Disease/Infection News

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White House releases FY14 budget request

"The Obama administration released its fiscal year 2014 budget on Wednesday," Devex's "Pennsylvania Ave." blog reports (Lieberman, 4/11).

12 Apr 2013

Researchers use metagenomics to identify the cause of outbreaks of bacterial infection

Researchers have been able to reconstruct the genome sequence of an outbreak strain of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC), which caused over 50 deaths in Germany, using an approach known as metagenomics which bypasses the need for growing bacteria in the lab.

12 Apr 2013

U.S., Chinese researchers developing vaccine for H7N9 avian flu virus; Some question speed of case reporting

"Less than two weeks after Chinese officials released the genetic sequence of a new type of bird flu [H7N9], U.S. vaccine experts are well on the way to making a vaccine to protect people against it," NBC News's "Vitals" blog reports (Fox, 4/10).

12 Apr 2013

New approaches to treat persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C

UCLA scientists have shown that temporarily blocking a protein critical to immune response actually helps the body clear itself of chronic infection. Published in the April 12 edition of Science, the finding suggests new approaches to treating persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C.

12 Apr 2013

Tailoring national HIV programs to better meet people's needs

"The features of the global HIV epidemic vary by country, often by community and patient, and it's important to understand these distinctions so that we can design programs to meet people's needs and strengthen their access to treatment and prevention," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

12 Apr 2013

Opinion pieces urge continued support for Global Fund

This week, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria gathered representatives from donor and implementing countries in Brussels, Belgium, to formally launch its 2014-2016 replenishment process.

12 Apr 2013

New process to create malaria drug artemisinin should provide stable supply, reduce cost, researchers report

"U.S. scientists on Wednesday said they had used baker's yeast to make a key ingredient of malaria drugs, a feat that could iron out fluctuations in supply caused by sourcing the chemical from a Chinese herb," Artemisia annua, Agence France-Presse reports (4/10).

12 Apr 2013

Global Fund concludes 2-day conference in Brussels

In Brussels on Wednesday, "the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria concluded a two-day conference where it tried to make the case for the $15 billion it aims to raise in a replenishment meeting late 2013," Devex reports.

12 Apr 2013

Sanofi launches large-scale production of artemisinin for malaria

Twelve years after a breakthrough discovery in his University of California, Berkeley, laboratory, professor of chemical engineering Jay Keasling is seeing his dream come true.

12 Apr 2013

Blogs, press releases respond to Obama administration's FY14 budget request

The Obama administration on Wednesday released its FY 2014 budget request, including funding for U.S. global health activities and proposed changes to the U.S. food aid program.

12 Apr 2013

Blog examines debate around anti-prostitution pledge law

In the Open Society Foundations' "Voices" blog, Zoe Hudson, a senior policy analyst for the group, discusses a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court -- USAID v AOSI -- which "challenges a 2003 law that requires all groups receiving U.S. government funds for international HIV and AIDS work to have 'a policy opposing prostitution.'

12 Apr 2013

Researchers unravel dual role of tumor necrosis factor in TB

Tumor necrosis factor - normally an infection-fighting substance produced by the body- can actually heighten susceptibility to tuberculosis if its levels are too high.

12 Apr 2013

Australian, Singapore researchers join hands to combat disease-causing bugs

The fight against a number of significant infectious diseases in the Asia-Pacific region has been given a boost through a new research collaboration between the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore.

12 Apr 2013

Experts launch new strategy to eradicate polio by 2018

Hundreds of scientists, doctors and other experts from around the world launched the Scientific Declaration on Polio Eradication today, declaring that an end to the paralyzing disease is achievable and endorsing a comprehensive new strategy to secure a lasting polio-free world by 2018.

12 Apr 2013

Newly characterized adenoviruses can cause severe human infections

The ongoing dance between a virus and its host distinctly shapes how the virus evolves. While human adenoviruses typically cause mild infections, recent reports have described newly characterized adenoviruses that can cause severe, sometime fatal, human infections.

12 Apr 2013

Rising temperature induces key changes in dengue virus

Researchers have discovered that rising temperature induces key changes in the dengue virus when it enters its human host, and the findings represent a new approach for designing vaccines against the aggressive mosquito-borne pathogen.

12 Apr 2013

New tool to identify air travelers with infectious disease developed

Researchers have developed a simple new tool to help governments worldwide decide whether to screen airplane passengers leaving or arriving from areas of infectious disease outbreaks.

11 Apr 2013

Global health efforts a casualty of across-the-board cuts under 'sequester'

"The across-the-board cuts under the 'sequester' will undermine efficient programs, along with the inefficient. One unfortunate casualty is spending on global health efforts," a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial says.

11 Apr 2013

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has published Issue 214 of its "Global Fund Observer."

11 Apr 2013

$15B commitment to Global Fund would change the course of history

On Monday "in Brussels, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced an appeal to government and private sector donors for $15 billion for the next three years," Joyce Banda, president of the Republic of Malawi, writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog.

11 Apr 2013