Smallpox News and Research

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Smallpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the variola virus, a member of the Orthopox virus family. It is one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity, with a mortality rate as high as 30%. In 1967, the World Health Organization embarked upon an intensified vaccination campaign to eliminate smallpox, which culminated in the successful eradication of the disease globally by 1980.

By the mid-1980s, there were only two known repositories of variola virus: the Institute of Virus Preparations in Russia, and the US CDC. The events in the US in September and October 2001 highlighted the risk that the variola virus might be used as an agent of bioterrorism. Governments around the world are taking precautionary measures to be ready to deal with a potential smallpox outbreak.

Direct incentives for vaccination would increase rates

In its first decade, the GAVI Alliance has helped prevent the deaths of more than five million children by introducing more widespread vaccination in low-income countries, "[b]ut, going forward, the alliance is going to have to think more about getting parents to vaccinate their kids - the demand side of health - especially if it wants to repeat the huge victory of wiping out a disease" such as smallpox, Charles Kenny writes in his weekly column for Foreign Policy.

29 Jun 2011

Sanofi Pasteur establishes new vaccine research and development facility in Canada

Mark Lievonen, President of Sanofi Pasteur Limited, and Premier Dalton McGuinty today opened a $101 million dollar vaccine research and development facility at Sanofi Pasteur's Connaught Campus in north Toronto. This new facility establishes the Connaught Campus as the North American Centre of Excellence in analytical and bioprocessing R&D for Sanofi Pasteur globally.

23 Jun 2011

Inviragen commences INV21 Phase 1 trial against Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Inviragen announced today the initiation of the first clinical trial of the Company's proprietary Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) investigational vaccine, INV21, a highly purified virus particle preparation designed to protect against HFMD caused by enterovirus 71.

16 Jun 2011

Response Biomedical NTproBNP Assay does not meet FDA regulatory criteria for CLIA waiver

Response Biomedical Corporation announced that it has received a notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its NTproBNP Assay did not meet the criteria to obtain a waiver under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988.

14 Jun 2011

Scientists, advocacy experts form new international Foundation for Vaccine Research

Fourteen leading scientists and advocacy experts in vaccines and infectious diseases have announced the formation of a new international Foundation to advance and accelerate vaccine research and development against infectious diseases.

9 Jun 2011

IAS calls on leaders to ensure inclusion of HIV cure research into international AIDS agenda

As world leaders meet this week to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS in New York, the International AIDS Society (IAS) calls on leaders to ensure the inclusion of HIV cure research and its global strategy into the international HIV agenda and in all discussions, political decisions and funding strategies.

8 Jun 2011

Cattle plague – rinderpest, eradicated for good

As welcome news, world farm monitors on Wednesday declared a cattle-killing virus that has been a curse through the ages as eradicated. This is the first time an animal disease has been eradicated in human history. The global watchdog for farm-animal trade approved a report certifying that the last 14 countries of the world were free of rinderpest, also called cattle plague.

26 May 2011

Small pox virus destruction pushed back to 2014

The last existing vials of smallpox virus in the U.S. and Russia and due for destruction, have won at least another three years in existence. This is suggesting other countries concur with the U.S. about their value, one leading health official said. The experts and delegates at the annual meeting of the World Health Organization agreed on Tuesday to wait until 2014 to decide on a firm deadline for the final destruction of the lethal virus.

24 May 2011

Aethlon to introduce new adaptive dialysis-like affinity platform technology at C21 partnering conference

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announces that Chairman and CEO James A. Joyce will present the Aethlon ADAPT™ system in a presentation at the C21 BioVentures™ Life Sciences Partnering Conference.

23 May 2011

Decision on destroying last of the stored small pox virus samples

Health experts from all over the world are to decide this week whether to hold on to the last remaining stockpiles of smallpox, one of the deadliest diseases in history – or to proceed with their destruction.

17 May 2011

World Health Assembly begins in Geneva

As the 64th World Health Assembly gets underway in Geneva, the body will consider "an array of subjects pertaining to reforms of the organisation and its financing, vaccines, fake medicines, and influenza pandemic preparedness, as well as communicable and non-communicable diseases," Intellectual Property Watch reports.

17 May 2011

AIDS spread prevention by vaccine and anti HIV drugs

A latest vaccine against HIV/AIDS has shown to be effective in monkeys and has protected macaques the most widespread primate genus, against the monkey equivalent of HIV, Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). This could provide a fresh approach to an HIV vaccine, a study suggests. US researchers say the vaccine offered protection to 13 of 24 Rhesus macaques treated in the experiment. In 12 of the monkeys, the vaccine was still effective 12 months later.

15 May 2011

Response Biomedical first quarter total revenues increase 59% to $2,470,560

Response Biomedical Corporation reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. Total revenues for the three-month period ended March 31, 2011 increased 59% to $2,470,560 compared to $1,549,479 for the same period last year.

11 May 2011

Aethlon seeks FDA meeting for re-initiation of Hemopurifier IDE study

Aethlon Medical, Inc. announces that it has submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a face-to-face meeting to discuss re-initiation of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) study of the Aethlon Hemopurifier in the United States.

10 May 2011

Magnetic 'nanobeads' help detect chemical and biological agents

Researchers at Oregon State University have found a way to use magnetic "nanobeads" to help detect chemical and biological agents, with possible applications in everything from bioterrorism to medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring or even water and food safety.

27 Apr 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

When health ministers gather for the World Health Assembly in May they will try to come up with a solution to "a dilemma that has dogged decision-makers for decades - whether and when to destroy the last remaining stocks of the smallpox virus," David Heymann and Emma Ross, both of the Global Health Security Centre at Chatham House, write in an article in The World Today.

25 Apr 2011

Study provides new insights into tuberculosis behavior

Patience may be a virtue in a person, but in an infectious disease, it is insidious. Witness tuberculosis, which can lie dormant in a human host for decades before bursting forth into infection. TB's stealthy nature has made it difficult to decipher how it spreads, seriously hampering efforts to control it. The World Health Organization estimates that a third of the people on Earth are infected.

12 Apr 2011

IBM discovers biodegradable nanoparticles that seek out and destroy drug-resistant bacteria

IBM's announcement of the first biodegradable nanoparticles that can seek out and destroy drug-resistant bacteria caps off a century of healthcare and life sciences innovation from IBM.

8 Apr 2011

International experts meet to focus on impact of vaccines on global health at a time of public scepticism and complacency

International experts gather in Prague today for a three day meeting focused on the impact of vaccines on public health, at a time of increasing concern that public scepticism and complacency could undermine the positive impact of current and future vaccine campaigns.

31 Mar 2011

BUSM professors highlight increased risks of naturally occurring infections

Paul Duprex, PhD, and Elke M-hlberger, PhD, both associate professors of microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine, recently co-authored a commentary about viruses for Microbiology Today, the monthly publication of the Society of General Microbiology, which is the largest microbiological society in Europe.

19 Mar 2011