunate derived from a Chinese plant called sweet wormwood, replace the four-century-old remedy of quinine for treating severe malaria in adults in 2006. Similar recommendations were not made for children with further trial results pending.

8 Nov 2010

World's most clinically advanced dengue vaccine candidate enters first phase 3 clinical study

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced today that its dengue vaccine is in final stage of clinical development. Sanofi Pasteur's dengue vaccine, the world's most clinically advanced dengue vaccine candidate, entered its first phase 3 clinical study in Australia.

4 Nov 2010

Cempra to present information on solithromycin antimalarial agent at Atlanta Annual Meeting

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced abstracts to be presented on its novel fluoroketolide antibiotic, solithromycin (CEM-101), at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 59th Annual Meeting, November 3 to 7 in Atlanta. The abstracts will present new information on solithromycin's antimalarial activity. Additional data will demonstrate activity against Mycobacterium leprae.

4 Nov 2010

Kaiser Permanente awards 792 grants in third quarter 2010

Kaiser Permanente, one of the country's largest not-for-profit health care organizations, funded 792 grants nationwide, totaling approximately $16 million in the third quarter of 2010. Grants awarded to organizations this quarter included funding basic human services in California in a tight economy, offering dental care to women and children in the Mid-Atlantic States, and providing college scholarships to high school students in the Northwest to pursue careers in health care.

3 Nov 2010

Guardian's Katine project coverage concludes

The Guardian concluded its three-year Katine project in north-eastern Uganda, which "tracked the implementation of a development project focusing on five aspects of deprivation: health, education, water and sanitation, livelihoods and governance," the newspaper writes.

3 Nov 2010

North American children may be 'too clean'

Rising levels of allergic asthma and eczema in North American children have Canadian scientists wondering if there is such a thing as being "too clean." "We see auto-immune diseases like asthma and eczema increasing rapidly in North American children, but we don't see the same effect in children in the developing world," says Dr. B. Brett Finlay, a Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia.

29 Oct 2010

Dental health affects control of diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that affects every part of the body, and for people with unstable blood glucose levels there is a higher risk than normal for developing serious complications from poor oral hygiene. In a study by dLife, the world's largest diabetes community, and SoundView Research, Inc., 66 percent of active diabetes managers had not changed their oral care habits since being diagnosed and over half have not been advised by their dentist to take extra care to brush, floss, or rinse daily.

29 Oct 2010

Scientists develop new method to analyze early detection of virus

The virus, called enterovirus 71, is closely related to poliovirus, and was first detected in California in the 1960s. Since then the virus has spread across Asia, affecting mostly children and some adults. Serious cases of the disease can include neurological disorders such as meningitis, paralysis and encephalitis.

29 Oct 2010

Sanofi-aventis to acquire BMP Sunstone

Sanofi-aventis and BMP Sunstone Corporation announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which sanofi-aventis is to acquire all outstanding shares of BMP Sunstone for cash consideration of USD 10 per share, or a total of approximately USD 520.6 million on a fully diluted basis.

29 Oct 2010

Prevention, oral health literacy, rebuilding public health infrastructure are key to improving nation's oral health

The American Dental Association (ADA) said today that it welcomes an organization of the stature of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to join the fight to improve the nation's oral health.

27 Oct 2010

University of Padua Professor wins Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

Frankfurt am Main. The chemist and biologist Professor Cesare Montecucco, 62, of the Department of Biomedical Research at the University of Padua, Italy, has won the 100,000 euro Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2011 for his contribution to research in the field of bacterial diseases, including tetanus, botulism, anthrax and Helicobacter pylori associated diseases.

27 Oct 2010

Sex hormones behind increased risk of destructive periodontitis in men

Sex hormones may be the biological reason why men are at greater risk than women for destructive periodontitis, an infection of the gums, according to researchers at the University of Maryland Dental School.

27 Oct 2010

Place of birth, low SES and exposure to pests associated with asthma in U.S.-born children

Researchers from Tufts University pooled data from five previous epidemiological studies to investigate the prevalence of asthma in children in the Boston neighborhoods of Chinatown and Dorchester. Among children born in the United States, low socioeconomic status (SES) and exposure to pests (mice and cockroaches) were both associated with having asthma. Neither association was present in children born outside of the United States. The study was published online in advance of print in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.

26 Oct 2010

Cholera epidemic in Haiti persists despite slow down in fatalities

"A multinational medical response has slowed deaths in a Haitian cholera epidemic that has killed more than 250 people so far, but the outbreak is likely to widen, a senior U.N. official said on Sunday," Reuters reports. The U.N., Haitian government and aid partners "have launched a major effort to try to contain the epidemic" of more than 3,000 cases in the country so far (Delva, 10/25). The New York Times reports that the death rate, according to the Haitian government, has "declined - from 10.6 percent of known cases three days earlier to 8.2 percent now."

26 Oct 2010

World Vision increases response in cholera affected Haiti

As the cholera outbreak continues to spread in the Artibonite region of Haiti, World Vision is increasing its response in affected areas, pre-positioning much-needed health supplies and preparing residents in its displacement camps in Port-au-Prince with critical, life-saving health and hygiene messages.

25 Oct 2010

FDA to improve food safety practices in retail establishments

The Food and Drug Administration called today for stepped up efforts to improve food safety practices in retail food establishments, specifically pointing to the need for the presence of certified food safety managers to oversee safety practices

25 Oct 2010