Disease/Infection News

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Arthritis rates set to soar

According to new estimates the number of people with arthritis is set to soar with predictions that 1,500,000 Scots will be living with the condition by 2030.

10 May 2012

Examining the need for WHO today

Responding to an opinion piece published in Nature Medicine last week in which Tikki Pang, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore and former director of research policy and cooperation at the WHO, and Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, argue the case for reforming and improving the WHO, KPLU's Tom Paulson writes in a post on KPLU 88.5's "Humanosphere" blog.

10 May 2012

NCATS initiative to use abandoned experimental drugs for other uses 'a step in the right direction'

The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) -- a new plan to help speed drug development by making abandoned experimental drugs available to researchers who can look for alternative uses -- "is an indication that the Obama administration and the medical research enterprise are thinking out of the box," Michael Manganiello, a partner at HCM Strategists, writes in a Huffington Post "Politics Blog" opinion piece.

10 May 2012

Researchers use clever screening methods to speed vaccine production

Infectious diseases-both old and new-continue to exact a devastating toll, causing some 13 million fatalities per year around the world. Vaccines remain the best line of defense against deadly pathogens and now Kathryn Sykes and Stephen Johnston, researchers at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, along with co-author Michael McGuire from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center are using clever functional screening methods to attempt to speed new vaccines into production that are both safer and more potent.

10 May 2012

ACOEM honors JNJ with 2012 Corporate Health Achievement Award

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as well as a provider of related services for the consumer and pharmaceutical and medical devices and diagnostics markets, has been awarded the 2012 Corporate Health Achievement Award (CHAA) by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

10 May 2012

IDRI, Aeras partner to develop new TB vaccine candidate

Aeras and the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) announce today a new agreement to conduct joint development activities with respect to IDRI's novel tuberculosis vaccine candidate. This collaboration reflects the missions of the two non-profit product development partnerships to use cutting-edge science to develop products that address critical diseases of underserved populations around the world, including tuberculosis.

10 May 2012

G&D, IAVI and GMI partner to develop new HIV/AIDS vaccine

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), GlycoMimetics, Inc. (GMI), and Glycosensors and Diagnostics, LLC (G&D) today announced a collaboration to develop an AIDS vaccine using novel compounds that mimic carbohydrates, called glycomimetics.

10 May 2012

MSU researcher wins Grand Challenges Explorations grant for work on TB

For his work on developing new treatments for tuberculosis, a Michigan State University researcher has been named a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

10 May 2012

ArcDia completes € 2.7 million funding round

ArcDia Ltd, the manufacturer of world's only multianalyte point-of-care diagnostic system for respiratory tract infections, completed today € 2.7 million funding round to expand its mariPOC diagnostics system.

9 May 2012

One in six cancer cases worldwide related to preventable or curable infections

New research shows that one in six cancers - amounting to two million a year globally - are caused by largely treatable or preventable infections.

9 May 2012

USAID committed to improving lives of children affected by HIV/AIDS

"Despite many gains in the fight against AIDS, children still lag far behind adults in access to important medical services, including HIV prevention, care, and treatment," Jen Pollakusky, communications analyst at USAID's Bureau of Global Health Office of HIV/AIDS, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog," noting that Monday marked the 10th anniversary of World AIDS Orphan Day.

9 May 2012

Phone credits offered to teenagers in exchange for sexual health checks

The Queensland government is offering Mount Isa teenagers mobile phone credit in exchange for sexual health checks.

9 May 2012

New York Times examines Cuba's sanitarium network for people living with HIV

The New York Times examines the Cuban network of sanitariums created to house and treat people living with HIV, "to keep the infected from having sex with anyone uninfected and to help them die comfortably."

9 May 2012

Free whooping cough vaccine cut concerns experts

Heath experts are concerned that parents and carers of newborn babies will stop getting the whooping cough vaccine after the state government cut its free immunisation program in the midst of a fatal epidemic.

9 May 2012

Study offers new insight on known link between exposure to violence and sexual risk-taking

Women who have experienced multiple forms of violence, from witnessing neighborhood crimes to being abused themselves, are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, according to a new report in the Psychology of Violence.

9 May 2012

Option for couples to test together, access ART for prevention can reduce HIV risk

"If we don't leverage the power of innovation to transform how health services are provided and utilized, efforts to stop new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths can reach a stalemate," UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in this opinion piece in the Huffington Post's "Healthy Living" blog.

9 May 2012

Public-private partnership pilot program could facilitate drug development for neglected diseases

The National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a pilot program under which "three pharmaceutical companies have agreed to make dozens of their failed compounds available to researchers, who will investigate if the compounds can be re-purposed into successful treatments for other diseases," Ashley Bennett, senior policy associate at the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the group's "Breakthroughs" blog.

9 May 2012

New insecticide-treated bodysuit can fight malaria

A Cornell University scientist and designer from Africa have together created a fashionable hooded bodysuit embedded at the molecular level with insecticides for warding off mosquitoes infected with malaria, a disease estimated to kill 655,000 people annually on the continent.

9 May 2012

Goosby calls for 'extraordinary resources' to be put into male circumcision to prevent HIV infection

Male circumcision is "a highly significant, lifetime intervention" to prevent HIV infection that deserves "extraordinary resources," U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby on Monday told a meeting of 400 army officials from 80 countries in Africa, Eastern Europe and central Asia, Agence France-Presse reports.

9 May 2012

Probiotics may reduce risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea

Consumption of probiotics (live microorganisms, which may occur naturally in foods such as yogurt, intended to confer a health benefit when consumed) is associated with a reduced risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, a common adverse effect of antibiotic use, according to a review and meta-analysis of previous studies published in the May 9 issue of JAMA.

9 May 2012