Disease/Infection News

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New HIV test helps researchers determine incidence, whether prevention strategies work

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a new HIV test, called the Limiting Antigen Avidity Enzyme Immunoassay, that can tell whether a person contracted the virus within the last 141 days, "hugely important information for researchers, who need to know whether fewer people are becoming newly infected with HIV to determine whether a prevention program is working," the Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" reports.

9 Aug 2012

President's Malaria Initiative contributing to 'major progress' against disease, should be expanded

In this post in The Hill's "Congress Blog," Kent Campbell, director of the Malaria Control Program at PATH, and Jonathon Simon, chair of the Department of International Health and director of the Center for Global Health and Development at the Boston University School of Public Health, write that "major progress has been made in the fight against malaria, thanks in large part to the efforts of the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)," and call the effort "a shining example of the profound impact the U.S. is making in global health."

9 Aug 2012

New method gives precise picture of how immune system works

Chronic infections are a large and growing problem throughout the developed world, and intensive research is being conducted in ways to combat the recalcitrant bacteria. When bacteria aggregate into so-called biofilm, they become resistant to antibiotics. Until now scientists have only been able to speculate about what happens when bacteria overpower the immune system during a chronic infection.

9 Aug 2012

University of Nevada researcher to optimize new rapid test for melioidosis

A new rapid test to diagnose melioidosis, a difficult infection to treat - and classified as a biothreat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - is being optimized and tested by University of Nevada School of Medicine researcher David AuCoin.

9 Aug 2012

Covalon’s IV Clear antimicrobial clear silicone dressing to be presented at FIME 2012

Covalon Technologies Ltd., an advanced medical technologies company, today announced that it is presenting its latest breakthrough antimicrobial products, including the recently United States FDA cleared IV Clear at the 2012 FIME International Medical Expo from August 8 to 10 in Miami Beach, Florida.

9 Aug 2012

Pathologist identifies HPV DNA fragments in post-mortem samples after Gardasil vaccination

According to Norma Erickson, President of SaneVax Inc., testimony provided for a coroner's inquest into the death of Jasmine Renata in New Zealand by Dr. Sin Hang Lee, a pathologist on the medical staff at Connecticut's Milford Hospital, revealed the discovery of HPV DNA fragments in post-mortem samples 6 months after Gardasil vaccination.

9 Aug 2012

Drug companies developing novel treatments for MDR-TB

With incentives to find new antibiotics signed into U.S. law last month, "multiple players are vying for the lead in the [multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)] drug development niche," Nature Medicine reports.

8 Aug 2012

UAB program helps reduce incidence of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

In the year since the University of Alabama at Birmingham emergency department began offering HIV screening for all patients ages 19-64, doctors say 20,000 tests were performed and 72 cases of HIV infection were diagnosed.

8 Aug 2012

Malawi launches week-long campaign to test 250,000 people for HIV

"Malawi on Monday launched a week-long campaign to test 250,000 people for HIV in what health authorities called a crucial intervention in a country ravaged by AIDS," Agence France-Presse reports.

8 Aug 2012

Melinda Gates dedicates Tällberg Foundation prize money to Rotary International

"The global effort to eradicate polio received a SEK 1 million [about $150,000] boost today as Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated the monetary award she accepted from the Tällberg Foundation to Rotary International -- a humanitarian service organization that has made a polio-free world its top priority," according to a Gates Foundation press release.

8 Aug 2012

Clinton discusses global HIV efforts with South African officials during 11-day African tour

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday visited officials in South Africa and discussed the response to HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press/Huffington Post reports. Speaking with Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane "in the second cabinet-level strategic dialogue between the two nations," Clinton said "that global efforts to stop the virus 'have saved hundreds of thousands of lives,'" the news service writes.

