Disease/Infection News

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Glycan released by parasites might help treat metabolic disorders associated with obesity

On the list of undesirable medical conditions, a parasitic worm infection surely ranks fairly high. Although modern pharmaceuticals have made them less of a threat in some areas, these organisms are still a major cause of disease and disability throughout much of the developing world.

9 Jan 2013

U.S. must take steps to rebuild trust broken by CIA's fake vaccination campaign in Pakistan

"The news that the Central Intelligence Agency had been running a fake vaccination program in Pakistan first surfaced in 2011 and quickly ignited fears that the covert operation could compromise the global campaign to eradicate polio," Lynn Goldman, dean of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and Michael Klag, dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, write in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece, noting a number of polio workers have been killed in the country over the last month.

9 Jan 2013

Post-disaster disease myth diverted attention from cholera outbreak following Haiti earthquake

"Few post-disaster myths have a stronger hold on our imaginations than the specter of a follow-on epidemic ... But we can all take a deep, healthy breath: It's not true," Jonathan Katz, a journalist stationed in Haiti, writes in a PopSci opinion piece.

9 Jan 2013

Flusurvey: an interview with Dr Alma Adler

Flusurvey is an online system of tracking influenza across the UK. We are linked to other flu surveys across Europe, so there are about 12 flu surveys across Europe in total.

9 Jan 2013

Public health school deans condemn CIA's use of fake vaccination campaign in letter to Obama

"The deans of the nation's top public health schools sent a letter to President Obama on Monday condemning the Central Intelligence Agency's use of a vaccination campaign ruse in the hunt for Osama bin Laden," the New York Times reports.

9 Jan 2013

Uganda government continuing focus on HIV prevention, treatment, amid calls from groups to do more

"Uganda continues to fall short of achieving its goal of ensuring that 80 percent of people living with HIV receive antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) by 2015, according to the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC)," PlusNews reports.

9 Jan 2013

EC approves Pfizer’s Prevenar 13 to prevent pneumococcal disease

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the European Commission has approved expanding the use of the company's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Prevenar 13(pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, adsorbed]), to older children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years for active immunization for the prevention of invasive disease, pneumonia and acute otitis media caused by vaccine-type Streptococcus pneumoniae.

9 Jan 2013

NEJM examines global disease eradication efforts

"Since the last case of naturally occurring smallpox, in 1977, there have been three major international conferences devoted to the concept of disease eradication," an article in the New England Journal of Medicine reports and includes "a brief review of five diseases selected for eradication or elimination that illustrate the potential benefits of such efforts and some of the challenges they pose."

9 Jan 2013

Links between rodents' environment, climate and leptospirosis infection

Leptospirosis is a water-related bacterial disease with a high incidence in Southeast Asia. People usually become infected through exposure to water contaminated by the urine of infected animals, mainly rats and mice. In the framework of the CERoPath program, IRD researchers and their partners have revealed the relationship between rodents' environment and infection by leptospirosis bacteria.

9 Jan 2013

Mass. governor proposes new compounding pharmacy oversights

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is proposing the state exercise stricter control over compounding pharmacies by -- in part -- establishing new licensing requirements for the labs and letting the state assess fines against them if they break rules.

9 Jan 2013

Up to 1M people need food aid in Philippines areas hit by typhoon

"A month after Typhoon Bopha hit the southern Philippines, up to one million people need food assistance and thousands of others could be displaced for a second time, the United Nations says," AlertNet reports.

9 Jan 2013

New compound restores health of mice with MRSA infection

Researchers have discovered a new compound that restores the health of mice infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an otherwise dangerous bacterial infection. The new compound targets an enzyme not found in human cells but which is essential to bacterial survival.

8 Jan 2013

SNSF-funded professor to receive 2012 National Latsis Prize

On 10 January 2013, Jacques Fellay will receive the National Latsis Prize 2012 at the Rathaus in Berne. The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is awarding the Prize to the SNSF-funded professor at EPF Lausanne in recognition of his work on the human genome and its defence mechanisms against viral diseases such as AIDS.

8 Jan 2013

Adolescents may lose hepatitis B virus protection despite vaccination as infants

New research reveals that a significant number of adolescents lose their protection from hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, despite having received a complete vaccination series as infants. Results in the January 2013 issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, suggest teens with high-risk mothers (those positive for HBeAg) and teens whose immune system fails to remember a previous viral exposure (immunological memory) are behind HBV reinfection.

8 Jan 2013

Support innovative financing mechanisms for global health

"Millions of lives are saved today in developing countries because of bold, innovative financing arrangements over last 10 years.

8 Jan 2013

Protection of health workers necessary to eradicate polio

"The murders of charity and aid workers in Pakistan has dealt a devastating blow to a national campaign to wipe out polio and other deadly diseases," a New York Times editorial states.

8 Jan 2013

Al Jazeera examines HIV in Russia

Al Jazeera continues its coverage of HIV in Russia, where "[t]he latest official figures show that about 200 new cases are being recorded every single day."

8 Jan 2013

Experts at December WHO meeting agree upon sleeping sickness elimination plan

Experts at a December 2012 WHO meeting agreed on a plan to eliminate sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis), the Lancet reports.

7 Jan 2013

New research shows rise in number of HIV infections in Russia, Al Jazeera reports

"New research has revealed an alarming spike in the number of HIV infections in Russia, with 200 people being diagnosed with the condition every day," Al Jazeera reports.

7 Jan 2013

Yearlong moratorium on H5N1 research soon lifted, new rules implemented, Science reports

"U.S. government officials say they expect to put the finishing touches this month on new rules designed to help funding agencies identify and regulate especially problematic H5N1 studies before they begin," which would allow influenza researchers "to lift a year-old, self-imposed moratorium on certain kinds of potentially dangerous experiments," Science reports.

7 Jan 2013

Disease/Infection News

Glycan released by parasites might help treat metabolic disorders associated with obesity

U.S. must take steps to rebuild trust broken by CIA's fake vaccination campaign in Pakistan

Post-disaster disease myth diverted attention from cholera outbreak following Haiti earthquake

Flusurvey: an interview with Dr Alma Adler

Public health school deans condemn CIA's use of fake vaccination campaign in letter to Obama

Uganda government continuing focus on HIV prevention, treatment, amid calls from groups to do more

EC approves Pfizer’s Prevenar 13 to prevent pneumococcal disease

NEJM examines global disease eradication efforts

Links between rodents' environment, climate and leptospirosis infection

Mass. governor proposes new compounding pharmacy oversights

Up to 1M people need food aid in Philippines areas hit by typhoon

New compound restores health of mice with MRSA infection

SNSF-funded professor to receive 2012 National Latsis Prize

Adolescents may lose hepatitis B virus protection despite vaccination as infants

Support innovative financing mechanisms for global health

Protection of health workers necessary to eradicate polio

Al Jazeera examines HIV in Russia

Experts at December WHO meeting agree upon sleeping sickness elimination plan

New research shows rise in number of HIV infections in Russia, Al Jazeera reports

Yearlong moratorium on H5N1 research soon lifted, new rules implemented, Science reports

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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