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UNN, UM establish firm foundation for mutual collaborations

A delegation from the University of Nigeria (UNN) has just completed a week in key laboratories and boardrooms at the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus exploring educational exchanges between the two universities.

8 Jul 2012

Health ministers from Southeast Asia asked to support U.N. in stemming spread of drug-resistant malaria in region

"Health ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are being asked to support United Nations efforts to stem the spread of drug-resistant strains of malaria, especially along the borders of Cambodia and Burma," VOA News reports.

7 Jul 2012

International AIDS Conference a call for global solidarity

Noting the 2010 reversal of the HIV travel and immigration ban allowing the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) to be held in the U.S. for the first time in more than 20 years, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) writes in a Huffington Post Blog opinion piece, "It is so exciting to host this conference at such a pivotal time in the history of the AIDS response," and adds, "At no other time in history has our global leadership been more important than it is right now."

7 Jul 2012

New vaccine candidate against leading cause of hospital-acquired infections

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a new vaccine candidate for the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa taking advantage of a new mechanism of immunity.

7 Jul 2012

Powerful new drug to treat malaria

A powerful new drug to treat malaria - the invention of a University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy researcher -- will help take the bite out of malaria. In the United States, a mosquito bite seems harmless, but in developing countries it means more than 655,000 deaths a year - mostly in children.

7 Jul 2012

AHF calls for reasonable pricing of Gilead’s Quad AIDS drug

Today AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in response to recent press reports regarding drug manufacturer Gilead Sciences, Inc.'s new four-drug HIV/AIDS pill, known as the "Quad," renewed its call for company to price the drug reasonably, particularly in light of the fact that it represents only a marginal improvement over existing medications.

7 Jul 2012

New HIV test results are 'preliminary' and need doctors' confirmation

In reports on two major public health issues, experts seek to remind people that the new HIV test offer only a preliminary result, so a confirmation from a physician is necessary, and a Kentucky health veteran works to stem the diabetes epidemic there.

7 Jul 2012

Low rainfall and high temperatures associated with high numbers of mosquito larvae

Rainfall and temperature affect the abundance of two mosquito species linked to West Nile Virus in storm catch basins in suburban Chicago, two University of Illinois researchers report.

7 Jul 2012

VOA profiles Vietnam Clinical HIV/AIDS Society

VOA News profiles the recently established Vietnam Clinical HIV/AIDS Society (VCHAS), among the first professional medical organizations of any type in Vietnam. VCHAS "was set up with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control through the Harvard Medical School AIDS Initiative, as part of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief," VOA notes.

6 Jul 2012

New study maps global zoonotic disease 'hotspots'

"A global study mapping human diseases that come from animals like tuberculosis, AIDS, bird flu or Rift Valley fever has found that just 13 such diseases are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths a year," Reuters reports.

6 Jul 2012

FDA approves at-home HIV test, available in Oct.

The FDA has approved an at-home HIV test that gives results in under 40 minutes. The tests should be available in stores in October.

6 Jul 2012

GlobalPost examines adult male circumcision campaign in Swaziland

Noting "the United States wants to accelerate the pace of male circumcisions to support 4.7 million procedures in the developing world by the end of next year, up from one million at the beginning of this year," GlobalPost, as part of its AIDS Turning Point special report, examines the adult male circumcision campaign in Swaziland.

6 Jul 2012

Cholera outbreak in Cuba kills three, sickens more than 50 people

A cholera outbreak in eastern Cuba has killed three elderly people and sickened more than 50 others, "130 years after the last known case of the disease was reported on the island," Agence France-Presse reports.

6 Jul 2012

Roche receives FDA approval for CMV viral load test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first DNA test to help health care professionals gauge the progress of anti-viral treatment in solid organ transplant patients undergoing cytomegalovirus (CMV) antiviral therapy.

6 Jul 2012

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Goosby discusses PEPFAR on NPR's 'All Things Considered'

NPR's "All Things Considered" on Tuesday featured an interview of U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby by host Robert Siegel. Goosby discussed PEPFAR's success at treating people living with HIV/AIDS in other countries, including Haiti, Rwanda, and Botswana, as well as the cost of treatment.

6 Jul 2012

NPR's 'All Things Considered' examines progress in treating AIDS in developing countries

NPR's "All Things Considered" examines HIV/AIDS treatment progress in developing countries, where the high cost of the "triple-drug regimens that were routinely saving the lives of patients in wealthier countries," and logistical issues, such as ensuring patients would take their medication on time, led some experts to say HIV treatment was "impossible" in the earlier years of the epidemic.

6 Jul 2012

FDC precursor cells exist in the wall of blood vessels

Chronic inflammatory conditions are extremely common diseases in humans and in the entire animal kingdom. Both in autoimmune diseases and pathogen-caused diseases, the inflamed areas are rapidly colonized by antibody producing B lymphocytes - which organize themselves in highly structured areas called "lymphoid follicles".

6 Jul 2012

Myths about drive-thru influenza immunization clinics

Critics have pointed to fainting risks and subsequent auto accidents as reasons for concern when using drive-thru influenza immunization clinics, according to Ruth Carrico, PhD, RN, FSHEA, CIC, associate professor, division of infectious diseases, University of Louisville School of Medicine.

6 Jul 2012

Fingolimod offers minor added benefit for patients with RRMS

The immunosuppressive drug fingolimod (trade name: Gilenya-) is approved for the treatment of highly-active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in adults. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) assessed whether fingolimod offers an added benefit compared with the present standard therapy.

6 Jul 2012

Philippines experiencing increasing number of new HIV cases; Leaders say country should reconsider policies

"At a time when many countries are seeing their HIV infection rates level off or decline," health officials in the Philippines "have seen an unexpected surge in cases in the past several years, with a more than five-fold increase between 2007 and 2011, with 2,349 new cases last year," the Wall Street Journal's "Southeast Asia Real Time" blog reports, noting, "The total number of cases as of April 2012 is 9,396, compared to just 3,061 in 2007."

6 Jul 2012