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Search for Aussie patients of HIV positive dentist

Health authorities in Australia are trying to contact hundreds of people who were treated by a female dentist who has been diagnosed as HIV positive.

24 Aug 2006

Parasite in crabs causes to lung infection

Californians have been warned by public health officials about eating freshwater crabs after two people contracted a lung infection from eating them.

21 Aug 2006

FDA orders two companies to cease manufacturing human cells and tissues

FDA orders Donor Referral Services (DRS), a human tissue-recovery firm, of Raleigh, NC, and its owner, Philip Guyett, to immediately cease all manufacturing operations.

20 Aug 2006

School-based programs can curb aggressive behaviors in students

According to the authors, the most effective programs are those that help students learn key social skills such as listening, thinking about the feelings of others, working cooperatively and being assertive in constructive ways.

17 Aug 2006

All forms of tobacco use or exposure are harmful

All forms of tobacco exposure - smoking, chewing or inhaling second hand smoke - increase the risk of heart attack up to three times, according to an Article in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

17 Aug 2006

People in China getting fatter

People in China are becoming overweight and obese at an alarmingly fast rate, according to an editorial in this week's British Medical Journal.

17 Aug 2006

Thailand's antiretroviral drug provision program should serve as a model for other poorer countries

Thailand's HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs should serve as a model for other countries with limited resources to fight the disease, according to a World Bank report released on Wednesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Reuters UK reports.

17 Aug 2006

1.65 million worldwide now receiving antiretrovirals

The number of people in sub-Saharan Africa with access to antiretroviral drugs has increased tenfold in three years, and 1.65 million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving the drugs by the end of June.

17 Aug 2006

Long-term health effects from West Nile illnesses

More than a year after being diagnosed with a West Nile virus infection, half of the patients have ongoing health complaints including fatigue, memory problems, headaches, depression, and tremors, according to an article in the Sept. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

16 Aug 2006

Genotoxic bacteria in the digestive tract

Escherichia coli is a commensal bacterium, which lives peacefully in our digestive tract. However, certain strains are pathogenic and are frequently incriminated in a broad spectrum of infections, affecting both farmed animals and humans (diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, food poisoning, septicaemia, neonatal meningitis, etc.).

16 Aug 2006

AIDS vaccine still long way off

Researchers are optimistic about a potential HIV/AIDS vaccine, even though none of the vaccines in development is likely to completely protect people from HIV transmission, participants at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto said at a news conference Tuesday, Reuters reports.

16 Aug 2006

About 4 million additional health workers needed worldwide to fight HIV/AIDS, WHO says

More than four million additional health workers will be needed in 60 countries to fight HIV/AIDS, according to a strategy the World Health Organization released Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Aug 2006

HIV treatment access reaches over 1 million in sub-Saharan Africa

WHO HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock reported that the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed 1 million for the first time, a ten-fold increase in treatment access in the region since December 2003.

16 Aug 2006

Thailand shows how free access to life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs can be affordable

A new report on Thailand's experience of giving free anti-retroviral drugs (ART) to people living with AIDS suggests that even developing countries with few resources may be able to deliver the life-saving drugs on a large scale, according to the World Bank and the Thailand Ministry of Public Health.

16 Aug 2006

Think twice about that occasional cup of coffee

According to new research, one cup of coffee may trigger a heart attack in some people within a hour of drinking it.

16 Aug 2006

AIDS spiraling out of control in Asia because of men's behaviour

South Asia's HIV and AIDS epidemic will continue to grow rapidly unless the eight countries in the region, especially India, can saturate high-risk groups such as sex workers and their clients, injecting drug users, and men having sex with men with better HIV prevention measures.

16 Aug 2006

Findings shed new light on BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast-cancer gene mutations in older and African-American women

Clearest picture yet of the prevalence and predictors of mutations in the breast-cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 among women in the general population.

15 Aug 2006

New plan to confront HIV-related health worker shortages

Launch of a coordinated global plan to address a major and often overlooked barrier to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS: the severe shortage of health workers, particularly in developing nations.

15 Aug 2006

Male circumcision, microbicides and other tools set to change HIV prevention landscape

In a new report released this week, fifty top AIDS experts warn that a range of promising new HIV prevention approaches are nearing completion of clinical trials, but the world is unprepared to ensure widespread access for those in need.

15 Aug 2006

Elite suppressors of HIV to change how scientists monitor spread of disease

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have found that 1 percent to 2 percent of those infected with HIV in Baltimore apparently suppress the virus to nearly undetectable levels on their own, confounding public health efforts to accurately monitor the pandemic's spread, now in its 20th year.

15 Aug 2006