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Researchers, policymakers to gather at AIDS Vaccine 2012 conference in Boston

"With a completed trial in Thailand that offered evidence a vaccine could be developed to protect people from HIV, emerging science identifying antibodies against HIV, and a current trial testing a novel vaccine combination against the virus potentially producing more information in the next year, this is an exciting time to hold a conference, organizers of AIDS Vaccine 2012 say," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

7 Sep 2012

Gates foundation blog examines challenges to global TB response

"[O]ver the past month, [tuberculosis (TB)] has captured high-profile attention from the Washington Post, the New York Times, TIME, NPR, [Agence France-Presse] and other major media, generating big headlines about the rising challenge we face in tackling one of humanity's oldest and most resilient infectious diseases," Jan Gheuens, interim director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's TB Program, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

7 Sep 2012

Reuters examines challenges to implementing 'treatment as prevention,' other HIV prevention strategies in current economic climate

In an "Insight" feature article, Reuters examines how new information on the prevention benefits of HIV treatment and other strategies, such as male circumcision, "could finally break the back of the AIDS epidemic."

7 Sep 2012

Outbreak of autoimmune disease with AIDS-like symptoms in Southeast Asia

There has been an outbreak of an adult-onset immunodeficiency syndrome in Southeast Asia. The autoimmune disease causes AIDS-like symptoms but is not associated with HIV and is not contagious.

7 Sep 2012

Children and young patients with chronic HBV infection do have a protective immune response

Scientists from A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), together with clinical collaborators from London , discovered for the first time that children and young patients with chronic Hepatitis B Virus infection (HBV carriers) do have a protective immune response, contrary to current belief, and hence can be more suitable treatment candidates than previously considered.

7 Sep 2012

Washington Post examines India's efforts against TB amid fears of drug resistance

The Washington Post examines how the "discovery of an almost untreatable form of tuberculosis [TB] in India has set off alarm bells around the world and helped spur a dramatic expansion of government efforts to battle the killer lung disease."

7 Sep 2012

History of TB policy shows need for care, investment equity in developed, developing countries

In a 200th anniversary article for the New England Journal of Medicine, Salmaan Keshavjee of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Paul Farmer of Partners in Health "seek to elucidate the reasons for the anemic response to drug-resistant tuberculosis [TB] by examining the recent history of tuberculosis policy," they write.

7 Sep 2012

University of Rhode Island engineers develop new blood-testing technology

A team of engineers and students at the University of Rhode Island has developed an advanced blood-testing technology that incorporates a smartphone application, a hand-held biosensor and a credit card-sized cartridge to provide rapid, accurate biological analysis and wireless communication of test results.

7 Sep 2012

Ugandan parliamentarians threaten to hold up national budget unless more funding committed to health care

In Uganda, where "there are fewer than two health workers for every 1,000 people -- a level the World Health Organization defines as a severe shortage" -- the nation's parliamentary "social services committee, which has initial oversight of the country's health budget, pushed a resolution through parliament last week threatening to hold up approval of the entire budget unless funding to recruit and retain new health workers is increased," VOA News reports.

7 Sep 2012

Kalidex announces presentation of data on KPI-10 against MDR strains at ICAAC

Kalidex Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held anti-infective company, today announced the presentation of data on its lead development candidate KPI-10, a broad spectrum, next-generation fluoroquinolone, at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco, September 9 through 12.

7 Sep 2012

Durata completes target enrollment in dalbavancin Phase 3 trials for abSSSI

Durata Therapeutics today announced that it has completed its target enrollment for DISCOVER 1 ("Dalbavancin for Infections of the Skin COmpared to Vancomycin at an Early Response"), one of two ongoing, global, Phase 3 clinical trials of Durata's lead product candidate, dalbavancin, under investigation for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (abSSSI).

7 Sep 2012

Heavy rainfall worsening cholera outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea

"Heavy rainfall is accelerating the spread of cholera in Sierra Leone and Guinea, where existing health risks such as poor hygiene practices, unsafe water sources and improper waste management are believed to have triggered the disease which has killed 327 people and infected more than 17,400 in both countries since February," IRIN reports.

6 Sep 2012

Telaprevir offers advantages in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection of genotype 1

The drug telaprevir has been available for treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection of genotype 1 since autumn 2011. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether telaprevir offers an added benefit compared with the present standard therapy.

6 Sep 2012

New cell screening method can identify potential anti-influenza drugs

Medical Systems Virology group at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki, together with its national and international collaborators, developed a new cell screening method that can be used to identify potential anti-influenza drugs.

6 Sep 2012

Cholera vaccine offers herd immunity, study from Zanzibar shows

"Cholera vaccine gives indirect protection to unvaccinated people in communities where a substantial fraction of the population gets the vaccine," according to a study from the island of Zanzibar in East Africa, published in the Lancet on Tuesday, NPR's "Shots" blog reports.

6 Sep 2012

Blog examines results of independent AMFm evaluation draft report

"In mid-July, ... the near-final draft of the independent evaluation of the Affordable Medicines Facility -- Malaria (AMFm) was released," Victoria Fan, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Heather Lanthorn, a doctoral candidate at Harvard School of Public Health, write in this post in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog.

6 Sep 2012

WHO releases dengue strategy report, sets goal of cutting related deaths in half by 2020

"Saying dengue virus infections and deaths have mushroomed in recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a strategy report that sets a goal of cutting deaths in half and reducing cases by 25 percent over the next eight years," CIDRAP reports.

6 Sep 2012

Community-based approach to improving sanitation, hygiene practices in Vietnam, Cambodia

In this post in the ONE Blog, John Anner, president of the East Meets West Foundation, discusses how the foundation is helping to improve sanitation and hygiene practices among poor populations.

6 Sep 2012

PlusNews examines recently approved grants under Global Fund's Transitional Funding Mechanism

PlusNews examines the recently approved grants under the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's Transitional Funding Mechanism (TFM), stating, "Last week, the Fund announced that 45 new grant applications, from countries such as Burundi, Malawi and Swaziland, have been approved under the TFM."

6 Sep 2012

Pakistan official says progress made in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in tribal area

"Pakistan Tuesday claimed progress in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan which had been inaccessible due to unrest for about three years," Agence France-Presse reports.

6 Sep 2012

Disease/Infection News

Researchers, policymakers to gather at AIDS Vaccine 2012 conference in Boston

Gates foundation blog examines challenges to global TB response

Reuters examines challenges to implementing 'treatment as prevention,' other HIV prevention strategies in current economic climate

Outbreak of autoimmune disease with AIDS-like symptoms in Southeast Asia

Children and young patients with chronic HBV infection do have a protective immune response

Washington Post examines India's efforts against TB amid fears of drug resistance

History of TB policy shows need for care, investment equity in developed, developing countries

University of Rhode Island engineers develop new blood-testing technology

Ugandan parliamentarians threaten to hold up national budget unless more funding committed to health care

Kalidex announces presentation of data on KPI-10 against MDR strains at ICAAC

Durata completes target enrollment in dalbavancin Phase 3 trials for abSSSI

Heavy rainfall worsening cholera outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea

Telaprevir offers advantages in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection of genotype 1

New cell screening method can identify potential anti-influenza drugs

Cholera vaccine offers herd immunity, study from Zanzibar shows

Blog examines results of independent AMFm evaluation draft report

WHO releases dengue strategy report, sets goal of cutting related deaths in half by 2020

Community-based approach to improving sanitation, hygiene practices in Vietnam, Cambodia

PlusNews examines recently approved grants under Global Fund's Transitional Funding Mechanism

Pakistan official says progress made in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in tribal area

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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