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Experimental malaria vaccine shows positive results among children in small Burkina Faso study

"An experimental malaria vaccine tested on children in Burkina Faso has shown 'a high level of efficacy' in protecting against the disease, a study published in" Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine said, according to Agence France-Presse.

16 Sep 2011

Burundi becomes 10th African country to protect children from pneumonia through immunisation

The Republic of Burundi will next week accelerate its fight against pneumonia, the world’s biggest killer of children under five, when it becomes the tenth African country to introduce new pneumococcal vaccines.

16 Sep 2011

Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification test for human African trypanosomiasis

The Geneva-based not-for-profit foundation FIND and Japanese diagnostics company Eiken announced today that a next-generation molecular test designed specifically for sleeping sickness - a deadly parasitic disease also known as human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) - is ready to enter accelerated field trials in sites across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

16 Sep 2011

Longer looks: Fighting antibiotic resistance; a health care arms race video; the HVP debate

We won't stop the rising tide of infections until we develop a new business model to fight them. We are not quite on the brink of some dystopian Victorian future. But every year, the prognosis for infectious-disease patients gets a bit grimmer. … And more-powerful drugs tend to cost more than the old drugs. … Even in the rich world, death from infection still looms; MRSA alone kills thousands every year. And firms are not developing antibiotics as fast as they used to.

16 Sep 2011

Probiotics appear to protect against upper respiratory tract infections

Taking probiotics seems to provide both children and adults with a mild degree of protection against many upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) including the common cold, according to a new systematic review. People who consume probiotics are also less likely to end up taking antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection, the review found.

16 Sep 2011

Azithromycin gel may treat borreliosis in humans

Blood-sucking ticks are not just a nuisance, they can also transmit dangerous diseases. One of them is Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria of the genus Borrelia, and requires a course of treatment with antibiotics lasting several weeks. LMU researchers have come up with a quicker alternative.

16 Sep 2011

Plans to tackle drug resistant tuberculosis

A plan has been drawn up to tackle the increasing numbers of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases in 53 European countries. Calling the situation alarming, the World Health Organization reports that Eastern Europe has the highest level of infection, while in Western Europe, London has the highest TB rate of any capital city. Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan are among the countries with the highest burden of illness. There are an estimated there 81,000 cases of drug-resistant TB a year in Europe. And this is an underestimation say experts.

15 Sep 2011

Listeriosis outbreak sparks unofficial cantaloupe recall

At present the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to determine the source of contaminated cantaloupe blamed for the nationwide Listeriosis outbreak. Several Colorado grocery stores have removed cantaloupe from shelves, though there has been no official recall.

15 Sep 2011

Something like 'Contagion' could happen for influenza

In the new movie "Contagion," fictional health experts scramble to get ahead of a flu-like pandemic as a drug-resistant virus quickly spreads, killing millions of people within days after they contract the illness.

15 Sep 2011

Cempra's solithromycin demonstrates efficacy comparable to levofloxacin for CABP treatment

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced results from its Phase II clinical trial investigating the efficacy, safety and tolerability of oral administration of our fourth generation macrolide, solithromycin (CEM-101), a fluoroketolide antibiotic, in comparison with oral levofloxacin for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).

15 Sep 2011

Integrated health, education and water/sanitation programs can defeat disease and poverty

As governments prepare to gather at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 19 and 20, a new report published by a group of six influential aid agencies provides clear and compelling evidence that a combined approach to tackling poverty and disease-that brings together work on water and sanitation, health, education, and nutrition/food security-achieves better results for the world's poorest.

15 Sep 2011

FDA creates Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today a streamlined, integrated approach to effectively and rapidly respond to human and animal foodborne illness outbreaks: the FDA Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE) Network.

15 Sep 2011

Scientists compare complete genome sequences of cowpox virus to prepare a phylogeny

The family of orthopox viruses is generally considered to comprise vaccinia virus, variola virus, cowpox virus and at least six other species. The various pox viruses are named after their usual hosts but this nomenclature may give rise to a false sense of security: most of them seem to have fairly catholic tastes and cowpox is able to infect not only cows but also a variety of other animals, ranging from mice to elephants as well as man.

15 Sep 2011

New research aims to control transmission of infectious diseases

New research aimed at controlling the transmission of diseases among humans, other animals and the environment is being made possible by grants from a collaboration among U.S. and U.K. funding agencies.

15 Sep 2011

E.U. announces launch of 126M Euro program to fight AIDS, TB in South Africa

European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs announced during a visit to South Africa on Monday that the European Union (E.U.) "will contribute 126 million euros to South Africa's fight against AIDS and tuberculosis (TB)," money that "will be used to improve South Africa's primary health care system, increasing access for patients," Reuters reports.

15 Sep 2011

HPV more prevalent among men with laryngeal cancer, private health insurance

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is more likely to be found in tumors of laryngeal cancer patients who are male and those with private health insurance, according to a new study from researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.

15 Sep 2011

Pakistan's Punjab province reports growing dengue outbreak

"The government in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab is struggling to control a growing dengue fever epidemic, officials say," and they "have warned that it threatens to affect other parts of the country," BBC News reports.

15 Sep 2011

U.K. Coalition against NTDs officially launched in London

This "End the Neglect" blog post reports that the U.K. Coalition against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) was officially launched on Tuesday at the All Parliamentary Group on Malaria and NTDs meeting in London.

15 Sep 2011

Presidential Commission report calls 1940s STD experiments in Guatemala 'gross violations of ethics'

"Sexually transmitted disease experiments conducted by federal researchers from 1946 to 1948 in Guatemala involved 'gross violations of ethics,'" according to a report published Tuesday by the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, USA Today's "ScienceFair" blog reports.

15 Sep 2011

WHO warns drug-resistant TB spreading in Europe at 'alarming' rate, releases plan to fight disease

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) "are spreading at an alarming rate in Europe and will kill thousands unless health authorities halt the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday" during the launch of "a new regional plan to find, diagnose and treat cases of the airborne infectious disease more effectively," Reuters reports.

15 Sep 2011

Disease/Infection News

Experimental malaria vaccine shows positive results among children in small Burkina Faso study

Burundi becomes 10th African country to protect children from pneumonia through immunisation

Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification test for human African trypanosomiasis

Longer looks: Fighting antibiotic resistance; a health care arms race video; the HVP debate

Probiotics appear to protect against upper respiratory tract infections

Azithromycin gel may treat borreliosis in humans

Plans to tackle drug resistant tuberculosis

Listeriosis outbreak sparks unofficial cantaloupe recall

Something like 'Contagion' could happen for influenza

Cempra's solithromycin demonstrates efficacy comparable to levofloxacin for CABP treatment

Integrated health, education and water/sanitation programs can defeat disease and poverty

FDA creates Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network

Scientists compare complete genome sequences of cowpox virus to prepare a phylogeny

New research aims to control transmission of infectious diseases

E.U. announces launch of 126M Euro program to fight AIDS, TB in South Africa

HPV more prevalent among men with laryngeal cancer, private health insurance

Pakistan's Punjab province reports growing dengue outbreak

U.K. Coalition against NTDs officially launched in London

Presidential Commission report calls 1940s STD experiments in Guatemala 'gross violations of ethics'

WHO warns drug-resistant TB spreading in Europe at 'alarming' rate, releases plan to fight disease

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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