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DNDi receives 2013 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge and Culture Award

Today in Madrid, Spain, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) received the BBVA Foundation 'Frontiers of Knowledge and Culture Award for Development Cooperation'. This EUR 400,000 award will be presented at a ceremony in Madrid, Spain, in June of this year.

27 Feb 2013

Princeton metabolic model can predict how parasites would fare in altered climates

Knowing the temperatures that viruses, bacteria, worms and all other parasites need to grow and survive could help determine the future range of infectious diseases under climate change, according to new research.

27 Feb 2013

Nigeria launches 'NTD Master Plan'

Last week, "Nigeria launched a multi-year national plan for the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTD Master Plan)," which "provides a platform for Nigeria to stimulate global efforts to reach elimination and control of diseases under the London Declaration and Millennium Development Goal 6," Mawish Raza, communications intern for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), writes in the group's "End The Neglect" blog.

26 Feb 2013

U.N. must do more to fight cholera in Haiti

Noting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week cited diplomatic immunity in "reject[ing] a legal claim for compensation filed in 2011 on behalf of cholera victims in Haiti," Louise Ivers, a senior health and policy adviser at Partners In Health, writes in a New York Times opinion piece, "Regardless of the merits of this argument, the United Nations has a moral, if not legal, obligation to help solve a crisis it inadvertently helped start."

26 Feb 2013

Polio eradication strategy must be adjusted for local contexts

"It has been a particularly busy couple of months for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)," SciDev.Net Director Nick Ishmael Perkins writes in a SciDev.Net editorial. "The deadly attacks on vaccinators in Pakistan brought renewed global attention to the campaign, and then Bill Gates went public with his personal commitment to end polio," he states, adding, "The GPEI has responded with a strategy for what it calls the 'endgame.'"

26 Feb 2013

Finding solutions to global health problems might mean creating more risk

"Scientists are aware that their interventions in the natural world will have unintended effects, and in order to behave ethically, these potential risks must be considered," Maggie Koerth-Baker, science editor at BoingBoing.net, writes in a New York Times opinion piece, adding, "Even something as innocuous as a mosquito net may carry a considerable downside."

26 Feb 2013

New UM technology could provide five-minute diagnostic test and vaccine for Staph infections

New technology from the University of Maryland (UM) could potentially provide a five-minute diagnostic test and a vaccine for tough-to-treat Staphylococcus aureus infections, including the antibiotic-resistant MRSA, often called a "super bug," says inventor Mark Shirtliff, PhD, an associate professor at the UM School of Dentistry in Baltimore.

26 Feb 2013

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Tuesday published Issue 210 of its "Global Fund Observer."

26 Feb 2013

Xellia to develop new antibiotics effective against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria

Xellia Pharmaceuticals, a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the global anti-infective market, announced today that it is developing new antibiotics effective against multi-drug resistant (MDR), Gram-negative bacteria.

26 Feb 2013

Families of Haitian cholera victims react to U.N. decision to deny compensation for deaths

"The United Nations has come under heavy political fire for its decision to deny compensation for thousands of victims of cholera in Haiti -- a deadly disease spread by U.N. peacekeepers in the troubled Caribbean nation," Inter Press Service reports.

26 Feb 2013

Experts analyse biological function of Shewanella-like protein phosphatase

Experts have disabled a unique member of the signalling proteins which are essential for the development of the malaria parasite. They have produced a mutant lackingthe ancient bacterial Shewanella-like protein phosphatase known as SHLP1 (pronounced shelph). This mutant is unable to complete its complex life cycle and is arrested in its development in the mosquito.

26 Feb 2013

Thermo Fisher Scientific launches Brilliance GBS Agar

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced the launch of Brilliance GBS Agar for the testing of Group B streptococci (GBS) during pregnancy.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 26 Feb 2013

Insight into cellular operations that give extraordinary staying power to S. mansoni

From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades.

26 Feb 2013

Comprehensive portfolio of antiretroviral products from Mylan

Mylan Inc., one of the world's leading generic and specialty pharmaceutical companies, today announced that its subsidiary in South Africa, Mylan (Proprietary) Limited, has launched a comprehensive portfolio of antiretroviral (ARV) products.

25 Feb 2013

Okairos to commence novel RSV vaccine Phase I clinical trial

Okairos today announced the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial evaluating a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a leading cause of hospital admissions in infants and children.

25 Feb 2013

HIV epidemics and extra-couple relationships: an interview with Steve Bellan, University of Texas

The epicentre of the HIV pandemic is in sub-Saharan Africa, though prevalence of infection varies dramatically between countries for reasons not completely understood.

25 Feb 2013

Study identifies changes that could explain stability of malaria elimination

Many nations battling malaria face an economic dilemma: spend money indefinitely to control malaria transmission or commit additional resources to eliminate transmission completely. A review of malaria elimination conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and other institutions suggests stopping malaria transmission completely has longlasting benefits for many countries and that once eliminated, the disease is unlikely to reemerge over time.

24 Feb 2013

Death toll from SARS-like virus rises to 7

"Another person suffering from a SARS-like virus has died in Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organization said Thursday, bringing the worldwide number of fatalities from the mystery illness to seven," Agence France-Presse reports.

24 Feb 2013

World closer than ever to ending pediatric AIDS

Writing in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog, Chip Lyons, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, highlights the foundation's "first annual 'Global Champions for a Mother's Fight' gala, an opportunity to honor some of our heroes in the battle against pediatric HIV/AIDS and discuss global change, innovation, and advocacy."

24 Feb 2013

Researchers identify new function for matriptase enzyme

Dr. Martin Richter (pharmacology), investigator with the Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel (CRCELB) at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) and professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS), and his collaborators have identified a new function of the enzyme matriptase, present in the human respiratory system, that can activate a viral protein involved in infections caused by the H1N1 influenza (or flu) virus.

24 Feb 2013