Disease/Infection News

RSS

Study finds important links between Pf malaria and endemic Burkitt Lymphoma

New research, presented this morning at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), has identified important associations between Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria and endemic Burkitt Lymphoma (eBL) that may help researchers identify young children who are more susceptible to eBL.

12 Dec 2012

New collaborative model for drug discovery can ensure antibiotics are not lost to resistance

Noting "multidrug-resistant organisms are showing up in top-flight hospitals" around the world, Carl Nathan, chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, writes in this New York Times opinion piece, "What makes the rapid loss of antibiotics to drug resistance particularly alarming is that we are failing to make new ones."

12 Dec 2012

Researchers decipher mechanism by which anophelin binds to thrombin

An international project lead by the Molecular and Cell Biology Institute of Porto University with the participation of researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) has, for the first time ever, deciphered the mechanism by which a substance called anophelin binds to an enzyme (thrombin) involved in the process of blood coagulation.

12 Dec 2012

Drugs for Neglected Diseases receives UNITAID grant for paediatric HIV programme

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative welcomes the announcement by UNITAID to grant up to USD 17.3 million to the organization for its paediatric HIV programme.

12 Dec 2012

U.N. officials call on Security Council, international community to tackle complex crisis in Sahel

"Top United Nations officials on Monday called on the Security Council and the wider international community to support efforts to develop an integrated strategy to tackle the complex and multifaceted crisis facing the Sahel region of West Africa," the U.N. News Centre reports.

12 Dec 2012

Researchers shed new light on how salmonella bacteria cause infections

Researchers have found that the bacteria are able to change key cells that line the intestine, enabling the bugs to thrive.

12 Dec 2012

Clinical trial to examine AstraZeneca experimental drug against pulmonary tuberculosis

A clinical trial will examine an investigational drug's early bacteria-killing activity in patients newly diagnosed with drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis.

12 Dec 2012

Bacteriophages may play an important role in competition among bacterial strains

Unique viruses called bacteriophages may play an important role in competition among bacterial strains, influencing the overall ecosystem of the human intestine, scientists at The University of Texas at Arlington and UT Southwestern Medical Center say.

11 Dec 2012

Top-line results from Durata Therapeutics’ dalbavancin Phase 3 study on ABSSSI

Durata Therapeutics, Inc. today announced preliminary, top-line results for its DISCOVER 1 ("Dalbavancin for Infections of the Skin COmpared to Vancomycin at an Early Response") Phase 3 study of dalbavancin, which is under investigation for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) caused by susceptible gram-positive bacteria, including MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

11 Dec 2012

Roundup: NH hospital at center of hepatitis outbreak details fixes; Report finds racial gap in Colo. dental coverage; Health cuts part of Conn. budget plan

Though Exeter Hospital has fixed problems discovered after a hepatitis C outbreak last spring, federal officials say the hospital initially failed to conduct an adequate investigation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said last week it no longer plans to terminate the hospital's Medicare funding now that multiple issues raised by inspectors have been addressed.

11 Dec 2012

New coronavirus can infect cells from humans and bats alike

The SARS epidemic of 2002-2003 was short-lived, but a novel type of human coronavirus that is alarming public health authorities can infect cells from humans and bats alike, a fact that could make the animals a continuing source of infection, according to a study to be published in in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on December 11.

11 Dec 2012

Janssen announces U.S. prescribing information update for EDURANT tablets

Janssen Therapeutics, Division of Janssen Products, LP, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a prescribing information update for EDURANT (rilpivirine) tablets to include 96-week pooled data from the Phase 3 ECHO and THRIVE studies, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of EDURANT for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in antiretroviral treatment-naive adults.

11 Dec 2012

Recognizing reproductive rights as human rights

Noting the recognition of International Human Rights Day on December 9, Purnima Mane, president and CEO of Pathfinder International, writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, "Every person should be able to make decisions about her or his body," making reproductive rights a human rights issue.

11 Dec 2012

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Friday published Issue 205 of its "Global Fund Observer."

11 Dec 2012

GlobalPost series examines HIV/AIDS in European, MENA regions

As part of its ongoing series, titled "The State of AIDS," GlobalPost published two articles examining the epidemic in different regions. In Eastern Europe, rates of HIV/AIDS diagnoses have risen in several countries, including Ukraine and Russia, according to the first article, which discusses some of the potential reasons for the increases.

11 Dec 2012

GAVI Alliance to support 30M HPV vaccinations among girls by 2020

"In an effort to fight the human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer, more than 30 million girls will be immunized against HPV by 2020 with GAVI support, the global health alliance announced on Thursday," Xinhua/Global Times reports.

11 Dec 2012

PEPFAR blueprint relies on science to inform policies, SciDev.Net reports

"Science is at the center of efforts to design and implement more effective preventative and care programs for HIV/AIDS set out in a blueprint published by a U.S. government initiative that fights the disease," SciDev.Net reports, referencing the PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation that was released November 29.

11 Dec 2012

Governments, donors should follow PMI model of testing drugs for quality

"[W]e are losing the global fight against bad medicines," and though "[s]ome progress is being made," the "problem is that ... crackdowns tend to focus on counterfeit drugs" while a "much bigger public health problem ... is substandard drugs that are the result of shoddy manufacturing and handling -- or perhaps worse, deliberate corner-cutting," Roger Bate, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, writes in an opinion piece in The Hill's "Congress Blog."

11 Dec 2012

Africa needs additional $3.6B to fight malaria, RBM partnership board says

"There is currently a $3.6 billion funding gap on malaria in Africa, according to the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, whose board concluded its 23rd meeting in Dakar, Senegal, on December 7," Devex's "Development Newswire" blog reports.

11 Dec 2012

Orientation of antibody binding to bacteria can mean life or death to the bug

The orientation of antibody binding to bacteria can mean life or death to the bug, according to a study published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine on December 10th. These findings may help explain why these bacteria cause millions of localized infections, but more serious, systemic blood infections are rare.

11 Dec 2012