Disease/Infection News

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Global AIDS response will miss 2015 targets, ONE report suggests

"The world has lost momentum in the fight against the AIDS epidemic, with millions of new people infected last year, the ONE foundation said in a report," titled "The Beginning of the End? Tracking Global Commitments on AIDS" and released on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

29 Nov 2012

SLU study to use various assays for new TB vaccine development

A pilot study at Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development could shape the future of tuberculosis vaccine research by developing tests to identify the most promising vaccine candidates to address this global health crisis.

29 Nov 2012

International Men's Day opportunity to recognize volunteers for VMMC

Emmanuel Njeuhmeli, senior biomedical prevention adviser in the USAID Office of HIV/AIDS, writes in the agency's "IMPACTblog" that the first International Men's Day on November 19 was an opportunity to "recognize and celebrate the hundreds of thousands of men in East and Southern Africa who are stepping up for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) to protect their own health and that of their families."

29 Nov 2012

Myanmar can build more stable future by investing in vaccines, immunization

"For the first time, with support from the GAVI Alliance, a pentavalent vaccine was introduced in Myanmar this week that will defend children against five potentially fatal diseases," Dagfinn Hoybraten, vice president of the Norwegian Parliament and chair of the GAVI Alliance Board, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, adding, "Over the next six months, more than half a million children in the country will be protected from diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B (hepB), and Haemophilus influenzae type b.

29 Nov 2012

HIV treatment cascade important tool for reaching AIDS-free generation goal

In the Huffington Post's "Healthy Living" blog, Ward Cates, president emeritus of FHI 360, examines the HIV treatment cascade, which he says "is crucial both to assuring the individual's health and to achieving the public health goal of an AIDS-free generation."

29 Nov 2012

Nude activists enter House Speaker's office to protest potential AIDS spending cuts

"At least seven nude protesters stormed House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) office in the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday, according to reports from Sahil Kapur of Talking Points Memo and others who were there," the Huffington Post reports.

29 Nov 2012

UNAIDS, Stop TB Partnership sign memo to work together to halve TB deaths by 2015

UNAIDS and the Stop TB Partnership on Tuesday launched an "initiative aimed at reducing HIV deaths caused by tuberculosis (TB) by half" by 2015, the U.N. News Centre reports.

29 Nov 2012

Study: Tdap vaccination safe for seniors

A new study of the safety of the tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine supports the recommendation that those 65 and older get the vaccine to protect themselves and others, particularly young babies, from pertussis.

29 Nov 2012

AVAC report calls for greater access to combination prevention strategies, protection of research funding

AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention on Tuesday "released its annual report that calls for an ambitious pace of funding, implementation, and research," VOA News reports, noting the report, titled "Achieving the End: One Year and Counting," "calls for a three-part agenda for ending AIDS: Deliver, Demonstrate, and Develop."

29 Nov 2012

Pharma companies improving access to medicines but lack oversight of outsourced clinical trials, analysis says

Pharmaceutical companies are showing "greater accountability in the boardroom today over access to medicines, with more openness, targets and investment in drugs relevant to the poor," but they "show no evidence that they adequately supervise the conduct of outsourced clinical drug trials, according to a new analysis released on Wednesday," the Financial Times reports.

29 Nov 2012

Nearly 63,000 people visit online catch-up immunization scheduling tool

Children obtain protection against certain diseases by receiving vaccinations, but they commonly miss recommended times to receive these immunizations. Once a child falls behind, health care professionals typically have to construct a unique, personalized catch-up schedule for each child - often while the child waits in the treatment room.

29 Nov 2012

Report finds decline in overall number and rate of healthcare-associated infections in Pennsylvania

The overall number and rate of healthcare-associated infections obtained while receiving medical care decreased more than 3 percent, according to an annual report released today by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

29 Nov 2012

WellStar Health System implements Xenex’s room disinfection system

WellStar Health System was the first to implement and is the only health system in metro-Atlanta using Xenex Healthcare Services' room disinfection system in its patient and operating rooms. A "green," mercury-free technology, the Xenex system is the fastest, safest and most effective method for the advanced cleaning of hospital rooms, scientifically proven to destroy all major classes of microorganisms that cause hospital acquired infections (HAIs), such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff).

29 Nov 2012

China's SFDA approves QIAGEN careHPV Test and instrument platform

QIAGEN N.V. today announced that China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has approved QIAGEN's careHPV Test and instrument platform.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 29 Nov 2012

Social media can reduce and prevent infectious diseases from spreading

When it comes to stopping illness, social media posts and tweets may be just what the doctor ordered. A Kansas State University-led research team is looking at social media as a tool to reduce and prevent diseases from spreading. Researchers are studying whether a well-timed post from a public authority or trustworthy person could be as beneficial as flu shots, hand-washing or sneezing into an elbow.

28 Nov 2012

Diptheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine: an interview with Dr. Rudi Eggers, World Health Organisation

The Diptheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine is sometimes also called the “triple vaccine” and has been around for about 50 years, and it protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. These are serious diseases caused by bacteria.

28 Nov 2012

Parainfluenza virus 5 may serve as foundation for next breakthrough in human vaccine development

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that a virus commonly found in dogs may serve as the foundation for the next great breakthrough in human vaccine development.

28 Nov 2012

HHS, PEPFAR work toward AIDS-free generation

"As World AIDS Day 2012 approaches, it is a timely opportunity to reflect on what we learned at this year's International AIDS Conference" and recognize "the United States, through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has been a remarkable vehicle in this fight, employing sound science to offer the highest quality interventions and treatment," Nils Daulaire, director of the Office of Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), writes in the AIDS.gov blog.

28 Nov 2012

The Neuro clinician-scientists to further research on HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's

Clinician-scientists take a unique, integrated approach that is essential to advancing science and medicine. Problems encountered in the clinic inspire research and new findings from the labs are directly applied to patients' needs.

28 Nov 2012

Global Fund's new funding model 'designed to be flexible, focused, fast'

In the Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) "Smart Global Health" blog, Todd Summers, senior adviser at the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, reviews the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's old rounds-based grant system that the Global Fund Board recently agreed to replace with a new funding model "that's designed to be flexible, focused, and fast," he says.

28 Nov 2012