8 Aug 2012

Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement could restrict access to affordable, life-saving drugs

In this post in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, Judit Rius Sanjuan, a lawyer from Barcelona, Spain, and the U.S. manager of the Access Campaign at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), says the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional trade agreement that currently involves 11 countries but is slated for further expansion across the Asia-Pacific region, is threatening the prospects for an AIDS-free generation.

8 Aug 2012

Article describes feasibility and costs of active tuberculosis case finding project in Cape Town

A research article by Katharina Kranzer from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and colleagues describe the feasibility and costs of an active tuberculosis case finding project in Cape Town, South Africa.

8 Aug 2012

GeneXpert TB test maker Cepheid signs deals with PEPFAR, USAID, others to provide lower-cost kits

Diagnostics company Cepheid on Monday signed deals with PEPFAR, USAID, UNITAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to immediately reduce the price of its Xpert MTB/RIF test kit for its GeneXpert tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic system in 145 countries, Reuters reports.

8 Aug 2012

Neutral-pressure IV connector eliminates catheter-related bloodstream infections in cancer patients

A neutral-pressure IV needleless connector was associated with complete elimination of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) in a successful device trial at a large cancer center in the six-month period following implementation of the device.

8 Aug 2012

Researchers help quell parents' worry about why infants seem to get sick so often

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are helping to quell parents' worry about why infants seem to get sick so often.

8 Aug 2012

Review explores whether HPV vaccination of young men is warranted and cost effective

Vaccination against human papilloma virus (HPV) is recommended for young women to protect them from HPV infection and cervical cancer. Male HPV immunization is increasingly a topic of debate in the medical community. A timely review of the literature published in Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, explores whether HPV vaccination of young men is warranted and cost effective.

8 Aug 2012

UMass Medical, Serum Institute of India partner on anti-rabies monoclonal antibody pivotal trial

A pivotal clinical trial for an anti-rabies human monoclonal antibody (RMAb) being developed through a collaborative partnership between MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Serum Institute of India, Ltd., is starting to enroll patients.

8 Aug 2012

Communal violence in India forces up to 400,000 into overcrowded camps without sufficient food, water, medicine

"Hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in squalid, overcrowded camps in India's northeast desperately need food, water and medicines after fleeing some of the worst communal violence in a decade, officials and aid workers said on Monday," AlertNet reports.

8 Aug 2012

Creating new non-influenza vaccines: an interview with Julie Phillips, CEO of BioDiem

BioDiem recently signed a collaborative agreement with The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) for the development of non-influenza vaccines using BioDiem’s proprietary live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) technology.

7 Aug 2012

Disease/Infection News

New HIV test helps researchers determine incidence, whether prevention strategies work

President's Malaria Initiative contributing to 'major progress' against disease, should be expanded

New method gives precise picture of how immune system works

University of Nevada researcher to optimize new rapid test for melioidosis

Covalon’s IV Clear antimicrobial clear silicone dressing to be presented at FIME 2012

Pathologist identifies HPV DNA fragments in post-mortem samples after Gardasil vaccination

Drug companies developing novel treatments for MDR-TB

UAB program helps reduce incidence of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

Malawi launches week-long campaign to test 250,000 people for HIV

Melinda Gates dedicates Tällberg Foundation prize money to Rotary International

Clinton discusses global HIV efforts with South African officials during 11-day African tour

Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement could restrict access to affordable, life-saving drugs

Article describes feasibility and costs of active tuberculosis case finding project in Cape Town

GeneXpert TB test maker Cepheid signs deals with PEPFAR, USAID, others to provide lower-cost kits

Neutral-pressure IV connector eliminates catheter-related bloodstream infections in cancer patients

Researchers help quell parents' worry about why infants seem to get sick so often

Review explores whether HPV vaccination of young men is warranted and cost effective

UMass Medical, Serum Institute of India partner on anti-rabies monoclonal antibody pivotal trial

Communal violence in India forces up to 400,000 into overcrowded camps without sufficient food, water, medicine

Creating new non-influenza vaccines: an interview with Julie Phillips, CEO of BioDiem

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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