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Viewpoints: Liberals refuse to acknowledge evidence of Oregon Medicaid study; Politics is roiling science in emergency contraception decisions

A familiar critique of liberal governance is that the results always matter less than its grand social ambitions. The latest evidence of this truth comes in the reaction to disappointing new findings from one of the most important public-policy experiments since the 1970s. A team of varsity health economists, mostly at Harvard and MIT, is studying the relationship between health outcomes and health insurance delivered by Medicaid (5/2).

4 May 2013

FDA approves sNDA for SUSTIVA for treatment of HIV-1 infected pediatric patients

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a supplemental new drug application for SUSTIVA (efavirenz), including dosing recommendations for HIV-1 infected pediatric patients three months to three years old and weighing at least 3.5 kg.

4 May 2013

Researchers study how malaria mosquitoes find their host

Malaria mosquitoes go to work cautiously before landing on human skin and biting. Just before a mosquito lands, it reacts to both odours and heat given off by the human body.

4 May 2013

Study identifies the vector that transmitted malaria from apes to humans

In 2010, a study revealed that the main agent of malaria in humans, called Plasmodium falciparum, arose from the gorilla. Today, the vector which transmitted the parasite from apes to humans has just been identified.

3 May 2013

Public-private partnerships can help advance global health goals

"Three people die every minute from tuberculosis -- a treatable and largely preventable disease. Resistant forms continue to thrive, and increased travel makes the global threat very real. We face a public health emergency," Vince Forlenza, chair, CEO, and president of the medical technology firm Becton, Dickinson and Company, writes in the Harvard Business Review Blog Network.

3 May 2013

Scientists warn of H7N9 risks as number of cases, deaths continue to rise

"A new strain of bird flu that is causing a deadly outbreak among people in China is a threat to world health and should be taken seriously, scientists said on Wednesday," Reuters reports (Kelland, 5/1).

3 May 2013

PEPFAR committed to programs aimed at children to reach AIDS-free generation

Citing data on how HIV/AIDS has affected children worldwide, whether directly or through the death of one or both parents, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby, who also heads the State Department's Office of Global Health Diplomacy, writes in the agency's "DipNote" blog that children are vulnerable "to the social, emotional, economic, and environmental effects that HIV and AIDS has on families, communities, and countries."

3 May 2013

Scientists generate map of H7N9 risk

A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. The map is comprised of bird migration patterns, and adding in estimations of poultry production and consumption, which are used to infer future risk and to advise on ways to prevent infection.

3 May 2013

Five more die of SARS-like disease in Saudi Arabia

"Saudi Arabia said five more people have died of a deadly new virus from the same family as SARS, and two other people were in intensive care," Reuters reports.

3 May 2013

New approach could democratize viral surveillance, says UCSF scientist

The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to new research led by scientists at UC San Francisco.

3 May 2013

Researchers reveal how Ebola evades human immune response

Researchers have discovered the mechanism behind one of the Ebola virus' most dangerous attributes: its ability to disarm the adaptive immune system.

3 May 2013

Research: Protein complex in human breast milk can help reverse antibiotic resistance

A protein complex found in human breast milk can help reverse the antibiotic resistance of bacterial species that cause dangerous pneumonia and staph infections, according to new University at Buffalo research.

3 May 2013

Synthetic anti-inflammatory substances related to marijuana may help fight HIV infection

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is notorious for hiding within certain types of cells, where it reproduces at a slowed rate and eventually gives rise to chronic inflammation, despite drug therapy.

2 May 2013

Fluoride in drinking water and oral-care products prevents tooth decay, shows research

In an advance toward solving a 50-year-old mystery, scientists are reporting new evidence on how the fluoride in drinking water, toothpastes, mouth rinses and other oral-care products prevents tooth decay.

2 May 2013

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Goosby to visit India this week

Ambassador Eric Goosby, head of the U.S. State Department's Office of Global Health Diplomacy and the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, "is travelling to India this week to recognize the successful health partnership between the two countries, an official statement said," the Press Trust of India/Business Standard reports.

2 May 2013

PEPFAR reauthorization 'rests with Congress,' OGAC official says

Speaking at a briefing on Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., Deputy Global AIDS Coordinator Julia Martin said "[t]he decision about whether to reauthorize [PEPFAR] 'rests with Congress. ... Whether we move in that direction is yet to be fully determined but PEPFAR will continue at the will of Congress,'" CQ HealthBeat reports.

2 May 2013

Grand Challenges Canada funds innovative ideas to solve global health problems

"Grand Challenges Canada just announced grants of $100,000 for 102 imaginative new ideas to tackle health problems in resource-poor countries," Inter Press Service reports, noting, "Of these, 59 grants went to researchers in 13 low- and middle-income nations worldwide."

2 May 2013

Editorial, opinion piece address emergence of H7N9 bird flu strain in China

The following is a summary of an editorial and an opinion piece addressing the emergence of a new strain of bird flu -- H7N9 -- in China.

2 May 2013

Viewpoints: Outrage at mistaken report on Hill health coverage; Two views of Florida's option on Medicaid

Because members of Congress are accustomed to high-quality medical care provided to them through federal employee benefit programs, one might expect that they would push for top quality care to be delivered through the exchanges too.

2 May 2013

New screening guidelines: An important shift in HIV testing

Beth Meyerson, health policy expert at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, said the new screening guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force represent an important shift in HIV testing and will result in more HIV screenings because they will now be reimbursable. But the availability of the tests remains a big unknown.

2 May 2013