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Reusable grocery bag can play a role in spreading norovirus infection

Oregon investigators recently mapped the trail of an outbreak of a nasty stomach bug among participants in a girls' soccer tournament to a reusable open top grocery bag stored in a hotel bathroom. Their findings, which illustrate the role that inanimate objects can play in spreading norovirus infection, appear in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

9 May 2012

Bumped kinase inhibitors may control malaria

Over 200 million people contract malaria each year, and according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 655,000 people died from malaria in 2010. Malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium, which is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. More effective control of malaria will require the development of new tools to prevent new infections.

9 May 2012

Researchers discover location and effect of abnormal heart proteins

University of Guelph researchers have found the location and effect of abnormal heart proteins that can cause cardiac failure, a discovery that points to potential new ways to treat the most costly health problem in the world.

9 May 2012

iBio receives U.S. patent for iBioModulator platform

iBio, Inc. today announced issuance of a US patent covering compositions of matter and methods of use of modified lichenase B polypeptides comprising the Company's iBioModulator platform.

9 May 2012

Certain males at higher risk of infection after receiving experimental HIV vaccine

A long-term follow-up analysis of participants in the Step Study, an international HIV-vaccine trial, has confirmed that certain subgroups of male study participants were at higher risk of becoming infected after receiving the experimental vaccine compared to those who received a placebo.

8 May 2012

Researchers discover potential way to develop universal flu vaccines

University of British Columbia researchers have found a potential way to develop universal flu vaccines and eliminate the need for seasonal flu vaccinations.

8 May 2012

Cholera strain in Haiti evolving, CDC reports

"The cholera strain in Haiti is evolving, researchers reported Thursday, a sign that it may be taking deeper root in the nation less than two years after it appeared and killed thousands of people," the Associated Press/USA Today reports.

8 May 2012

Oral zinc treatments may shorten duration of common cold symptoms in adults

Oral zinc treatments may shorten the duration of symptoms of the common cold in adults, although adverse effects are common, according to a study published in CMAJ.

8 May 2012

PEPFAR releases 8th annual report to Congress

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog notes that PEPFAR recently released its 8th annual report to Congress.

8 May 2012

FDA approves Clinigen’s Foscavir sNDA to treat HIV/AIDS-related CMV infections and herpes

Clinigen Healthcare, the pharmaceutical products division of Clinigen Group, announced today that its supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for Foscavir (foscarnet sodium), a treatment for HIV/AIDS-related cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections and herpes, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

From Clinigen Group 8 May 2012

VOA News examines South Africa's rural public health sector

VOA News features a five-part series on South Africa's rural public health sector, which the news service writes is "plagued by a high burden of infectious diseases, severe doctor and nurse shortages, lack of medicines and essential medical equipment and incompetent management," resulting in high patient death rates.

8 May 2012

Man-made waterways contribute to malaria breeding grounds, study suggests

A recent study, conducted by Elizabeth Whitcombe, visiting senior research scholar at the earth system science interdisciplinary center at the University of Maryland, and published in the May 13 issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, "mapped meteorological, irrigation and medical reports during British rule in India" and concluded modern-day India should learn lessons from the past to improve engineering plans and epidemiological "modeling of environmental factors controlling vector borne disease," especially malaria, SciDev.Net reports.

8 May 2012

Blog examines fight against NTDs in Burundi

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog examines the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Burundi, writing, "In 2007, the Legatum Foundation, an international private investment organization that promotes sustainable development throughout the world agreed to fund the treatment of NTDs in Burundi and brought together several partners to assist Burundi's Ministry of Health."

8 May 2012

Research reveals possible strategy to reverse fibrosis in liver and other organs

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, report that significant numbers of myofibroblasts - cells that produce the fibrous scarring in chronic liver injury - revert to an inactive phenotype as the liver heals. The discovery in mouse models could ultimately help lead to new human therapies for reversing fibrosis in the liver, and in other organs like the lungs and kidneys.

8 May 2012

Cascades Tissue Group applauds third annual ‘STOP! Clean Your Hands Day’

North America's fourth largest producer of towel and tissue paper, Cascades Tissue Group, applauds the third annual "STOP! Clean Your Hands Day," today, May 7, for building greater awareness for the importance of hand hygiene. The day also marks a good time to note that paper towels are the most hygienic choice when it comes to drying hands.

8 May 2012

Meningitis B vaccine on the horizon

Meningitis B is particularly dangerous for children, leading to 120 deaths in the UK every year. There are around 1,200 new cases of meningitis B every year. Around 1 in 10 victims die and another 15 per cent are left with permanent disabilities - often limbs have to be amputated due to blood poisoning. The infection causes inflammation of the membranes surrounding the spinal cord and brain. Symptoms include a severe headache, vomiting, a rash, sensitivity to light and a stiff neck.

8 May 2012

NIH responds to criticism over handling of controversial bird flu studies

In a letter dated April 25, Amy Patterson, associate director for science policy in the office of the director of the National Institutes of Health, "has refuted criticism of the way a meeting held to allow a biosecurity advisory group to review controversial bird flu studies was handled," denying "the agenda was crafted to achieve a predetermined outcome," the Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press writes.

7 May 2012

Various combinations of biomarkers are required to unequivocally diagnose specific disease

With a range of diseases, doctors need unique features which they can use to unequivocally identify a patient's illness for an appropriate diagnosis. Scientists therefore search for the biomarkers for an illness or a combination of biomarkers, known as biosignatures, which are as easy as possible to measure.

7 May 2012

Satellite-guided plan to effectively control tsetse fly

For the first time, scientists have created a satellite-guided plan to effectively control the tsetse fly - an African killer that spreads "sleeping sickness" disease among humans and animals and wipes out $4.5 billion in livestock every year.

7 May 2012

Scientific American examines worldwide spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea

Scientific American examines how strains of cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea have "been emerging in Japan, and moving east and west from there, for at least a decade." The magazine writes, "Rapid international travel allowed the resistance mutation to hopscotch the globe," noting antibiotic-resistant strains that have been identified in Sweden, England, Norway, the Philippines, Spain, and France.

7 May 2012