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Global Fund Board approves 45 new two-year grants as part of Transitional Funding Mechanism

"The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved 45 new two-year grants, from 37 countries, totaling $419.2 million, to fund essential prevention, treatment, and care services provided to the people affected by the three diseases," according to a Global Fund press release.

30 Aug 2012

Sri Lanka succeeds in reducing malaria cases by 99.9% since 1999

Despite nearly three decades of conflict, Sri Lanka has succeeded in reducing malaria cases by 99.9 percent since 1999 and is on track to eliminate the disease entirely by 2014.

30 Aug 2012

Climate change associated with increased risk of avian flu transmission in wild birds

Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, more intense rainstorms and more frequent heat waves are among the planetary woes that may come to mind when climate change is mentioned. Now, two University of Michigan researchers say an increased risk of avian influenza transmission in wild birds can be added to the list.

30 Aug 2012

Flu virus can be passed on before appearance of symptoms

Research at Imperial College London examining influenza transmission in ferrets suggests that the virus can be passed on before the appearance of symptoms. If the finding applies to humans, it means that people pass on flu to others before they know they're infected, making it very difficult to contain epidemics.

30 Aug 2012

Israel's Ministry of Health approves Medgenics’ INFRADURE Phase I/II clinical trials for hepatitis C

Medgenics, Inc., the developer of Biopump, a novel technology for the sustained production and delivery of therapeutic proteins in patients using their own tissue, today announced that Israel's Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved two Phase I/II clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of INFRADURE in patients with hepatitis C.

30 Aug 2012

Antibiotic residues in meat can allow pathogenic bacteria to proliferate

Antibiotic residues in uncured pepperoni or salami meat are potent enough to weaken helpful bacteria that processors add to acidify the sausage to make it safe for consumption, according to a study to be published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on August 28.

29 Aug 2012

Bill Gates reflects on Angola's success against polio

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, reflects on Angola's success against polio, writing, "Angola marked a full year without a new case of polio" this month, an accomplishment that serves as "the latest evidence that we are extremely close to ending polio forever."

29 Aug 2012

Washington Post examines Guinea worm eradication efforts

The Washington Post examines global efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease, writing, "The parasitic infection which has sickened millions, mostly in Asia and Africa, is on the verge of being done in not by sophisticated medicine but by aggressive public health efforts in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world."

29 Aug 2012

Johns Hopkins' Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality receives Moore Foundation grant

Johns Hopkins' Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality has received an $8.9 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the first award given as part of an ambitious new $500 million, 10-year program designed to eliminate all preventable harms that patients experience in the hospital.

29 Aug 2012

Global Fund, Nigeria sign agreements worth $225M to prevent, treat malaria

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Nigeria on Friday "signed two grant agreements ... worth a total of $225 million to support programs that will prevent and treat malaria," a Global Fund press release reports.

29 Aug 2012

Fear of stigma prevents pregnant women from seeking prenatal care, studies show

Though many pregnant women are aware that treatment could save their lives and the lives of their infants if they test HIV-positive during prenatal care, a new study and literature review have found that a "fear of being stigmatized as an AIDS patient is still a major barrier to good medical care for pregnant young women in many countries," the New York Times reports.

29 Aug 2012

Top 10 reasons to avoid flu shots this year

It's the gift that keeps on giving, from early fall, through the holiday season and into late spring. It's seasonal flu, caused by a virus that can fly through the air, hitch a ride on a handshake, hug or kiss, and is extremely good at infecting people and making them sick.

29 Aug 2012

Trudeau Institute study holds promise for improved prevention and treatment of bacterial infections

New research from the laboratory of Dr. Andrea Cooper at the Trudeau Institute, just published in the European Journal of Immunology, holds promise for the improved prevention and treatment of bacterial infections and the life-threatening complications of chronic inflammation that can result from them.

29 Aug 2012

Ethiopian government working to improve access to clean toilets, safe water for people living with HIV

PlusNews examines how a lack of access to clean toilets, safe drinking water, and "information on the prevention of common opportunistic infections means many Ethiopians living with HIV continue to contract easily preventable diseases."

29 Aug 2012

TaiMed, WuXi enter ibalizumab manufacturing agreement

WuXi PharmaTech today announced that it has a contract manufacturing agreement with TaiMed Biologics Inc. for the manufacture of ibalizumab (TMB-355) in support of Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials globally.

29 Aug 2012

NYU-Poly creates ultra-sensitive biosensor to identify small single virus particles

Researchers at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) have created an ultra-sensitive biosensor capable of identifying the smallest single virus particles in solution, an advance that may revolutionize early disease detection in a point-of-care setting and shrink test result wait times from weeks to minutes.

29 Aug 2012

MMV390048 shows potent activity against multiple points in malaria parasite's lifecycle

A recently discovered compound from the aminopyridine class not only has the potential to become part of a single-dose cure for all strains of malaria, but might also be able to block transmission of the parasite from person to person, according to a research collaboration involving the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), based in Switzerland, and the Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3-D) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

29 Aug 2012

NUI Galway project hopes to deliver cost effective tool for rapid diagnosis of pneumonia

Researchers at NUI Galway are involved in a new European project which hopes to deliver a cost effective tool for the speedy diagnosis of infections such as pneumonia. The test would reduce diagnosis time from days to hours, so that the appropriate treatments can be administered as early as possible for the best possible outcome.

29 Aug 2012

Small, ingestible sensor can track patient medication intake, activity levels; Technology to be tested for TB treatment

The FDA last month approved for use a small ingestible sensor that, when embedded into a pill, can help "keep track of whether a patient is taking their medicine on time," Reuters reports.

29 Aug 2012

Merit Medical Systems, Catheter Connections enter DualCap distribution agreement

Catheter Connections, Inc., a leading developer of disposable devices for preventing blood stream infections caused by vascular access devices, today announced that it entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Merit Medical Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer and marketer of proprietary disposable devices used primarily in cardiology and radiology.

29 Aug 2012

Disease/Infection News

Global Fund Board approves 45 new two-year grants as part of Transitional Funding Mechanism

Sri Lanka succeeds in reducing malaria cases by 99.9% since 1999

Climate change associated with increased risk of avian flu transmission in wild birds

Flu virus can be passed on before appearance of symptoms

Israel's Ministry of Health approves Medgenics’ INFRADURE Phase I/II clinical trials for hepatitis C

Antibiotic residues in meat can allow pathogenic bacteria to proliferate

Bill Gates reflects on Angola's success against polio

Washington Post examines Guinea worm eradication efforts

Johns Hopkins' Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality receives Moore Foundation grant

Global Fund, Nigeria sign agreements worth $225M to prevent, treat malaria

Fear of stigma prevents pregnant women from seeking prenatal care, studies show

Top 10 reasons to avoid flu shots this year

Trudeau Institute study holds promise for improved prevention and treatment of bacterial infections

Ethiopian government working to improve access to clean toilets, safe water for people living with HIV

TaiMed, WuXi enter ibalizumab manufacturing agreement

NYU-Poly creates ultra-sensitive biosensor to identify small single virus particles

MMV390048 shows potent activity against multiple points in malaria parasite's lifecycle

NUI Galway project hopes to deliver cost effective tool for rapid diagnosis of pneumonia

Small, ingestible sensor can track patient medication intake, activity levels; Technology to be tested for TB treatment

Merit Medical Systems, Catheter Connections enter DualCap distribution agreement

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

Shaping the future of lab automation through AI and robotics

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