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Peace Corps official reflects on Global Health Service Partnership

In this post in the AIDS.gov blog, Buck Buckingham, director of the Peace Corps Office of Global Health and HIV, reflects on the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP), launched by Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams in March, writing, "Although this partnership is an exciting innovation for the Peace Corps, the commitment to health which it reflects finds deep roots in our history, as Director Williams described at the launch on March 13."

8 Jun 2012

Magazine examines efforts to biologically alter bugs to fight human diseases

Pacific Standard magazine examines efforts by researchers around the globe to biologically modify bugs to fight human diseases, such as dengue fever. "Biologically altering bugs isn't entirely new; it's been done for nearly half a century to protect crops. ...

8 Jun 2012

Battle to control malaria in Cambodia 'not over'

"Two years after some $22 million in donor funds were pumped into malaria control along the Cambodia-Thailand border to fight off suspected resistance to treatment, health workers say the battle is not over," IRIN reports, adding, "The government reported 103,000 malaria infections and 151 deaths nationwide in 2010.

8 Jun 2012

UNAIDS director calls for ARV production in Africa

"Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibe Wednesday called for the production of anti-retroviral drugs [ARVs] in Africa to make the life-saving medicines against AIDS accessible to patients and boost the medicines manufacturing sector on the continent," PANA/AfriqueJet reports.

8 Jun 2012

30th UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board meeting concludes in Geneva

"If the vision of zero new HIV infections is to be achieved, a reinvigoration of HIV prevention is urgently needed," UNAIDS writes in a feature article on its webpage, adding, "This will be most effective if a combination prevention approach is adopted, where multi-faceted and tailored programs are implemented."

8 Jun 2012

Project aims to reduce transmission of infectious diseases on aircraft

A new study is expected to provide the first detailed information on how infectious diseases may be transmitted aboard commercial airliners. Sponsored by aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the research will document patterns of passenger movement inside aircraft cabins and inventory the microbes present in cabin air and on surfaces such as tray tables and lavatory fixtures.

8 Jun 2012

Researchers determine function of series proteins within the mosquito

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have, for the first time, determined the function of a series proteins within the mosquito that transduce a signal that enables the mosquito to fight off infection from the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

8 Jun 2012

Study: HIV superinfection may be more common than previously believed

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) superinfection may be as common as initial HIV infection and is not limited to high risk-populations, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

8 Jun 2012

WHO identifies best targets for seasonal malaria treatment

"Pre-emptive treatment of children living in regions where malaria is prevalent only during the rainy season could avert 11 million cases and 50,000 deaths a year," the journal Nature reports, adding, "The estimates are based on the world's first guidance on seasonal malaria chemoprevention, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March."

8 Jun 2012

Independent evaluation of PMI presented to U.S. Congress

The Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD) at Boston University on Thursday delivered its report on the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), released in February, to the U.S. Congress, IIP Digital reports, noting the "independent evaluation team finds that the [PMI] has been 'very successful' in reducing children's deaths from the mosquito-borne parasitic disease, but also warns that the program must gear up if those gains are to be sustained."

8 Jun 2012

Survey finds 1 in 10 new cases of TB in China are drug-resistant

"One in 10 cases of tuberculosis in China cannot be treated by the most commonly-used drugs, driven by a lack of testing and misuse of medicine, according to a national survey that showed for the first time the size of the drug-resistant epidemic," the Associated Press reports.

8 Jun 2012

Experimental drug tested against multi-drug resistant TB

"Researchers who tested a novel type of antibiotic against multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis [MDR-TB] are reporting that nearly half of patients who got the new drug cleared the bacteria from their lung fluid in two months," according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports.

8 Jun 2012

Scientists uncover origin of Langerhans cells

Scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) uncovered the origin of a group of skin-deep immune cells that act as the first line of defence against harmful germs and skin infections. SIgN scientists discovered that these sentry cells of the skin, called the Langerhans cells (LCs), originate from two distinct embryonic sites - the early yolk sac and the foetal liver.

8 Jun 2012

Strand, Trovagene enter MOU to license and validate HPV assay technology

Trovagene, Inc., a developer of trans-renal molecular diagnostics, and Strand Life Sciences Pvt Ltd., of Bangalore, India, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to license and validate Trovagene's proprietary Human Papillomavirus (HPV) urine test and High Risk HPV DNA Assay for clinical diagnostic and carrier screening use in India and countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

8 Jun 2012

More affordable bednets, increased transparency in market will save $22M, UNICEF Executive Director says

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said Wednesday "that a more transparent and competitive market will lead to savings of more than $20 million over the next 12 months through a price reduction of 20 percent for bednets that protect people from malaria," a UNICEF press release reports.

8 Jun 2012

Sorrento receives $300,000 STTR grant to develop novel therapeutics against Staph infections

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has received an Advanced Technology Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Fast Track grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH.

8 Jun 2012

Researchers develop Texas Pandemic Flu Toolkit

In 2009, the H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic struck, infecting millions and killing more than 18,000 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Though less severe than initially feared, the pandemic highlighted the potential threat of deadly viruses emerging from animals into humans, and the importance of quick and effective public health intervention.

8 Jun 2012

HIV superinfection may be more frequent among general population of Uganda

HIV superinfection, when a person with HIV could acquire a second, new strain of HIV, may occur as often as initial HIV infection in the general population in Uganda, a study suggests.

8 Jun 2012

Anti-TNFs increase risk of shingles in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) treated with anti-tumour necrosis factor medications (anti-TNFs) have a 75% greater risk of developing herpes zoster, or shingles, than patients treated with traditional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), according to a meta-analysis presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism.

8 Jun 2012

UNAIDS Executive Director calls on African leaders to reduce 'triple dependency' on external sources of HIV drugs, commodities, technologies

"Delivering a speech at Wednesday's opening session of the 16th Conference of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe congratulated leaders across the region for their personal commitment to the HIV response, specifically with regard to upholding human rights and protecting human capital," UNAIDS reports in an article on its website.

8 Jun 2012