Disease/Infection News

RSS

International community must organize, commit financial resources to win war on polio

In this editorial in the International Herald Tribune's "Express Tribune," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon examines the global push to eradicate polio, highlighting progress in the "world's war on polio" since it was declared nearly a quarter century ago but warning that "we are in danger of falling victim to our own success," as "the world is now populated by a generation which has either never been exposed to polio or has been inadequately vaccinated."

19 May 2012

Viewpoints: VA failing to provide timely care; Roll up your sleeves to help fight AIDS; Primary care doctors' uncertain future

Those who have served know the military rules: Be on time, do it now. Once they file disability claims with the Department of Veteran Affairs, however, veterans wait, and wait longer…. Delay is not without consequences for the individual or the community…. We sent these young men and women off to battle. We owe them timely care.

19 May 2012

IAS’ XIX International AIDS Conference to take place in Washington D.C.

This summer, more than 25,000 leading scientists, public health experts, policy-makers, community members, and experts in the HIV/AIDS field from around the world will gather in our nation's capital for the International AIDS Society's XIX International AIDS Conference.

19 May 2012

Ugandan AIDS activists concerned over proposed cuts in nation's health budget

AIDS activists in Uganda are worried about a proposed reduction in the country's health budget, as Parliament begins "a months-long budgeting process for the ... next fiscal year," VOA News reports.

18 May 2012

Food safety tips while barbecuing

Barbecue season has begun and Health Canada would like to remind Canadians of steps they can take to avoid foodborne illness caused by bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter.

18 May 2012

Effectiveness of 'quorum sensing' directly depends on density of bacterial populations

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have opened the way for more accurate research into new ways to fight dangerous bacterial infections by proving a long-held theory about how bacteria communicate with each other.

18 May 2012

Potential public-private partnership aims to bring TB vaccine trials to mines of Southern Africa

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports on a potential public-private partnership that aims to bring tuberculosis (TB) vaccine trials to the gold mines of Southern Africa, where, "for every 100,000 workers ..., 3,000 have tuberculosis, and many have often-fatal, drug-resistant strains of TB."

18 May 2012

House Appropriations Committee releases draft report on FY13 State, Foreign Operations spending bill

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the FY 2013 State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill on Thursday, The Hill's "Global Affairs" blog reports.

18 May 2012

More research needed into how transgender persons in Asia, Pacific affected by HIV, stigma, report says

A report released Thursday in Bangkok by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN) says more research needs to be conducted to determine the extent to which transgender persons in Asia and the Pacific are affected by HIV, are socially ostracized, and lack fundamental rights, including access to basic health care, a UNDP press release reports.

18 May 2012

Tiny filter could fight against tuberculosis

A tiny filter could have a big impact around the world in the fight against tuberculosis. Using the traditional microscope-based diagnosis method as a starting point, a University of Florida lung disease specialist and colleagues in Brazil have devised a way to detect more cases of the bacterial infection.

18 May 2012

icddr,b, AmeriCares launch new cholera-fighting program in the Horn of Africa

AmeriCares and icddr,b have launched a new cholera-fighting program in the Horn of Africa, where recent rains have increased fears of large-scale outbreaks.

18 May 2012

FDA approves Emergent’s BioThrax sBLA to treat anthrax disease

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to change the administration schedule of BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) to a three-dose primary series of intramuscular injections at 0, 1, and 6 months.

18 May 2012

Inovio SynCon avian influenza vaccine demonstrates broad coverage

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its SynCon avian influenza vaccine generated protective HAI titers against six different unmatched strains of H5N1 in a phase I clinical trial - a distinct clinical achievement on Inovio's path to develop universal influenza vaccines.

17 May 2012

Insecticide resistance threatens malaria control efforts, WHO warns

"Malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Africa and India are becoming resistant to insecticides, putting millions of lives at greater risk and threatening eradication efforts, health experts said on Tuesday," Reuters report.

17 May 2012

U.S. support for Global Fund may be 'America's greatest global health legacy'

"This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world's most powerful tool in the fight against the three pandemics," Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images, Inc., writes in this post in the Huffington Post Blog.

17 May 2012

Treating prenatal maternal infections could improve birth outcomes, study suggests

Clinical trials are underway to test an azithromycin-based combination treatment for pregnant women, "which could tackle some of the leading preventable causes of death for babies in sub-Saharan Africa," according to researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), who published a report on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

17 May 2012

Immediate response required to curb spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria in Burma

In this Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Jay Winsten, associate dean at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Trish Stroman, a principal at the Boston Consulting Group, examine "the emergence in Southeast Asia of malarial parasites resistant to artemisinin -- the current gold-standard drug for treating the disease," writing it "poses grave new challenges."

17 May 2012

Haitian government, health workers show commitment to nationwide vaccination campaign

In this post in the Huffington Post Blog, Dagfinn Hoybraten, vice president of the Norwegian Parliament and chair of the GAVI Alliance Board, examines a nationwide vaccination campaign in Haiti, through which "health officials are targeting measles, rubella and polio and [are] also introducing pentavalent vaccine, one shot against five diseases."

17 May 2012

U.S. HIV assistance through PEPFAR prevented 740,000 deaths between 2004-2008, study shows

"The lives of more than 740,000 people in nine African countries were saved between 2004 and 2008 by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [PEPFAR]," according to a study conducted by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Wednesday, HealthDay News reports.

17 May 2012

Specific organometallic substances offer new hope for treatment against tapeworm infection

Scientists are reporting development and testing of a new series of drugs that could finally stop the fox tapeworm - which causes a rare but life-threatening disease in humans - dead in its tracks. The report, which appears in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, shows that specific organometallic substances that help combat cancer are also the surprising best new hope for a treatment against tapeworm infection.

17 May 2012

Disease/Infection News

International community must organize, commit financial resources to win war on polio

Viewpoints: VA failing to provide timely care; Roll up your sleeves to help fight AIDS; Primary care doctors' uncertain future

IAS’ XIX International AIDS Conference to take place in Washington D.C.

Ugandan AIDS activists concerned over proposed cuts in nation's health budget

Food safety tips while barbecuing

Effectiveness of 'quorum sensing' directly depends on density of bacterial populations

Potential public-private partnership aims to bring TB vaccine trials to mines of Southern Africa

House Appropriations Committee releases draft report on FY13 State, Foreign Operations spending bill

More research needed into how transgender persons in Asia, Pacific affected by HIV, stigma, report says

Tiny filter could fight against tuberculosis

icddr,b, AmeriCares launch new cholera-fighting program in the Horn of Africa

FDA approves Emergent’s BioThrax sBLA to treat anthrax disease

Inovio SynCon avian influenza vaccine demonstrates broad coverage

Insecticide resistance threatens malaria control efforts, WHO warns

U.S. support for Global Fund may be 'America's greatest global health legacy'

Treating prenatal maternal infections could improve birth outcomes, study suggests

Immediate response required to curb spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria in Burma

Haitian government, health workers show commitment to nationwide vaccination campaign

U.S. HIV assistance through PEPFAR prevented 740,000 deaths between 2004-2008, study shows

Specific organometallic substances offer new hope for treatment against tapeworm infection

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

Latest News