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Microbiologists discover how the spread of antibiotic resistance works in pneumococcus

Antibiotic resistance results from bacteria's uncanny ability to morph and adapt, outwitting pharmaceuticals that are supposed to kill them. But exactly how the bacteria acquire and spread that resistance inside individuals carrying them is not well-established for most bacterial organisms.

22 Nov 2012

AMFm should continue, improvements should be explored

The "grand experiment" of the Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm) -- a pilot program that aims to get artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) into rural areas of several African nations -- "seems likely to end, its successes underrated and potential improvements not yet explored," a Nature editorial says.

22 Nov 2012

Meningitis outbreak could prompt call for executive jail time

A tough prosecutor and high public scrutiny could mean jail time for executives of the New England Compounding Center -- the pharmacy at the center of the deadly meningitis outbreak. In the meantime, the pharmacy's lawyers counter that the executives had no direct hand in the illnesses.

22 Nov 2012

UNAIDS report indicates end to AIDS possible but challenges remain

UNAIDS' World AIDS Day report: Results, released on Tuesday, said the goal of eventually ending the global AIDS epidemic "is more than merely visionary" and "is entirely feasible," primarily because of "historic success" in scaling up HIV programs and improving access to antiretroviral drugs to treat and prevent HIV, Reuters reports.

22 Nov 2012

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi accepts role as UNAIDS ambassador

"Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has accepted a new role with UNAIDS to advance efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination against those affected by the epidemic," the U.N. News Centre reports.

22 Nov 2012

AVAC, amfAR release first progress report on Action Agenda to End AIDS

AVAC and amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, on Tuesday released the first in a series of quarterly reports following up on the release of the Action Agenda to End AIDS, which was launched in July at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), according to a joint press release.

22 Nov 2012

Incoming Global Fund head Mark Dybul says organization has 'strong forward trajectory'

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Board recently made several decisions that will affect the future of the organization, including appointing former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Mark Dybul as executive director and adopting a new funding model, Nature reports in an article examining the history and future of the Fund.

22 Nov 2012

Dropping of cold chain requirement for meningitis vaccine will improve access, IRIN reports

IRIN examines how the WHO's recent declaration that the MenAfriVac meningitis A vaccine can be transported or stored for up to four days without refrigeration will affect immunization campaigns in Africa's meningitis belt, which runs from Senegal to Ethiopia.

22 Nov 2012

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researcher wins 2012 Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation

Professor Terry Speed, a senior researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, was today awarded a 2012 Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation.

22 Nov 2012

Genetic study: Novel coronavirus most closely related to viruses in bats

The virus that is causing alarm among global public health authorities after it killed a man in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia earlier this year and is now linked to two other cases of disease is a novel type of coronavirus most closely related to viruses found in bats, according to a genetic analysis to be published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on November 20.

22 Nov 2012

French oil company funding rotavirus research in Congo

"Medical researchers in the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) have been empowered to set their own research priorities through a funding mechanism backed by a French oil company, according to scientists speaking at the second European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), in South Africa this month," SciDev.Net reports.

21 Nov 2012

Global health programs need to address community needs

A "key problem" in reaching the goal of polio elimination "may well be that organizers of the global anti-polio initiative, and of other global health programs, are not listening to the people they want to help -- or to each other," Thomas Abraham, an associate professor in the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong, writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

21 Nov 2012

Questions continue over state, FDA oversight of specialty pharmacies

Several news outlets analyze the hearings last week into the meningitis outbreak resulting from a New England compounding pharmacy.

21 Nov 2012

Panel backs routine HIV screenings for teens, adults

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advises that nearly everyone ages 15 to 64 should be screened for the HIV virus, a recommendation which, if adopted, would require Medicare and most private health insurers to pay for the tests.

21 Nov 2012

Sudan launches yellow fever vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4M

"Sudan has launched a massive vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4 million people against an outbreak of yellow fever in the restive region of Darfur, the U.N. said Monday," according to the Associated Press.

21 Nov 2012

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Monday published Issue 202 of its "Global Fund Observer."

21 Nov 2012

UNAIDS report shows progress due to 'unprecedented acceleration' in global AIDS response

UNAIDS' new World AIDS Day report: Results, released on Tuesday, "shows that unprecedented acceleration in the AIDS response is producing results for people," according to a UNAIDS press release.

21 Nov 2012

In order to end AIDS, reduce stigma of marginalized groups and accelerate HIV cure research

"'Getting to Zero' has been the slogan for World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) since 2011 and will remain so through until 2015, coinciding with the Millennium Development Goal target of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS," Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, director of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and Adeeba Kamarulzaman, director of the Center of Excellence for Research in AIDS and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, write in a New York Times opinion piece.

21 Nov 2012

Case Western Reserve dental and nursing students to treat patients in new 3-year test project

Patients in dental chairs at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine will see something new: a nurse.

21 Nov 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Flucelvax to prevent seasonal influenza

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today the approval of Flucelvax, the first seasonal influenza vaccine licensed in the United States produced using cultured animal cells, instead of fertilized chicken eggs. Flucelvax is approved to prevent seasonal influenza in people ages 18 years and older.

21 Nov 2012

Disease/Infection News

Microbiologists discover how the spread of antibiotic resistance works in pneumococcus

AMFm should continue, improvements should be explored

Meningitis outbreak could prompt call for executive jail time

UNAIDS report indicates end to AIDS possible but challenges remain

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi accepts role as UNAIDS ambassador

AVAC, amfAR release first progress report on Action Agenda to End AIDS

Incoming Global Fund head Mark Dybul says organization has 'strong forward trajectory'

Dropping of cold chain requirement for meningitis vaccine will improve access, IRIN reports

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researcher wins 2012 Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation

Genetic study: Novel coronavirus most closely related to viruses in bats

French oil company funding rotavirus research in Congo

Global health programs need to address community needs

Questions continue over state, FDA oversight of specialty pharmacies

Panel backs routine HIV screenings for teens, adults

Sudan launches yellow fever vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4M

Aidspan publishes new issue of 'Global Fund Observer'

UNAIDS report shows progress due to 'unprecedented acceleration' in global AIDS response

In order to end AIDS, reduce stigma of marginalized groups and accelerate HIV cure research

Case Western Reserve dental and nursing students to treat patients in new 3-year test project

Novartis receives FDA approval for Flucelvax to prevent seasonal influenza

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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