Disease/Infection News

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Tips for safe displays of affection during Valentine's Day

Say "I love you" with flowers, chocolates or a greeting card, but be careful when you kiss this Valentine's Day.

13 Feb 2013

Researchers describe novel antiviral property of cholesterol-25-hydroxylase

A team of UCLA-led researchers has identified a protein with broad virus-fighting properties that potentially could be used as a weapon against deadly human pathogenic viruses such as HIV, Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, Nipah and others designated "priority pathogens" for national biosecurity purposes by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

13 Feb 2013

Disease eradication efforts set sights on polio, Guinea worm

"It's not a race, exactly, but there's an intriguing uncertainty about whether a former U.S. president or a software magnate will cause the next deliberate extinction of a species in the wild. Will Jimmy Carter eradicate Guinea worm before Bill Gates eradicates polio?" Wall Street Journal commentator Matt Ridley asks in his "Mind & Matter" column.

13 Feb 2013

Chagas disease costs $7B annually worldwide, according to study

Chagas disease, transmitted by a bloodsucking insect that bites the face and lips, "costs the world about $7 billion annually, says an analysis just published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases," NPR's "Shots" blog reports.

12 Feb 2013

Boston College biologist receives $2.7M NIH grant to continue HIV and AIDS research

Boston College biologist Ken Williams, whose research focuses on the role of immunological cells in a range of illnesses that strike people living with HIV and AIDS, has been awarded a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

12 Feb 2013

Moving beyond condemnation to actions that protect health workers

"Between December and January, at least 16 polio workers were killed in Pakistan, according to Reuters -- and on Friday, nine female health workers were slain in northern Nigeria, also while working on a polio eradication campaign," Laura Hoemeke, director of communications and knowledge management at IntraHealth, writes in the organization's "Global Health Blog."

12 Feb 2013

DNAzymes and gold nanoparticles used to detect infectious diseases

Infectious diseases such as malaria and syphilis can be diagnosed rapidly and reliably in the field by using a simple test developed by Canadian scientists. The test is based on the use of DNAzymes and gold nanoparticles. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, their test allows for the sensitive detection of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

12 Feb 2013

LASAG trial for severe influenza initiated

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12 Feb 2013

Cholera cases confirmed in northern Mozambique after heavy rains, flooding

"In the last 10 days, 22 cases of the waterborne disease cholera have been confirmed by laboratory testing in three areas in and around the northern Mozambique town of Pemba, in Cabo Delgado Province," IRIN reports.

12 Feb 2013

Examining efforts to integrate cervical cancer screening, treatment into HIV services in Zambia

In the Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) "Smart Global Health" blog, Janet Fleischman and Julia Nagel of CSIS discuss "the opportunities and challenges of integrating cervical cancer screening and treatment into HIV services for women," with a focus on the efforts of Zambia.

12 Feb 2013

Three North Korean doctors killed in Nigeria; Government, U.N. agencies condemn murders of polio workers

"Three North Korean doctors have been killed in a pre-dawn attack in Nigeria's northeastern town of Potiskum, police say," but "[t]he motive of Sunday's attack was not immediately clear," Al Jazeera reports.

12 Feb 2013

U.S. hospitals continue to make progress in reducing health care-associated infections

Hospitals in the U.S. continue to make progress in the fight against central line-associated bloodstream infections and some surgical site infections, according to a report issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Catheter-associated urinary tract infections remained unchanged between 2010 and 2011.

12 Feb 2013

Pmt transport system helps develop new type of drug against S. aureus infection

National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have identified a promising lead for developing a new type of drug to treat infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that frequently resists traditional antibiotics.

11 Feb 2013

Nine polio workers killed in northern Nigeria

"Nine female polio vaccinators have been killed in two shootings at health centers in northern Nigeria, police have told the BBC," the news agency reports. "In the first attack in Kano the polio vaccinators were shot dead by gunmen who drove up on a motor tricycle," and "[t]hirty minutes later gunmen targeted a clinic outside Kano city as the vaccinators prepared to start work," BBC News writes.

11 Feb 2013

FDA hears concerns on new narcotic pain pill rules

Survivors of those who died from opioid overdoses urge changes in the drugs' labels, but some patients express concerns that they might have trouble getting the drugs.

11 Feb 2013

Wichita State associate professor writes two books about flu

The flu: It's a popular topic of conversation lately, as most people probably know someone who has gotten sick this winter. But for Wichita State associate professor George Dehner, the flu is a year-round focus. Dehner, who teaches world and environmental history, recently wrote two books about the flu.

11 Feb 2013

Study into spread of sexually transmitted infection in ladybirds

A study at the University of Liverpool into the spread of sexually transmitted infection in ladybirds has shown that disease risk to large populations cannot be predicted without a full understanding of the disease dynamics at small geographical scale.

10 Feb 2013

India holds national summit on child survival, development

"[M]ore than 200 delegates ranging from policymakers and representatives of development agencies to global health practitioners and civil society members" are gathering in India this week for a national summit on the "Call to Action for Child Survival and Development," IIP Digital reports.

10 Feb 2013

Fighting NTDs has greater effect of empowering women

"As Melinda Gates captured through her blog piece by envisioning the conversation of women's role in the year 2030, I would also like to offer my voice in the spirit of conversation," Mawish Raza, a communications intern with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), writes in the network's "End the Neglect" blog, adding, "My hope is that by 2030, women are not only given the advantage to circumvent neglected and un-neglected diseases, but that they are able to make better use of their restored health to drive their communities out of poverty and forward into progress."

10 Feb 2013

WHO-sponsored meeting discusses post-2015 goals for tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) experts gathered in Geneva on Wednesday for a WHO-sponsored two-day meeting "to discuss a consensus on the appropriate post-2015 tuberculosis goals," Nature reports.

10 Feb 2013