Measles News and Research

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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains a leading cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 197 000 people died from measles in 2007, mostly children under the age of five.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. The measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs. It is a human disease not known to occur in animals.

Insecticide-treated bed nets prevent infant deaths from malaria

Giving insecticide-treated bed nets to nearly 18,000 mothers at prenatal clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo prevented an estimated 414 infant deaths from malaria, a study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers concludes.

3 Sep 2009

European Medicines Agency validates Schering-Plough's MAA for nomegestrol acetate/17 beta-estradiol

Schering-Plough Corporation, (NYSE: SGP), today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has validated (accepted for review) the company's Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for a fixed-dose combination of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate for the maintenance treatment of asthma in patients 12 years of age and older.

27 Aug 2009

UT Southwestern awarded $763,000 as grant to expand studies of Peregrine's anti-PS antibodies

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM) today announced that the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded a two-year, $763,000 grant to Philip Thorpe, Ph.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for research expanding its studies of anti-phosphatidylserine (anti-PS) antibodies as potential treatments for viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) infections.

26 Aug 2009

Retigabine's Phase IIa clinical trial preliminary results announced

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International today announced preliminary results from its Phase IIa proof-of-concept clinical trial of retigabine for the treatment of pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a painful and common complication of shingles.

24 Aug 2009

The Gambia introduces pneumococcal immunisation programme

The Gambia, Minister of Health Dr. Mariatou Jallow administered the first dose of the pneumococcal vaccine to Gambian children at a rural clinic outside Banjul today. Joined by the Gambia’s Vice President, Mrs. Isatou Njie-Saidy, Dr. Jallow and hundreds of Gambian citizens celebrated this historic event, which marks the first step in the rollout of the Gambia’s national pneumococcal immunisation programme.

19 Aug 2009

Inhibitex reports Q2 2009 financials

Inhibitex, Inc. (Nasdaq: INHX), today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009. The Company held cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $24.5 million at June 30, 2009, as compared to $33.1 million at December 31, 2008.

12 Aug 2009

Parents need immunizations too!

Texas schoolchildren must be current on their immunizations before going back to class this fall, but it may have been decades since some of their parents have had a vaccination. August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and UnitedHealthcare wants to remind adults that immunizations are not just for children.

10 Aug 2009

Discovery of potential candidate protein for cancer vaccines

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have learned that some healthy people naturally developed an immune response against a protein that is made in excess levels in many cancers, including breast, lung, and head and neck cancers. The finding suggests that a vaccine against the protein might prevent malignancies in high-risk individuals.

4 Aug 2009

Washington Post examines health toll of Congo conflict

The Washington Post examines the devastating toll the conflict in the Congo has had on the health of the country's displaced civilians, as told through the death of a 36-year-old farmer, who succumbed to typhoid fever far away from the home he abandoned.

3 Aug 2009

U.N. program has little effect in reducing deaths among children in Bangladesh, study finds

"The U.N. unveiled a multimillion dollar strategy a dozen years ago to save children worldwide, but a new [Lancet] study has found the program had surprisingly little effect in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries," the Associated Press reports.

31 Jul 2009

Asian pneumonia prevention organization calls for required pneumonia vaccine in India

The Asian Strategic Alliance for Pneumococcal Disease Prevention (ASAP) is calling for the pneumonia vaccine to become an official part of India's required list of immunizations, the Times of India reports.

28 Jul 2009

World poverty gains reduced, countries unlikely to achieve most MDGs, U.N. report says

The global economic downturn has "reversed a 20-year decline in world poverty" and could "add up to 90 million to the ranks of the hungry in 2009, an increase of six percent over current totals," according to a U.N. report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched in Geneva on Monday, Reuters reports (Evans, 7/6).

7 Jul 2009

Pakistani refugees continue to be at high risk for disease, U.N. says

The 2 million Pakistani refugees forced from their homes due to a military offensive against Taliban militants in the northwestern Swat Valley continue to be at high risk for diseases "as they cope with damaged water and sewage systems in towns and villages," according to the U.N., Bloomberg reports.

7 Jul 2009

Access issues persist for Indians, rural Americans, immigrants

Several reports today focus on inadequate health care for certain population groups within the United States.

15 Jun 2009

3-day polio, measles vaccination campaign launched in Uganda

Uganda on Saturday launched a three-day polio and measles immunization campaign, Possy Mugyenyi, the country's immunization manager, said, UGPulse.com reports (Nyanzi, UGPulse.com, 6/5). More than 6 million children are being targeted, IRIN reports (IRIN, 6/5).

9 Jun 2009

Mozambique's Health Minister reviews country's health status with Parliament

A nationwide vaccination effort in Mozambique helped to slash the number of reported cases of measles in Mozambique in 2008, Health Minister Ivo Garrido said Wednesday when addressing the country's parliament, Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique/allAfrica.com reports.

4 Jun 2009