Disease/Infection News

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FDA continues review of Salix’s Crofelemer new drug application

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was informed today that the Food and Drug Administration is continuing its review of the new drug application seeking approval of crofelemer for the treatment of chronic diarrhea in people living with HIV/AIDS on anti-retroviral therapy.

6 Sep 2012

Developing countries NGO delegation to Global Fund submits report highlighting challenges, recommendations

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog discusses a report by the developing countries NGO delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, submitted recently to the Global Fund Secretariat.

6 Sep 2012

Alnylam announces complete results from ALN-RSV01 Phase IIb trial on RSV infection

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today complete results from its Phase IIb trial with ALN-RSV01 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in lung transplant patients.

6 Sep 2012

Janssen receives FDA Priority Review for bedaquiline NDA to treat MDR-TB

Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Janssen) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Priority Review to the New Drug Application (NDA) for bedaquiline (TMC207) to treat pulmonary, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in adults as part of combination therapy.

6 Sep 2012

People need to protect themselves against West Nile virus

As this year's threat from the West Nile virus continues, one infectious diseases expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham says a vaccine is not in our near future, so people need to protect themselves.

5 Sep 2012

U.S. outbreaks of Dengue, West Nile demonstrate need for U.S investment in neglected diseases

The "growing public health problems" of West Nile and dengue viruses in the U.S. can "serve as opportunities to pull the U.S. squarely into the global fight against these mosquito-borne viruses," a Bloomberg View editorial states.

5 Sep 2012

U.N. SG warns withdraw of aid groups from Haiti leaves country struggling with cholera epidemic

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "warned on Friday that Haiti was struggling to cope with a cholera epidemic that has killed thousands and deteriorating conditions in tent camps as aid groups withdraw from the impoverished country due to a lack of funding," Reuters reports.

5 Sep 2012

Strong antiviral antibody response observed in oral administration of Flucide

NanoViricides, Inc. announced today that anti-influenza drug candidates under its FluCide program, when given orally, led to strong antiviral antibody response. The antibody response with Oral administration was stronger than that with IV administration and was substantially greater than that observed with oseltamivir.

5 Sep 2012

S. African, S. Korean research team developing smartphone HIV testing device, application

Researchers from South Africa and South Korea are developing a smartphone-based device and application able to "photograph and analyze blood samples in areas far from laboratories to diagnose HIV and even measure the health of [patients'] immune systems," Agence France-Presse reports.

5 Sep 2012

Medivir strengthens hepatitis C platform

Medivir AB, announced today that it has acquired preclinical research stage assets from Novadex Pharmaceuticals AB. The acquisition includes intellectual property and prodrug technologies in order to further strengthen Medivir's hepatitis C platform and know how.

5 Sep 2012

IPS examines challenges to slowing spread of HIV in Eastern Europe, Central Asia

"Despite pledges from governments across Eastern Europe and Central Asia to fight HIV/AIDS -- one of the eight Millennium Development Goals -- the region has the world's fastest-growing HIV epidemic," Inter Press Service reports in an article examining challenges to stemming the spread of the disease, particularly among injection drug users.

5 Sep 2012

FDA clears Roche's automated type-specific herpes tests

Roche announced today that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its IgG Antibody to herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 assays for use on cobas modular platforms. The tests are intended for use with sexually active individuals and expectant mothers as an aid in the presumptive diagnosis of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 5 Sep 2012

Ebola outbreak ending in Uganda, continues to affect neighboring DR Congo

"While Ebola continues to kill in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an outbreak of the virus in neighboring Uganda appears to be coming to an end, the World Health Organization said Monday, reporting that no new cases of the deadly virus had been confirmed in Uganda for a month," the Los Angeles Times' "World Now" blog reports.

5 Sep 2012

Delegates to Latin America, Caribbean Forum on AIDS, STIs discuss progress, challenges

"More than 4,000 delegates -- including government officials, health experts, community leaders, scientists, indigenous populations, youth and people living with HIV -- convened from 28-31 August in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the 6th Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)," UNAIDS reports in a feature story.

5 Sep 2012

Ultrastable RNA nanoparticles may help treat cancer and viral infections

A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows promise for developing ultrastable RNA nanoparticles that may help treat cancer and viral infections by regulating cell function and binding to cancers without harming surrounding tissue.

4 Sep 2012

Study finds increase in HIV treatment use in the U.S.

Between 2000 and 2008, the proportion of HIV-infected patients in the U.S. receiving effective treatment known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) increased, and HIV-infected patients appeared to be less infectious and have healthier immune systems at death, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

4 Sep 2012

Whole-genome sequencing can track origin and movement of TB pathogens

Reconstructing the spread of killer diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) from person to person using DNA sequencing quickly identifies the origin and movement of pathogens. This approach is directly informing public health strategies to control infectious disease outbreaks, says a scientist speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of Warwick.

4 Sep 2012

Nottingham scientists develop novel antimicrobial catheter

A novel antimicrobial catheter that remains infection-free for up to twelve weeks could dramatically improve the lives of long-term catheter users. The scientists who have developed the new technology are presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of Warwick.

4 Sep 2012

High-dose vitamin D appears to help patients with TB recover more quickly

For decades before antibiotics became generally available, sunshine was used to treat tuberculosis, with patients often being sent to Swiss clinics to soak up the sun's healing rays. Now, for the first time scientists have shown how and why heliotherapy might, indeed, have made a difference.

4 Sep 2012

Scientists succeed in clarifying molecular signature of hantaviruses

Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Labor Berlin GmbH have succeeded in clarifying the molecular signature of the viruses that lead to an increasing size and number of hantavirus outbreaks in Germany.

3 Sep 2012