Disease/Infection News

RSS

Afghanistan facing challenges in effort to eradicate polio by end of 2012

"Afghanistan is intensifying efforts to eradicate polio by the end of next year, but security remains a major challenge especially in the southern provinces where the virus is localized, says" Arshad Quddus, head of the WHO polio program in Afghanistan, IRIN reports.

17 Sep 2011

BARDA awards Vaxin $21.7M contract to accelerate development of novel anthrax vaccine

Vaxin Inc., a clinical stage vaccine development company, today announced that it has been awarded a contract valued at up to $21.7 million by the Office of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for pre-clinical assessment, final manufacturing process development and the supply of clinical materials to support an IND filing and first-in-man dose ranging study of the company's proprietary anthrax vaccine, AdVAV.

17 Sep 2011

The 4th annual National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day takes place on September 18

The AIDS Institute (TAI) is proud to announce that the 4th annual National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (NHAAAD) will take place on September 18th. The campaign theme is "Aging is a part of life; HIV doesn't have to be."

17 Sep 2011

Georgia reminds adults to get vaccinated

Vaccines aren't just for kids, adults need protection too! September 18 kick starts National Adult Immunization Awareness Week and the Georgia Department of Public Health reminds Georgians that you never outgrow the need for vaccines.

16 Sep 2011

PopART project awarded $37 million study grant for HIV prevention in Africa

A team of researchers led by Professor Richard Hayes at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has been awarded $37 million to test an innovative combination of strategies to prevent HIV in African countries.

16 Sep 2011

Follow-up study of HIV vaccine trial provides clues for continued research

"After two years of analyzing the results of the largest AIDS vaccine clinical trial ever held -- called RV144 -- researchers say they have found two ways the immune system can respond, which could predict whether those inoculated will be protected or are more likely to become infected with HIV," CNN's health blog "The Chart" reports.

16 Sep 2011

Simple strategies prevent bloodstream infections and save hundreds of patient lives

Following some basic rules of central line hygiene and maintenance, Johns Hopkins Children's Center and 87 other pediatric hospitals have, over five years, saved hundreds of patient lives and more than $100 million by preventing nearly 3,000 central line bloodstream infections, hospital officials announced on Monday, Sept. 12.

16 Sep 2011

Scientists, policymakers meet to present recent AIDS vaccine developments

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Jose Esparza, deputy director of vaccines and HIV at the Gates Foundation, reports on AIDS Vaccine 2011, a conference being held this week in Bangkok, Thailand, that is expected to draw more than 800 scientists and policymakers from around the world.

16 Sep 2011

India sees increase in malaria deaths despite global decline reported by WHO

While the number of malaria deaths has fallen by one-fifth over the past decade globally, according to a report released by Roll Back Malaria on Monday, "India is still recording high numbers of deaths, which some experts say are underestimated," Agence France-Presse reports.

16 Sep 2011

HHS' BARDA contract advances development of novel anthrax vaccine, antitoxin

The advanced development of a novel next-generation anthrax vaccine and a new type of anthrax antitoxin have received support through new contracts funded the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

16 Sep 2011

Researchers develop polymers that fluoresce in the presence of bacteria

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed polymers that fluoresce in the presence of bacteria, paving the way for the rapid detection and assessment of wound infection using ultra-violet light.

16 Sep 2011

PEPFAR shows how working across 'political spectrum' can prove successful

"Thirty years since the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in the United States, the world finds itself at a tipping point in the fight against this deadly disease," U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and George W. Bush Inaugural Global Health Fellow Ambassador Mark Dybul, who served as global AIDS coordinator from 2006 to 2009, write in a Huffington Post opinion piece.

16 Sep 2011

Report urges integrated aid approach to tackle poverty, disease

Action Against Hunger, Action for Global Health, End Water Poverty, PATH, Tearfund and WaterAid on Wednesday released a report that "provides clear and compelling evidence that a new combined approach to tackling poverty and disease that brings together work on water and sanitation, health, education and nutrition achieves better results for the world's poorest," according to a joint press release.

16 Sep 2011

PEPFAR announces $45M, four-year initiative to study combination HIV prevention

PEPFAR on Wednesday "announced awards for a new initiative totaling $45 million over four years to examine the effectiveness of combination approaches to HIV prevention. These evaluations of combination prevention will be the largest and most robust to date. Data gathered will help partner countries to strengthen their efforts to prevent new infections and save lives," according to a State Department press release.

16 Sep 2011

New report finds improvements in hospital performance

Meanwhile, Reuters reports on the quality of weekend care at stroke centers and nursing homes are trying to reduce their use of powerful antipsychotic drugs for patients with dementia.

16 Sep 2011

New paper describes unique process that is central to induction of MSRA antibiotic resistance

A new paper by a team of University of Notre Dame researchers that included Shahriar Mobashery, Jeffrey Peng, Brian Baker and their researchers Oleg Borbulevych, Malika Kumararasiri, Brian Wilson, Leticia Llarrull, Mijoon Lee, Dusan Hesek and Qicun Shi describes a unique process that is central to induction of antibiotic resistance in the problematic bacterium methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

16 Sep 2011

U.S. HIV/AIDS policy and funding should be guided by science, policy statement recommends

The IDSA Center for Global Health Policy and the HIV Medicine Association recently released a policy statement responding to the results of the HPTN 052 study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH, which found that people with HIV who received immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) were more than 96 percent less likely to sexually transmit the infection to their uninfected partners.

16 Sep 2011

Teva to invest in CDI for development of novel antiviral drugs

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has signed a collaboration option to license and share purchase agreements to invest in Cocrystal Discovery Inc. (CDI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of serious and chronic viral diseases.

16 Sep 2011

$Bachmann, Perry embroiled in HPV fracas$

Bachmann, Perry embroiled in HPV fracas

Since Monday night's GOP primary debate, the two presidential hopefuls continue to be the targets of discussion and coverage regarding both the style and substance of the HPV vaccine issue.

16 Sep 2011

Shorter treatment with telaprevir-based combination regimen may benefit hepatitis C patients

Treatment with a telaprevir-based combination regimen for hepatitis C - heretofore a chronic, destructive and difficult to manage disease - effectively can be shortened to six months in about two-thirds of patients, finds a new study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

16 Sep 2011