Disease/Infection News

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Researchers discover novel way to increase amounts of antibiotics

A novel way of increasing the amounts of antibiotics produced by bacteria has been discovered that could markedly improve the yields of these important compounds in commercial production. It could also be valuable in helping to discover new compounds. With the ever-growing threat from antibiotic resistance, these tools will be very useful in ensuring that we have enough of these useful compounds in the future.

5 Sep 2011

Gilead to amend design of ongoing clinical trials against chronic hepatitis C

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that, in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company will amend the design of ongoing clinical trials to discontinue dosing of GS 9190 in hepatitis C-infected patients who are receiving that compound in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, and another direct-acting antiviral agent.

5 Sep 2011

Teenagers use medicines frequently without receiving targeted information about risks and benefits

A large proportion of teenagers regularly and frequently take some form of medication without receiving targeted information about the risks and benefits, according to a review of current research, to be presented at the annual congress of the International Pharmaceutical Federation.

5 Sep 2011

IKEPLUS immunization completely eliminates TB bacteria from infected tissues

A potential vaccine against tuberculosis has been found to completely eliminate tuberculosis bacteria from infected tissues in some mice. The vaccine was created with a strain of bacteria that, due to the absence of a few genes, are unable to avoid its host's first-line immune response.

5 Sep 2011

Einstein researchers develop tuberculosis vaccine candidate

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report in the September 4 online edition of Nature Medicine that they have developed a tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate that proved both potent and safe in animal studies.

5 Sep 2011

Scientists sequence ten variants of E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain across the world

Ten variants of the deadly Escherichia coli strain that hit Germany in May 2011 have been sequenced across the world. The unprecedented level of collaboration across the scientific community should give insight into how the outbreak arose, says a scientist at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference 2011.

5 Sep 2011

UNFPA Executive Director to visit refugee camps in Kenya on 3 September

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is visiting refugee camps in Kenya to underscore the urgent needs of women affected by the famine in the Horn of Africa.

3 Sep 2011

Scientists hope to create models that can more accurately predict spread of disease

Northwestern University professor Dirk Brockmann and his group at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science have investigated the outcomes of a previously ignored mechanism in modeling how humans travel.

3 Sep 2011

Researchers discover protein signals responsible for preserving anti-viral antibodies

Our immune system is capable of a remarkable feat: the ability to remember infections for years, even decades, after they have first been encountered and defeated. While the antibodies we make last only about a month, we retain the means of making them for a lifetime.

3 Sep 2011

WHO African region member states have challenges to meet MDGs, WHO/AFRO Director says

Speaking at the 61st session of the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) in Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire, on Thursday, African Regional Director of WHO Luis Sambo said "that 46 Africa member countries still had remarkable challenges to scale before meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," Nigeria's The Nation reports.

3 Sep 2011

PEPFAR releases Guidance for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted HIV Infections

"The Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator released the U.S President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Guidance for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted HIV Infections this week," a "50-plus page document intended to 'assist PEPFAR country teams in developing Country Operational Plans (COPs) that align activities to prevent sexual transmission of HIV with country-specific epidemiology and country-owned responses,' according to the introduction statement," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog writes.

3 Sep 2011

Finland national health institute finds link between H1N1 flu vaccine and children's narcolepsy

"Finland's national health institute said on Thursday its latest research on previously found links between children's narcolepsy and GlaxoSmithKline's Pandemrix vaccine against H1N1 swine flu also involved a genetic risk factor," Reuters reports.

3 Sep 2011

In research world, Walter Reed fights malaria while new facility seeks to prevent medical errors

Most people know "the Walter Reed" as a mammoth military medical center in Washington, D.C., where both U.S. presidents and ordinary war-wounded soldiers get their care. But the center's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, housed for the past decade on its own campus in Maryland, just outside Washington, is one of the world's premier research centers for infectious diseases.

3 Sep 2011

NPR examines legacy of Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Institute of Research in battle against malaria

"As the Walter Reed Army Medical Center decamps from its D.C. campus this month and merges with the Bethesda Naval Hospital five miles away," NPR reports on the legacy of "the center's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, housed for the past decade on its own campus in Maryland, just outside Washington, as one of the world's premier research centers for infectious diseases."

3 Sep 2011

Progress in reducing child mortality rates at Somalia, Ethiopia border refugee camps is slow, U.S. official says

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Reuben Brigety, "the top U.S. official for refugee issues, ... says that despite intensive efforts, relief agencies have made little progress in reducing child mortality rates at refugee camps along Somalia's border with Ethiopia," VOA News reports.

3 Sep 2011

Sand fly's salivary components play a critical role in process for Leishmania

For millions of people who live under the constant threat of Leishmania infection, a new discovery by Brazilian scientists may lead to new breakthroughs, preventing these parasites from taking hold in the body or reducing the severity of infections once they occur.

2 Sep 2011

Wis. patients getting tested for HIV after misuse of equipment

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that a nurse misused equipment to teach diabetic patients how to inject insulin. Meanwhile, researchers look at how hospital uniforms can carry germs.

2 Sep 2011

Using high-speed lasers to zap mosquitoes in the fight against malaria

In this post on CNN's Global Public Square, journalist Amar Bakshi interviews Nathan Myhrvold, former chief technology officer of Microsoft and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, about an anti-malaria project "that use[s] lasers and digital image processing techniques to not only find mosquitoes.

2 Sep 2011

NCD summit negotiations must get back on track to help millions worldwide

With negotiations over the outcomes for the U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) stalled, "[i]t is feared that sound proposals for clear goals and timelines to tackle these devastating diseases are being systematically deleted, diluted and downgraded by some U.N. Member States and urgent action is needed to put the negotiations back on track, when they recommence on September 1," Rob Moodie, chair of Global Health at the Nossal Institute of Global Health, writes in the Crikey health blog "Croakey."

2 Sep 2011

Discovery in rare disease may shed light on common causes of blindness

In a rare eye disease, the retina degenerates because light-receiving cells fail to regenerate, research led by a student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine shows.

2 Sep 2011

Disease/Infection News

Researchers discover novel way to increase amounts of antibiotics

Gilead to amend design of ongoing clinical trials against chronic hepatitis C

Teenagers use medicines frequently without receiving targeted information about risks and benefits

IKEPLUS immunization completely eliminates TB bacteria from infected tissues

Einstein researchers develop tuberculosis vaccine candidate

Scientists sequence ten variants of E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain across the world

UNFPA Executive Director to visit refugee camps in Kenya on 3 September

Scientists hope to create models that can more accurately predict spread of disease

Researchers discover protein signals responsible for preserving anti-viral antibodies

WHO African region member states have challenges to meet MDGs, WHO/AFRO Director says

PEPFAR releases Guidance for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted HIV Infections

Finland national health institute finds link between H1N1 flu vaccine and children's narcolepsy

In research world, Walter Reed fights malaria while new facility seeks to prevent medical errors

NPR examines legacy of Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Institute of Research in battle against malaria

Progress in reducing child mortality rates at Somalia, Ethiopia border refugee camps is slow, U.S. official says

Sand fly's salivary components play a critical role in process for Leishmania

Wis. patients getting tested for HIV after misuse of equipment

Using high-speed lasers to zap mosquitoes in the fight against malaria

NCD summit negotiations must get back on track to help millions worldwide

Discovery in rare disease may shed light on common causes of blindness

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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