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2-day meeting examining issues of censorship of scientific studies leaves questions unanswered

A two-day Royal Society meeting held this week in London -- which examined "whether scientific journals should occasionally publish censored versions of papers because the full ones might prove useful to terrorists" -- "brought scientists no closer to resolving the question of whether there are any kinds of experiments whose results should be kept from the public," the Washington Post reports.

6 Apr 2012

Scientists identify how Clec9A protein recognises foreign invaders

The discovery of how a vital immune cell recognises dead and damaged body cells could modernise vaccine technology by 'tricking' cells into launching an immune response, leading to next-generation vaccines that are more specific, more effective and have fewer side-effects.

6 Apr 2012

TAM protein complex - a potential antibacterial target

Scientists could produce new antibacterial treatments by disarming the molecular pumps bacteria use to bring disease causing molecules in contact with animals and humans.

6 Apr 2012

Drug resistance woes hamper anti-malaria fight

Researchers have found that there is increasing resistance to the front-line treatments for malaria. A pair of studies published in The Lancet and the journal Science showed how the disease is moving fast into new territory and identified a region of the parasite's genome that may be responsible for mutating in order to survive.

5 Apr 2012

Plasma torch kills surface bacteria in seconds

According to scientists a simple hand-held torch-like device can swiftly kill dangerous bacteria, offering a potential boon for emergency workers battling infection risks in wars or disaster zones. The device was created by an international team of researchers from China's Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Australia's CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, the University of Sydney and the City University of Hong Kong.

5 Apr 2012

Vaccination most promising against asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory and respiratory disease caused by an abnormal reactivity to allergens in the environment. Of the several avenues of exploration that are currently being developed, vaccination appears to be the most promising approach.

5 Apr 2012

U.N. reports increase in cholera cases in Haiti as rains begin

In a monthly bulletin on the humanitarian response in Haiti, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that an increase of new cholera cases has been recorded in the western and northern parts of the country and "that Haitian health officials recorded 77 new cases a day for the whole country in early March, when the rains began," the Associated Press/USA Today reports.

5 Apr 2012

TB survivors speak at USAID World TB Day event

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog summarizes an event hosted by USAID in late March to commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day. The blog includes "brief profiles and pictures of some of the survivors featured in the event 'Voices of TB.'"

5 Apr 2012

Drug dispensing robots can harbor dangerous bacteria

Drug dispensing robots designed to quickly prepare intravenous medications in a sterile environment can harbor dangerous bacteria, according to a report in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

5 Apr 2012

Results from Abbott’s multiple interferon-free Phase 2 HCV studies to be presented at ILC 2012

Abbott will present clinical trial results from two different interferon-free, Phase 2 studies for the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV) at the International Liver Congress 2012 (ILC 2012), the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), April 18-22 in Barcelona, Spain.

5 Apr 2012

Government of Sweden announces sub-Saharan Africa strategy for HIV/AIDS, reproductive health

The government of Sweden on Monday announced "a regional strategy for regional efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and address sexual and reproductive health" in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a press release from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

5 Apr 2012

Low glycemic index food may help prevent high blood sugar

Eating foods at breakfast that have a low glycemic index may help prevent a spike in blood sugar throughout the morning and after the next meal of the day, researchers said at the Institute of Food Technologists' Wellness 12 meeting.

5 Apr 2012

Sexually abused young males more likely to cause teen pregnancy

Young males who have been sexually abused are five times more likely to cause teen pregnancy compared to those with no abuse history, according to University of British Columbia research. Sexually abused boys are also three times more likely to have multiple sexual partners and twice as likely to engage in unprotected sex.

5 Apr 2012

Patients with community-onset CDI have increased risk of colectomy

Patients whose symptoms of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) start outside of the hospital setting have a higher risk of colectomy due to severe infection, according to a large multicenter study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

5 Apr 2012

Scripps Florida scientists to create new screening tests for HCV treatment discovery

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded just over $1 million from the National Institutes of Health for a three-year study to develop new high-throughput screening tests to find compounds that disable a protein essential to hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication.

5 Apr 2012

Ventria completes VEN100 phase 2 trial on antibiotic-associated diarrhea

Ventria Bioscience has announced the successful completion of a phase 2 clinical trial of its lead therapeutic candidate, VEN100. The study was conducted by a team of investigators from the Department of Epidemiology, Division of Infectious Diseases, and Division of Geriatric Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

5 Apr 2012

Trends in diagnostic coding may explain the cause of decline in pneumonia hospitalizations

Although data indicate that between 2003-2009 there was a substantial decline in the U.S. in hospitalizations for pneumonia and inpatient deaths, analysis suggests that trends in documentation and diagnostic coding, rather than improvements in actual outcomes, may explain much of the observed changes, according to a study in the April 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Apr 2012

Haitian cholera epidemic no place for 'good-guy/bad-guy distinctions'

In this Reuters opinion piece, finance blogger Felix Salmon responds to a New York Times (NYT) article published on Monday in which journalist Deborah Sontag examines the global response to Haiti's cholera epidemic.

4 Apr 2012

Advocates for Youth report examines youth policies within PEPFAR

A new report from Advocates for Youth "analyzes youth policies within the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including its legislative authority, most recent five-year strategy, relevant guidance documents, and all 21 currently available PEPFAR country Partnership Frameworks."

4 Apr 2012

Nuvilex realizes important role for Cell-in-a-Box technology

Nuvilex, Inc., an emerging biotechnology provider of cell and gene therapy solutions through acquisition of SG Austria assets, realizes the important role for Cell-in-a-Box technology and aims to bring to light its use in the production of therapeutic antibodies for clinically important diseases.

4 Apr 2012