Disease/Infection News

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Floods, Cholera in Niger have claimed 162 lives since July, OCHA reports

"Floods in Niger have killed 81 people since July, the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] announced Thursday, adding cholera outbreaks have killed a further 81 people," Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Sep 2012

Drinking water fails to meet state quality standards at North Carolina migrant farmworker camps

The drinking water at one-third of migrant farmworker camps in eastern North Carolina failed to meet state quality standards, according to a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

15 Sep 2012

Gates Foundation blog examines efforts to stop mother-to-child syphilis transmission

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Gary Darmstadt, head of the Family Health Division of the foundation, Wendy Prosser, a research analyst with the Family Health Division, and Damian Walker, a senior program officer at the foundation, examine efforts to stop the transmission of syphilis from mother to child during labor and delivery.

15 Sep 2012

Some Guinean residents seek cholera vaccine; Outbreak in Sierra Leone winding down

With nearly 6,000 reported cholera cases, including more than 100 deaths, Guinea is facing the worst cholera outbreak since 2007, and "some residents of the capital Conakry are clamoring to be vaccinated," IRIN reports.

15 Sep 2012

Ebola outbreak in DRC responsible for as many as 31 deaths, according to revised count

"An outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever has claimed possibly as many as 31 lives in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo since May, Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi said Thursday," Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Sep 2012

Global Fund board members discuss new funding allocation model amid some concerns from TB advocates

The board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria began a two-day meeting in Geneva on Thursday, "with one topic high on the agenda: a new funding model," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports.

15 Sep 2012

Study assesses hand contamination of healthcare workers after disinfection procedures

New research demonstrates that daily cleaning of high-touch surfaces in isolation rooms of patients with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) significantly reduces the rate of the pathogens on the hands of healthcare personnel.

15 Sep 2012

Study estimates drug concentrations of Truvada and tenofovir to reduce risk of HIV among MSM

Several large clinical trials have demonstrated that a daily oral dose of one or two antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection can prevent infection in an approach known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

15 Sep 2012

Wits’ Health Sciences Research Day and Postgraduate Expo to take place on Sep. 19

The 2012 Health Sciences Research Day and Postgraduate Expo takes place on Wednesday, 19 September 2012 under the theme: Excellence. Relevance. Determination. Transforming Life through Research Excellence.

14 Sep 2012

Global child mortality rates fall 41% since 1990, U.N. reports

"Child mortality worldwide has fallen 41 percent since 1990, the result of myriad improvements in nutrition, access to vaccines and antibiotics, cleaner deliveries, better care of infants immediately after birth, and the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets," according to "the findings of a report released Wednesday by three United Nations agencies and the World Bank," the Washington Post reports.

14 Sep 2012

Clinical trial results signal 'promise, unresolved challenges' in finding effective dengue vaccine

The first-ever results from a dengue virus vaccine clinical trial aimed at showing effectiveness "provide signals rather than definitive answers, and a mixture of both promise and unresolved challenges," Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center, and Ciro de Quadros, executive vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, write in the Huffington Post "Impact" blog.

14 Sep 2012

Uganda releases strategy to reduce HIV infections; Activists question country's ability to meet goals

"In response to rising HIV prevalence, Uganda's government has announced a strategy to reduce new HIV infections by up to 30 percent by 2015, but activists have cast doubt on its ability to achieve this ambitious goal," PlusNews reports.

14 Sep 2012

Humanitarian situation better, still tenuous, in Zimbabwe as E.U. scales down assistance, IRIN reports

Though the number of people in Zimbabwe in need of food aid has dropped from seven million in 2002-2003 to one million currently, the number could still rise by 600,000 in 2013, IRIN reports in an analysis of the humanitarian and political situation in the country.

