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FDA approval of raltegravir offers new weapon to treat HIV infection in children

For children and adolescents with HIV infection, the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the use of raltegravir, an antiretroviral drug that slows the spread of HIV infection, offers a new weapon to treat HIV infection in children.

7 Jan 2012

UNC HIV researcher Cohen discusses his work, HPTN 052

PSI's "Healthy Lives" blog features a video from the UNC Medical Center News Office in which Myron Cohen, a professor of medicine, microbiology, immunology and public health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, discusses his research into HIV/AIDS prevention, including his lead role in HPTN 052.

6 Jan 2012

New HIV vaccine candidates show promise in monkeys

"The quest for a vaccine against AIDS is gaining momentum, with research published Wednesday identifying promising new candidates that protected monkeys against a powerful strain of the virus and that soon could be tested in humans," the Wall Street Journal reports.

6 Jan 2012

IRIN examines risk of waterborne diseases in Zimbabwe

IRIN examines how a lack of sanitation facilities and access to clean water, as well as the onset of the rainy season, are increasing the risk of waterborne diseases in rural areas of Zimbabwe.

6 Jan 2012

Bringing health solutions to women, children

In this Huffington Post "Impact" blog post, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes that she will be visiting Bangladesh to "learn even more about two of the biggest killers of children -- pneumonia and diarrhea," and says "Bangladesh has made incredible progress in recent years, reducing the number of childhood deaths by 65 percent since 1990."

6 Jan 2012

CSIS's Morrison discusses 'end of aids'

SmartGlobalHealth.org features the latest episode of "Small Screen Sessions," in which J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Center for Strategic & International Studies' Global Health Policy Center, discusses the policy changes that enabled the International AIDS Conference to return to the U.S. in 2012 after a 22-year hiatus, and the beginning of the "end of aids."

6 Jan 2012

British Columbia's 'treatment-as-prevention strategy' helping to reduce HIV/AIDS cases, deaths

"New HIV cases and AIDS deaths are both going steadily down in British Columbia, according to data released last week," the New York Times reports.

6 Jan 2012

Olympus adds dissolvable sinus spacing and hemostat products to ENT portfolio

Olympus, a precision technology leader in designing and delivering innovative solutions in Medical and Surgical Products, among other core businesses, today announced the addition of a broad line of advanced, dissolvable sinus spacing and hemostat products to its already extensive ENT product portfolio. These products include spacers, foams and powders available in either plant-based or chitosan polysaccharide polymers.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 6 Jan 2012

Tetragenetics reports results from G-SOME H5N1 vaccine preclinical study

Tetragenetics Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of recombinant vaccines, today reported preclinical study results showing that an investigational nanoparticle-based influenza vaccine protects against a highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza strain.

6 Jan 2012

Researchers identify potential target for schistosomiasis vaccine

In the complicated life cycle of ancient flatworms that cause schistosomiasis, Case Western Reserve University researchers have identified a gene activator crucial to development of the parasites within humans - a potential target for a vaccine.

6 Jan 2012

Hepatitis C vaccine succeeds in an early phase clinical trial

An early phase clinical trial of a hepatitis C vaccine has shown promising results, according to researchers at Oxford University. The virus causing Hepatitis C is a difficult one since it changes its appearance, making creation of a vaccine against it a challenge.

5 Jan 2012

Regular moderate exercise reduces risk of catching cold-like infections

Battling colds and doing (or pledging to do) more exercise are familiar activities for most of us in January. But different levels of exercise can actually significantly increase or decrease your chances of catching a respiratory infection, says Professor Mike Gleeson from Loughborough University.

5 Jan 2012

Boulder Diagnostics, RUNMC enter agreement to market Lyme disease diagnostic test

Boulder Diagnostics Inc. and the Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre announced today the entry into a license and collaboration agreement to market the innovative Lyme disease diagnostic test developed at RUNMC.

5 Jan 2012

Novel vaccine combinations can protect against infection by SIV

Results from a recent study show that novel vaccine combinations can provide partial protection against infection by Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) in rhesus monkeys.

5 Jan 2012

Doctors may need to adjust seizure drug doses for people with HIV/AIDS: New AAN guideline

A new guideline issued by the American Academy of Neurology recommends doctors use caution when choosing seizure drugs for people with HIV/AIDS to avoid potential drug interactions.

5 Jan 2012

Sri Lankan Presidential Task Force against dengue seeing success

"Sri Lanka is making progress in the battle against mosquito-borne dengue fever, say health officials," IRIN reports.

5 Jan 2012

Study assesses reasons for continued lack of success in prevention, control of Lyme disease

Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States, with the majority of cases occurring in the Northeast. It has been three decades since the agent of the disease, the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, and the ticks that vector it were identified. However, the number of Lyme disease cases have steadily increased.

5 Jan 2012

BBC examines eastern DRC's battle with malaria

A BBC News article and related video examine the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's battle with malaria. "'Malaria is the main killer here in Congo, especially for pregnant women and children,' says Dr. Vincker Lushombo, from Save the Children," BBC writes.

5 Jan 2012

Licorice root may play a role in treating and preventing gum disease, tooth decay

Scientists are reporting identification of two substances in licorice - used extensively in Chinese traditional medicine - that kill the major bacteria responsible for tooth decay and gum disease, the leading causes of tooth loss in children and adults.

5 Jan 2012

Ethiopia's PMTCT plan needs men to participate in order to reach goal, experts say

"Ethiopia's new plan to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015 cannot be attained unless men are more meaningfully involved in reproductive health, experts say," PlusNews reports.

5 Jan 2012