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Polio eradication must be achieved or world risks rise in number of cases

In this BMJ Group blogs post, Richard Smith, editor of the BMJ until 2004 and director of the United Health Group's chronic disease initiative, examines whether efforts to eradicate polio can be successful.

23 Mar 2012

Swazi, South African activists march to U.S. consulate in Johannesburg to call for emergency Global Fund meeting

"Almost a thousand Swazi and South African HIV activists marched to the United States consulate in Johannesburg on [Thursday] to demand that the U.S. continue supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria, and safeguard funding of its President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)," PlusNews reports.

23 Mar 2012

U.N. SG calls for 'global solidarity' in fight against TB

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday during a visit to the Institute of Respiratory Medicine in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, "urged countries to step up their efforts to prevent tuberculosis (TB)" and "called for 'intensified global solidarity to ensure that the children and people of all the countries get medical support, so that they can breathe with health,'" the U.N. News Centre reports.

23 Mar 2012

Bringing together NTD and WASH sectors of public health

In this post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog, Stephanie Ogden -- a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and neglected tropical disease (NTD) consultant with Emory's Center for Global Safe Water, Children Without Worms, and the International Trachoma Initiative -- writes about a partnership among these organizations.

23 Mar 2012

Blog posts comment on World TB Day

Several blog posts recently commented on the upcoming World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, commemorated on March 24. "Despite a clear legislative mandate, the U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI) has consistently failed to live up to the goals of" the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and Malaria Reauthorization Act, passed by Congress in 2008, John Fawcett, legislative director for RESULTS, writes in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

23 Mar 2012

Lancet editorial calls for TB control, elimination efforts to be on G20 agenda

In anticipation of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, commemorated on March 24, this Lancet editorial examines TB control and elimination efforts in 2012 and beyond. "Tuberculosis killed 1.45 million people in 2010 and about 500,000 people have drug-resistant disease," the editorial states, adding, "Despite a woeful funding gap in 2012 of $1.7 billion, tuberculosis incidence is falling (from 9.4 million in 2009 to 8.8 million in 2010)."

23 Mar 2012

NGOs release joint statement calling for governments to increase payments to Global Fund to fill gap in TB funding

Ahead of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24, three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) released a joint statement warning that "[a] $1.7 billion funding shortfall to fight [TB] over the next five years means 3.4 million patients will go untreated and gains made against the disease will be reversed," Reuters reports.

23 Mar 2012

MSF warns MDR-TB is more widespread than previously thought

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) -- "a form of tuberculosis that does not respond to standard treatment and can kill in a matter of months" -- "is much greater than previously thought," VOA News reports.

23 Mar 2012

Investigators identify proteins that may indicate fetus at risk for UTI-induced prematurity

Investigators in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital have developed a mouse model in which a mother's urinary tract infection negatively affects the offspring, an occurrence anecdotally observed in humans. Using this first-of-its-kind model, they have identified proteins in the blood that may indicate whether such an infection might stunt fetal growth.

23 Mar 2012

UC Riverside to study molecular basis of hormonal regulation of mosquito reproduction

Female mosquitoes require energy for their egg development, which they acquire from vertebrate blood. But by sucking on blood, they become vectors of numerous disease pathogens of human and domestic animals. If the mechanisms that govern their egg production are better understood, novel approaches to controlling the reproduction and population of mosquitoes can be devised.

23 Mar 2012

Human Immunity to Tuberculosis conference to take place from April 13-14

Leading international experts in tuberculosis and related diseases from at least 10 countries will gather at a Human Immunity to Tuberculosis conference April 13-14 in Atlanta. The meeting will take place at the Emory Conference Center, 1615 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30329.

23 Mar 2012

U.N.-backed campaign aims to vaccinate 111M children in 20 countries against polio over 4 days

"Some 111.1 million children below the age of five are to be vaccinated against polio in a synchronized campaign covering 20 countries in West and Central Africa starting on Friday," the WHO and UNICEF said in a joint statement on Wednesday, PANA reports.

23 Mar 2012

UI receives three grants to hasten discovery of new TB therapeutics

Forty-five years. That's how long it's been since the last drug - rifampin - hit the market to treat tuberculosis, an infection that affects nearly one third of the world's population and causes 1.8 million deaths annually. The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy has received three new federally-funded grants to hasten the discovery of new therapeutic treatments.

23 Mar 2012

Emergent receives NIAID grant to advance development of MVA85A TB vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced that it has received a multi-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to advance the development of MVA85A, a candidate vaccine against tuberculosis.

23 Mar 2012

Working together to fight TB

In this post in USAID's "IMPACTblog," guest blogger Joanna Breitstein, director of communications for the TB Alliance, describes an event organized by the Critical Paths to TB Drug Regimens that took place on Monday, "heralding the launch of a new clinical trial that tests tuberculosis drugs in combination."

22 Mar 2012

VOA News examines polio eradication efforts in Pakistan

VOA News examines polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan, where "authorities say national pride is now at stake for polio eradication and they are hoping to overcome years of setbacks from natural disasters, misinformation and war."

22 Mar 2012

Extreme norovirus flexibility may allow for broad antibody recognition

Twenty million Americans get sick from norovirus each year according to data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Often called vomiting illness, it can spread rapidly on cruise ships, and in dormitories and hospitals. Recent data from the CDC shows deaths from gastrointestinal infections have more than doubled and have become a particular threat to the elderly.

22 Mar 2012

U of S professor receives Canada Gairdner Wightman Award

University of Saskatchewan Professor Emeritus Lorne Babiuk has been awarded the prestigious Canada Gairdner Wightman Award in recognition of his accomplishments over three decades that include leading the U of S Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) to become a world centre for vaccine research, training and development.

22 Mar 2012

Experts discuss significant findings from CROI in video interview

This post in the AIDS.gov blog provides video of Ron Valdiserri, deputy assistant secretary of health for infectious diseases, interviewing Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, at the recent 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

22 Mar 2012

Researchers unveil 'blueprint' to guide next steps in TB vaccine development

"On Tuesday, a global alliance of researchers and scientists -- led by the Stop TB Partnership, an umbrella group of health groups -- unveiled a 'blueprint' to develop a new vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) that aims to disrupt transmission in hard-hit countries and communities," the Wall Street Journal reports.

22 Mar 2012