14 Sep 2012

IU chemists develop fully synthetic artemisinin to help reduce cost of live-saving drugs

In 2010 malaria caused an estimated 665,000 deaths, mostly among African children. Now, chemists at Indiana University have developed a new synthesis for the world's most useful antimalarial drug, artemisinin, giving hope that fully synthetic artemisinin might help reduce the cost of the live-saving drug in the future.

14 Sep 2012

Study: 172K polymorphism makes certain forms of HIV less resistant to drugs

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can contain dozens of different mutations, called polymorphisms. In a recent study an international team of researchers, including MU scientists, found that one of those mutations, called 172K, made certain forms of the virus more susceptible to treatment. Soon, doctors will be able to use this knowledge to improve the drug regiment they prescribe to HIV-infected individuals.

14 Sep 2012

Examining effects of reduced AIDS funding for Ethiopia

Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Kate McQueston, a program coordinator at CGD, write in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog that a reduction in AIDS funding to Ethiopia from PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria "might be warranted due to epidemiological trends and improved efficiency, or might cripple progress as health programs dependent on external donors are cut back."

13 Sep 2012

Old anti-inflammatory drug possible candidate to treat TB

After testing about 5,600 existing medications for their effectiveness against drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB), researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that oxyphenbutazone, "an anti-inflammatory medication marketed in the 1950s as Tandearil and still used in veterinary medicine," killed both latent and active TB bacteria in test-tube experiments, the Los Angeles Times' "Booster Shots" blog reports.

13 Sep 2012

Incidence of Acute gastrointestinal illness is likely to rise in coming years

The distribution system piping in U.S. public water systems that rely on non-disinfected well water or "ground water" may be a largely unrecognized cause of up to 1.1 million annual cases of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI), involving nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, scientists are reporting. Their study in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology concludes that such illnesses may become more of a problem as much of the nation's drinking water supply system continues to age and deteriorate.

13 Sep 2012

Pam2Cys nasal spray may be useful agent against pandemics and emerging viral strains

In an advance toward development of a nasal spray that protects against infection with influenza and spread of the disease, scientists are reporting identification of a substance that activates the first-line defense system against infection inside the nose. They describe effects of a synthetic form of a natural substance found in bacterial cell walls in ACS' journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

13 Sep 2012

WHO says Nigeria not on track to turn back polio despite having tools, capacity

"The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said Nigeria was not on track in the effort to eradicate wild polio virus before the end of December this year," Leadership/AllAfrica.com reports.

13 Sep 2012

Disease/Infection News

Floods, Cholera in Niger have claimed 162 lives since July, OCHA reports

Drinking water fails to meet state quality standards at North Carolina migrant farmworker camps

Gates Foundation blog examines efforts to stop mother-to-child syphilis transmission

Some Guinean residents seek cholera vaccine; Outbreak in Sierra Leone winding down

Ebola outbreak in DRC responsible for as many as 31 deaths, according to revised count

Global Fund board members discuss new funding allocation model amid some concerns from TB advocates

Study assesses hand contamination of healthcare workers after disinfection procedures

Study estimates drug concentrations of Truvada and tenofovir to reduce risk of HIV among MSM

Wits’ Health Sciences Research Day and Postgraduate Expo to take place on Sep. 19

Global child mortality rates fall 41% since 1990, U.N. reports

Clinical trial results signal 'promise, unresolved challenges' in finding effective dengue vaccine

Uganda releases strategy to reduce HIV infections; Activists question country's ability to meet goals

Humanitarian situation better, still tenuous, in Zimbabwe as E.U. scales down assistance, IRIN reports

IU chemists develop fully synthetic artemisinin to help reduce cost of live-saving drugs

Study: 172K polymorphism makes certain forms of HIV less resistant to drugs

Examining effects of reduced AIDS funding for Ethiopia

Old anti-inflammatory drug possible candidate to treat TB

Incidence of Acute gastrointestinal illness is likely to rise in coming years

Pam2Cys nasal spray may be useful agent against pandemics and emerging viral strains

WHO says Nigeria not on track to turn back polio despite having tools, capacity

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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