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South African government should take responsibility for HIV/AIDS treatment

Noting the many successes of PEPFAR, Stuart Rennie, co-principal investigator of NIH/Fogarty bioethics grants for the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, writes in his "Global Bioethics Blog," "HIV requires lifelong treatment, and it is not healthy to have your existence depend on the decisions of a foreign government, especially an economically sputtering and lurching superpower."

6 Feb 2013

CIHR-funded researchers raise awareness of sexual health

Being comfortable in our sexuality and making choices that support our sexual health are essential to our overall well-being. Promoting sexual health includes both preventing disease and helping people find pleasure in their sexual lives.

6 Feb 2013

Researchers, organizations urge Secretary of State Kerry to support AIDS funding

"Saying they are 'gravely concerned about reports that the Obama Administration's FY 2014 budget requests for PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria fail to provide adequate resources,' researchers and physicians from programs, centers and institutions leading the international AIDS response sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry Friday, urging him to speak up for funding that will back policy and pursue the goal of an AIDS-free generation," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

6 Feb 2013

CDC, State Department, World Bank should lead fight against fake, substandard TB drugs

"Thanks to billions of dollars spent on diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) over the past decade, deaths and infections are slowly declining," but "fake and poorly made antibiotics are being widely used to treat tuberculosis," according to a study "to be published Tuesday in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease," Roger Bate, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and an author of the study, writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

6 Feb 2013

Three NIH-sponsored influenza trials begin to enroll volunteers

Three clinical trials that seek to find more effective treatments for influenza are enrolling volunteers with influenza at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., and at several dozen other domestic and international sites.

6 Feb 2013

U.S. should issue formal ban on using vaccination campaigns as cover for intelligence operations

In an opinion piece in Bloomberg Businessweek's "Small World" blog, Charles Kenny, a fellow at the Center for Global Development and the New America Foundation, examines the effects of "a fake polio vaccination drive organized by the CIA in an effort to collect DNA from [Osama] bin Laden's family" on polio immunization efforts in Pakistan.

5 Feb 2013

Viral conjunctivitis: potential new treatment

Viral conjunctivitis is a highly contagious infection, often causing major ophthalmic epidemics. There is no approved acute treatment currently approved by the FDA for viral conjunctivitis. A safe broad-spectrum antiviral agent is needed to treat this unmet medical need.

5 Feb 2013

UCSD receives $3.4M NIMH grant to study successful aging in HIV-infected adults

The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded a $3.4 million grant to a team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine to study successful aging in HIV-infected adults. HIV is a serious, chronic, medical disease that affects the lives of more than one million Americans.

5 Feb 2013

Will Secretary Kerry influence the White House AIDS budget?

As John Kerry begins his role as Secretary of State, "some very important decisions will be being made, including the budget for the coming year for key development programs. Will Secretary Kerry fix the administration's AIDS budget problem?" AIDS and human rights activist Matthew Kavanagh writes in the Huffington Post "Politics" blog.

5 Feb 2013

GAVI Alliance to fund HPV immunization projects in 8 countries

The GAVI Alliance "is to help protect more than 180,000 girls in eight countries across Africa and Asia from cervical cancer by funding immunization projects with vaccines from Merck and GlaxoSmithKline," Reuters reports in an article examining the group's efforts to vaccinate young women with Merck's Gardasil and GSK's Cervarix, "the world's only two approved shots designed to protect against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes the vast majority of cervical cancer cases."

5 Feb 2013

Loyola Flu Central now available on LUHS web site

Loyola Flu Central, a weekly snapshot of flu activity locally, regionally and nationally is now available on the Loyola University Health System web site, through Twitter and on Facebook.

5 Feb 2013

India's success in fighting polio shows what country is capable of with proper funding, accountability

"India's successful war on polio shows what can happen when its government sets clear policy goals backed with proper funding and real accountability," journalist and author Dan Morrison writes in an opinion piece in the New York Times' "Latitude" blog.

5 Feb 2013

Combined strategy needed to combat TB in Nunavut

A combined strategy is needed to combat tuberculosis in Nunavut where the rate is 66 times higher than in the general Canadian population, states a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

5 Feb 2013

Topline results from Gilead’s FISSION and NEUTRINO Phase 3 studies on HCV infection

Gilead Sciences today announced topline results from two Phase 3 studies, FISSION and NEUTRINO, evaluating a 12-week course of the once-daily nucleotide sofosbuvir in combination with ribavirin (FISSION) and in combination with ribavirin and pegylated interferon (NEUTRINO) among treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

5 Feb 2013

Chem-Aqua, Nephros partner to distribute new ultrafilters in North America

Nephros, Inc. and Chem-Aqua, Inc., a wholly owned water treatment subsidiary of NCH Corporation, announced today that the companies have signed a non-exclusive distributor agreement for Chem-Aqua to distribute Nephros's innovative ultrafilters in North America.

4 Feb 2013

Researchers discover gene that causes MRSA infection to linger on skin longer than other strains

In the last decade, a new strain of MRSA has emerged that can spread beyond hospital walls, putting everyone at risk of contracting the dangerous bacterial infection. This particular strain of MRSA - known as USA300 - contains a chunk of genes not shared by any other strains, though it is unclear how this unique genetic material enables the bacteria to survive and persist in the community.

4 Feb 2013

Measles: an interview with Dr. Robert Perry, World Health Organization

Measles is a disease marked by fever, rash, and cold symptoms (red eyes, cough, runny nose) that results in a temporary suppression of the immune system and a drop in vitamin A levels.

4 Feb 2013

Scientists track evolution of antibiotic resistance using automated device

With the discovery of antibiotics, medicine acquired power on a scale never before possible to protect health, save lives, and reduce suffering caused by certain bacteria. But the power of antibiotics is now under siege because some virulent infections no longer respond to antibiotic drugs.

4 Feb 2013

Sneezing and wheezing are common among people living close to the equator

Those living near the equator may find themselves sneezing and wheezing more than usual. And the reason may not be due to increasing pollen counts.

4 Feb 2013

Certified IPs more likely to perceive evidence behind infection prevention practices

There is general agreement among hospital infection preventionists (IPs) with respect to which practices have weak or strong evidence supporting their use to prevent healthcare-associated infection, according to a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

4 Feb 2013