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Experts to meet in Cape Town to discuss development of vaccines for deadly airborne disease

At a time of growing global concern about the rising level of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis in South Africa and worldwide, the world's top TB vaccine experts are meeting this week, the first time this scientific forum has been held in Africa, where they will present new research aimed at advancing development of vaccines against the deadly airborne disease.

26 Mar 2013

Researchers test protease inhibitors with potential for prevention, treatment of norovirus infection

A Kansas State University-led team is researching ways to stop the spread of norovirus, a contagious stomach illness that infects one in 15 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

25 Mar 2013

Newly discovered molecule could form the basis of anti-malaria drugs

An international study, involving researchers from Griffith University's Eskitis Institute, has discovered a molecule which could form the basis of powerful new anti-malaria drugs.

25 Mar 2013

Anti-inflammatory drug naproxen may exhibit antiviral activity against influenza A virus

The over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug naproxen may also exhibit antiviral activity against influenza A virus, according to a team of French scientists. The finding, the result of a structure-based investigation, is published online ahead of print in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

25 Mar 2013

To stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV, focus on safe breastfeeding strategies

"There is great hope that we can finally stop infants from getting infected with HIV by their mothers. But first, countries with high rates of HIV infection must work out how to deliver reliable health programs to protect babies form their mothers' infected breastmilk," Pierre Barker, senior vice president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

25 Mar 2013

Certain strains of lactobacillus bacteria can dampen production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1

Certain Streptococci increase their production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1, sometimes to potentially dangerous levels, when aerobic bacteria are present in the vagina. But scientists from the University of Western Ontario have discovered certain strains of lactobacillus bacteria are capable of dampening production of that toxin according to research published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

25 Mar 2013

International community observes World Water Day

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson on Thursday "launched a call for urgent action to end the crisis of 2.5 billion people without basic sanitation, and to change a situation in which more people worldwide have mobile phones than toilets," the U.N. News Centre reports (3/21).

25 Mar 2013

Financial Times special report focuses on tuberculosis

The Financial Times has published a special report, titled "Combating Tuberculosis 2013," as World TB Day on March 24 approaches.

25 Mar 2013

APIC issues new edition of Guide to Preventing Clostridium difficile Infections

In an effort to stop the transmission of Clostridium difficile infections, which claim the lives of at least 14,000 Americans annually, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has issued an updated Implementation Guide to help clinicians protect patients.

25 Mar 2013

Study shows certain T cells are stimulated to provide protective antibody responses with flu vaccines

Collaborating scientists from Nationwide Children's Hospital, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified an important mechanism for stimulating protective immune responses following seasonal influenza vaccinations.

25 Mar 2013

Scientists identify a new way to develop potential drugs for TB

Scientists have developed a way to pinpoint promising drugs to fight tuberculosis (TB) and other diseases without setting foot in the laboratory.

24 Mar 2013

Blog examines TB control efforts in India

In a guest post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog, part of the blog's coverage leading up to World Tuberculosis Day, Madhukar Pai, an associate professor of epidemiology at McGill University, Montreal, and an associate director of the McGill International TB Centre, "looks at the need for an evolving approach to tuberculosis."

24 Mar 2013

Scientists develop novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks

A team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks several weeks before they occur.

24 Mar 2013

Organizations highlight World TB Day

World TB Day is commemorated each year on March 24, recognizing the discovery of the tuberculosis bacilli by Robert Koch in 1882.

22 Mar 2013

Swaziland, South Africa announce initiative to improve diagnosis, treatment of TB/HIV co-infection

"Health ministers from Swaziland and South Africa have agreed to radically change the diagnosis and treatment of the co-epidemic of [tuberculosis (TB)]/HIV in their countries," VOA News reports.

22 Mar 2013

New testing technologies can help fight TB, but new treatments needed

"[F]or many low-income populations, [tuberculosis (TB)] is nothing less than a modern-day public health emergency," and "[t]o make things worse, many of these patients [a]re living with HIV," U.N. Under-Secretary General and UNITAID Chair Philippe Douste-Blazy writes in a Huffington Post "Impact" blog opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013

Male circumcision a 'staggeringly under-utilized tool'

"PrePex, the new nonsurgical circumcision tool experts believe could revolutionize the prevention of HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, is easier to assemble than a toy you might find in a Happy Meal," freelance journalist Patrick Adams writes in the New York Times' "Opinionator" blog.

22 Mar 2013

Global health community calls for more effective, accessible TB treatment in MSF statement

"Patients, doctors and international aid groups are calling on donors and governments to support measures that would make treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis more effective and accessible," Inter Press Service reports, noting, "The demands are being made amidst the recent or imminent approval of two new drugs" that some advocates say "present an historic opportunity to tackle the notoriously difficult-to-treat disease."

22 Mar 2013

Effectiveness of candidate malaria vaccine decreases over time, study shows

"The effectiveness of an experimental malaria vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline wanes over time, with the shot protecting only 16.8 percent of children over four years, according to trial data," Reuters reports.

22 Mar 2013

Blog describes efforts to fight NTDs in Brazil

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End The Neglect" blog reports on the Brazilian Ministry of Health's launch of "a public health campaign to diagnose and treat soil-transmitted helminths (or intestinal parasites) and leprosy in school-aged children" and says it will feature stories related to the fight against NTDs in Brazil over the coming days.

22 Mar 2013

Disease/Infection News

Experts to meet in Cape Town to discuss development of vaccines for deadly airborne disease

Researchers test protease inhibitors with potential for prevention, treatment of norovirus infection

Newly discovered molecule could form the basis of anti-malaria drugs

Anti-inflammatory drug naproxen may exhibit antiviral activity against influenza A virus

To stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV, focus on safe breastfeeding strategies

Certain strains of lactobacillus bacteria can dampen production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1

International community observes World Water Day

Financial Times special report focuses on tuberculosis

APIC issues new edition of Guide to Preventing Clostridium difficile Infections

Study shows certain T cells are stimulated to provide protective antibody responses with flu vaccines

Scientists identify a new way to develop potential drugs for TB

Blog examines TB control efforts in India

Scientists develop novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks

Organizations highlight World TB Day

Swaziland, South Africa announce initiative to improve diagnosis, treatment of TB/HIV co-infection

New testing technologies can help fight TB, but new treatments needed

Male circumcision a 'staggeringly under-utilized tool'

Global health community calls for more effective, accessible TB treatment in MSF statement

Effectiveness of candidate malaria vaccine decreases over time, study shows

Blog describes efforts to fight NTDs in Brazil

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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