Disease/Infection News

RSS

African leaders should 'take action' to implement human-rights based laws, policies to enhance HIV response

Noting the release of a report from the Global Commission on HIV and the Law showing that "punitive laws are standing in the way of effective AIDS responses," Festus Mogae, former president of Botswana, and Stephen Lewis, co-director and co-founder of AIDS-Free World, both members of the commission, write in a health-e opinion piece, "We cannot hope for an HIV-free generation when we have laws that marginalize and punish those most vulnerable to the disease."

11 Jul 2012

Scientists identify novel strategy to target Taspase1 enzyme

Scientists at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany identified a novel strategy to target the oncologically relevant protein-cleaving enzyme Taspase1.

10 Jul 2012

FDA acknowledges receipt of resubmission of Human Genome Sciences’ raxibacumab BLA

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has acknowledged receipt of the resubmission of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for raxibacumab, a treatment for inhalational anthrax, and has established December 15, 2012 as the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date.

10 Jul 2012

Laws based on evidence and human rights strengthen global AIDS response

Punitive laws and human rights abuses are costing lives, wasting money and stifling the global AIDS response, according to a report by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, an independent body of global leaders and experts. The Commission report, "HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights and Health," finds evidence that governments in every region of the world have wasted the potential of legal systems in the fight against HIV.

10 Jul 2012

UCLA to examine whether copper surfaces result in reduced hospital infection rates

Hospital-acquired infections are a huge public health burden, and hospital environments play a key role in harboring potentially deadly bacteria such as E. coli, C. difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

10 Jul 2012

Financial Times examines integration of family planning, HIV services in Ethiopia

The Financial Times examines efforts by "Ethiopian policymakers, faced with a rapidly expanding population and rising numbers of HIV/AIDS infections," to integrate family planning into HIV counseling and testing programs in the country. "When counseling women on reproductive health or child immunization, family planning clinics can also discuss HIV testing and prevention, particularly condom use, as well as introducing pregnant women to mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention services," the newspaper notes.

10 Jul 2012

Office of Global Health Diplomacy represents move toward expanding GHI's impact

With the closure of the Global Health Initiative office and the establishment of the Office of Global Health Diplomacy within the State Department last week, "the Obama administration made some quiet changes ... that strengthen one of its most significant policy shifts: that global health and foreign assistance are critical components of diplomacy," Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

10 Jul 2012

New monitoring approach could improve quality of HIV care for prisoners

A new monitoring approach developed by researchers from The Miriam Hospital could close a major gap by providing the ability to track whether HIV-positive prisoners are getting the community-based HIV care they need once they are released.

10 Jul 2012

Inovio commences SynCon vaccine phase I study in H1N1 influenza

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the first patients have been treated in a clinical trial evaluating immune responses in elderly adults immunized with Inovio's H1N1 SynCon universal influenza vaccine.

10 Jul 2012

Associated Press examines 'sense of optimism' in HIV fight as AIDS 2012 conference approaches

Noting more than 20,000 international HIV researchers and activists will gather in Washington, D.C., for the AIDS 2012 conference later this month, the Associated Press writes that there is "a sense of optimism not seen in many years -- hope that it finally may be possible to dramatically stem the spread of the AIDS virus."

10 Jul 2012

Researchers develop new silk-based stabilizer for vaccines and antibiotics

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new silk-based stabilizer that, in the laboratory, kept some vaccines and antibiotics stable up to temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

10 Jul 2012

International AIDS Conference to be held in the U.S. from July 22-27

The XIX International AIDS Conference is coming to Washington, D.C., July 22-27. It is the first time in 22 years the conference will be held in the U.S.

10 Jul 2012

HIV drug coverage in sub-Saharan Africa continues to improve but not sustainable, UNAIDS' Sidibe says

At the end of 2011, 6.2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were taking antiretroviral drugs, about 56 percent of the people in need in the region, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe noted in an interview last week, saying, "Ten years ago, nobody would have imagined that such a result would be possible," Agence France-Presse reports. "Sidibe -- visiting Paris ahead of the July 22-27 International AIDS Conference in Washington -- said he was worried that African countries remained so dependent on foreign help," the news service states.

10 Jul 2012

ASM’s mBio achieves significant increase in impact factor

Less than two years after publishing its first issue, the online open-access journal mBio- is now ranked among the top 20 highest-impact microbiology journals according to Thomson Reuters, which has just released its Journal Citation Reports for 2011.

10 Jul 2012

Enterovirus blamed for some deaths of Cambodian children; Officials continue to investigate mysterious respiratory illness

"Lab tests have confirmed that a virulent strain of hand, foot and mouth disease known as [enterovirus-71 (EV-71)] is to blame for some of the 59 cases of mysterious illness among children in Cambodia reviewed since April, including 52 deaths, according to a joint statement from the World Health Organization and Cambodian Health Ministry," the Associated Press reports, noting that "the numbers were lowered from the initial report of 62 cases."

10 Jul 2012

Einstein researchers to study molecular mechanism behind Ebola virus infection

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a five-year, $4.8 million grant to study the molecular mechanism that allows the Ebola virus to cause infection and spread in animals.

10 Jul 2012

Diabetes far more widespread than previously thought

A third of the world's human population is infected with a dormant tuberculosis bacteria, primarily people living in developing countries. The bacteria presents a lifelong TB risk. Recent research out of the University of Copenhagen demonstrates that the risk of tuberculosis breaking out is four times as likely if a person also suffers from diabetes. Meanwhile, as a diabetic, a person is five times as likely to die during tuberculosis treatment.

10 Jul 2012

NPR series examines global progress against AIDS

In a special series called "AIDS: A Turning Point," NPR reports on global progress against HIV/AIDS ahead of the AIDS 2012 conference taking place in Washington, D.C., this month. As part of the series, NPR's "Morning Edition" examines Botswana's response to the epidemic, writing, "A decade ago, Botswana was facing a national crisis as AIDS appeared on the verge of decimating the country's adult population.

9 Jul 2012

HPV vaccine shows evidence of herd protection

The HPV vaccine not only has resulted in a decrease in human papillomavirus infection in immunized teens but also in teens who were not immunized.

9 Jul 2012

Merck, PDS Biotechnology enter licensing agreement for Versamune

PDS Biotechnology Corporation announced today that they have entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, for use of PDS Biotechnology's novel Versamune nanotechnology platform in two of Merck's investigational antigen-specific cancer immunotherapies currently in pre-clinical development.

9 Jul 2012