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UCSF teams to study new ways to reduce childhood mortality and disease in developing nations

Two UCSF teams have received a total of $16 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study new ways to significantly reduce childhood mortality and disease in developing nations.

11 Jan 2013

Kaiser Family Foundation publishes report on donor funding for health in low- & middle-income countries

The Kaiser Family Foundation on Wednesday published a new report, titled "Donor Funding for Health in Low- & Middle-Income Countries, 2002-2010," that "tracks the most recently available data on funding from donor governments, including the United States, and from multilateral institutions for health in low- and middle-income countries," according to the report summary.

11 Jan 2013

Taking early and repeated WBC is critical in determining infants at high risk of pertussis

A study released today from the upcoming issue of the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (JPIDS) found that taking early and repeated white blood cell counts (WBC) is critical in determining whether infants have pertussis and which of those children are at highest risk of death from the disease.

11 Jan 2013

Cholera could be contained in Haiti by vaccinating less than half the population

Cholera could be contained in Haiti by vaccinating less than half the population, University of Florida researchers suggest in a paper to be published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.

11 Jan 2013

Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than others

On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. The report finds that this health disadvantage exists at all ages from birth to age 75 and that even advantaged Americans -- those who have health insurance, college educations, higher incomes, and healthy behaviors -- appear to be sicker than their peers in other rich nations.

11 Jan 2013

Co-infection itself a very important risk factor among school-aged children in Tanzania

The new study analyses data from school aged children in Tanzania infected with the most common forms of worms. It was found that infection by one parasitic species actually changes the risk of catching another, over and above other risk factors.

11 Jan 2013

Pakistan re-launches polio vaccination campaign amid increased security

"Pakistan's ambassador for polio eradication, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, re-launched the anti-polio campaign in Sindh province on Tuesday," Pakistan Today reports.

11 Jan 2013

PLoS Medicine articles look at HIV care disengagement, development aid, mental health

PLoS Medicine Publications Assistant Michael Morris summarizes several articles published this week in the journal in this PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog post.

11 Jan 2013

Patients at high-risk for recurrent C. difficile with unnecessary antibiotic use

The impact of antibiotic misuse has far-reaching consequences in healthcare, including reduced efficacy of the drugs, increased prevalence of drug-resistant organisms, and increased risk of deadly infections. A new study featured in the February issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, found that many patients with Clostridium difficile infection (C. difficile) are prescribed unnecessary antibiotics, increasing their risk of recurrence of the deadly infection.

10 Jan 2013

Tips for parents to safely help relieve child's flu symptoms

Doctors' offices are teeming with patients suffering from one of the worst outbreaks of cold and flu season in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that flu is at an elevated level across the nation. Though virus symptoms vary by age, children are especially vulnerable since they are unable to take over-the-counter medications to help alleviate symptoms.

10 Jan 2013

UMDNJ develops rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum

A rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum, the fungus primarily responsible for 39 deaths among patients injected last year with a contaminated steroid medication, has been developed by a research team led by David S. Perlin, PhD, Executive Director of the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.

10 Jan 2013

Loyola uses FilmArray Respiratory Panel to screen infectious diseases

Cold, allergies, the flu or something else? Thanks to advanced technology, physicians at Loyola University Health System receive confirmation of their patient's respiratory illness within one hour. Loyola is one of only two hospitals in lllinois to use the FDA-approved FilmArray Respiratory Panel, which screens for 17 viral and 3 bacterial pathogens in about 60 minutes.

10 Jan 2013

MSF, DNDi analysis shows increased investment in NTDs but low number of new therapy approvals

"Over the past decade, neglected diseases have attracted increased attention and larger investments in research," but "a new analysis by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) finds that the rate of approvals for new compounds over the past decade is roughly the same as it was during the previous two-and-a-half decades, when the diseases received little attention," Nature Medicine reports.

10 Jan 2013

New publication focuses on microbiome research in environmental, agricultural and biomedical areas

Two prominent microbiologists have launched a new peer-reviewed publication focusing on microbiome research in environmental, agricultural, and biomedical areas. Eric Wommack, from the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment and Jacques Ravel, from the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute for Genome Sciences are the Editors-in-Chief of Microbiome, a BioMed Central (BMC) publication, which launched its first issue this week.

9 Jan 2013

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

Disease/Infection News

UCSF teams to study new ways to reduce childhood mortality and disease in developing nations

Kaiser Family Foundation publishes report on donor funding for health in low- & middle-income countries

Taking early and repeated WBC is critical in determining infants at high risk of pertussis

Cholera could be contained in Haiti by vaccinating less than half the population

Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than others

Co-infection itself a very important risk factor among school-aged children in Tanzania

Pakistan re-launches polio vaccination campaign amid increased security

PLoS Medicine articles look at HIV care disengagement, development aid, mental health

Patients at high-risk for recurrent C. difficile with unnecessary antibiotic use

Tips for parents to safely help relieve child's flu symptoms

UMDNJ develops rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum

Loyola uses FilmArray Respiratory Panel to screen infectious diseases

MSF, DNDi analysis shows increased investment in NTDs but low number of new therapy approvals

New publication focuses on microbiome research in environmental, agricultural and biomedical areas

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

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

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