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Simple medical exams recommended for school-age children

Many children and teens are enjoying the remaining days of their summer vacation, but are they truly prepared for what lies ahead? With a few simple medical exams, Virginia's school-age children will be armed with the tools they need to enjoy a healthy school year. The exams we are referring to are given in a doctor's and/or dentist's office, and should take place before or shortly after the start of the new school year, and include a routine doctor's exam to confirm that all immunizations are up-to-date, a dental exam and a vision exam.

27 Aug 2010

Improvement in mumps vaccine administration needed to prevent future outbreaks

Although immunity to mumps is high in the United States, mumps vaccine coverage must be maintained and improved to prevent future outbreaks, according to a new study, now available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/655394), in the September 1, 2010 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

25 Aug 2010

Measles outbreak in northern NSW and Queensland

There is a confirmed measles outbreak just south of the Queensland border according to Queensland Health authorities. There have been seven cases of this highly infectious disease at Tweed Heads, NSW, including a person who reportedly visited a McDonald’s restaurant at Coolangatta over the weekend. Any residents who visited the fast food outlet between 8am and 1pm on Saturday are advised to check their vaccination status.

23 Aug 2010

August is National Immunization and Cataract Awareness Month

Childhood immunizations keep our children safe from a number of serious diseases. This is a good time of year to make sure your child is up-to-date on all of his/her immunizations. Continue reading to find out which vaccines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend for children 6 and under.

16 Aug 2010

Asuragen, Life Technologies announce European launch of BCR/ABL1 Quant Test

Asuragen, Inc. and Life Technologies Corporation announced today that they have achieved CE-marking and commercial launch in Europe of the BCR/ABL1 Quant™ Test, Asuragen's clinically validated and cGMP manufactured test intended to aid clinicians in the monitoring and treatment of individuals afflicted with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Asuragen manufacturers the monitoring test, which is exclusively distributed by Life Technologies and runs on the company's Applied Biosystems CE-marked 7500 Fast Dx Real-Time PCR Instrument™.

13 Jul 2010

Combination MMRV vaccine associated with increased risk of febrile seizures

The combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (MMRV) is associated with double the risk of febrile seizures for 1- to 2-year-old children compared with same-day administration of the separate vaccine for MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and the varicella (V) vaccine for chicken pox, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study appearing online in the journal Pediatrics. A febrile seizure is a brief, fever-related convulsion but it does not lead to epilepsy or seizure disorders, researchers explained.

28 Jun 2010

ARIAD presents updated positive data on AP24534 pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor for CML at 46th ASCO

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced updated clinical data from an ongoing Phase 1 study of its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, AP24534, in patients with resistant and refractory chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The data confirm strong clinical evidence of hematologic, cytogenetic and molecular anti-leukemia activity of AP24534, a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor, in heavily pretreated patients with CML, including those with the T315I mutation of the target protein, BCR-ABL.

8 Jun 2010

MD Anderson-led Phase III clinical study determines Sprycel superior to Gleevec as front-line therapy

Dasatanib, a medication currently approved as treatment for drug-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia, provided patients with quicker, better responses as a first therapy than the existing front-line drug, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

7 Jun 2010

Vaccinations recommended for adults

Yearly vaccinations aren't just for kids any more. You probably heard a lot about a seasonal or H1N1 flu shot last fall, but you should know that a battery of other adult vaccinations might also become part of your health care routine. Pneumonia and shingles vaccines are preventive-care essentials for older adults, and meningitis and tetanus shots are now college rites of passage. Even the vaccines of childhood—measles, mumps and rubella, and whooping cough—are recommended for adults who missed out in their younger years.

19 May 2010

Removable methyl groups on specific genes of autistic individuals that led to gene silencing identified

A new study by researchers at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences' Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology raises hope that autism may be more easily diagnosed and that its effects may be more reversible than previously thought.

22 Apr 2010

Global maternal deaths decreased by more than 35% between 1980 and 2008, study finds

The number of maternal deaths around the world has decreased from more than 500,000 in 1980 to an estimated 342,900 in 2008, according to a Lancet study published online on Monday, the BBC reports.

15 Apr 2010

Pregnancy-related deaths dropped by 35%: IHME study

The number of women dying from pregnancy-related causes has dropped by more than 35 percent in the past 30 years - from more than a half-million deaths annually in 1980 to about 343,000 in 2008, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and collaborators at the University of Queensland.

13 Apr 2010

Drugs that affect methylation state of genes could reverse autism's effects: The FASEB Journal

A new discovery raises hope that autism may be more easily diagnosed and that its effects may be more reversible than previously thought. In a new study appearing online in The FASEB Journal, scientists have identified a way to detect the disorder using blood and have discovered that drugs which affect the methylation state of genes could reverse autism's effects.

9 Apr 2010

Resurgence of mumps orchitis among teenage boys and young men

Urologists at a leading Irish hospital have reported an alarming increase in the number of teenage boys and young men developing mumps orchitis, in a paper published in the April issue of the urology journal BJUI.

30 Mar 2010

Columbia University, FairChoice Systems sign agreement to market student health information system

Columbia University and FairChoice Systems, Inc. have signed a multi-year commercialization agreement that will bring to market a cost-effective, online student health information system developed and implemented by Columbia University's own Student Health Services.

2 Mar 2010

Novartis' Tasigna capsules granted priority review by FDA for treatment of adult patients with Ph+ CML

Novartis announced today that Tasigna® (nilotinib) 200 mg capsules has been granted priority review by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase.

19 Feb 2010

Measles vaccine does not increase risk of autism in children, reveals Polish study

As a pivotal paper linking childhood vaccinations to autism is discredited, a new study finds no evidence that the measles vaccine—given alone or as part of a combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine—increases the risk of autism in children. The study appears in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (www.pidj.com), published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

10 Feb 2010

Expert available to discuss Lancet’s retraction of paper on autism study

Rae Sonnenmeier, clinical associate professor of communication sciences and disorders at the University of New Hampshire and staff member at UNH's Institute on Disability, is available to discuss the announcement yesterday (Feb. 2, 2010) by the medical journal The Lancet regarding the retraction of a paper that caused a 12-year international battle over the links between the three-in-one childhood vaccine MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and autism.

4 Feb 2010

Research retraction underscores the safety and efficacy of MMR vaccines

The Lancet, a premier British medical journal, today retracted a study published in 1998 that drew a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and increased incidence of autism.

3 Feb 2010

Study linking autism and vaccines is retracted by medical journal

The Lancet has formally retracted a controversial paper published 12 years ago that purported the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism.