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Sustainable funding needed to reduce Burma's HIV, TB treatment gap

"While international attention focuses on Burma, [also known as Myanmar,] a health crisis in the country looms large," Joe Billiveau, operations manager of Medecins Sans Frontieres' (MSF) operational center in Amsterdam, writes in this opinion piece in Bangkok's Nation.

23 Feb 2012

Scientific American examines Gates Foundation toilet-design initiative

"Advocates for universal access to and use of basic personal sanitation hope their efforts will get a big boost in August, when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation present several hygienic innovations developed through its Reinventing the Toilet Challenge," Scientific American reports in a feature article.

23 Feb 2012

USAID releases external evaluation of President's Malaria Initiative

USAID on Tuesday released the final report by an external evaluation team of the first five years (FY 2006-FY 2010) of the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), which is a major component of the Global Health Initiative (GHI), according to a USAID press release.

23 Feb 2012

Maintaining differential diagnosis inclusive of infectious etiology may help save children's life

Neurologic tics and obsessive-compulsive behaviors caused by a bacterial infection in children were once thought to occur exclusively in PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Disease Associated with Streptococcus infections).

23 Feb 2012

South Korea stepping up fight against TB, CBS News reports

CBS News examines the fight against tuberculosis (TB) in South Korea, which "has the highest incidence rate of tuberculosis among the world's wealthiest countries, nations [that] belong to the 34-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

23 Feb 2012

Studies provide global perspective on condom use problems and errors

Problems with the correct use of the male condom, such as not wearing a condom throughout sex or putting it on upside down, are common in the U.S. and have become a major concern of public health officials. New research shows that countries around the world are facing similar challenges.

23 Feb 2012

Scientists employ metagenomics to identify new possible antibiotics against MRSA

Scientists are reporting use of a new technology for sifting through the world's largest remaining pool of potential antibiotics to discover two new antibiotics that work against deadly resistant microbes, including the "super bugs" known as MRSA. Their report appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

23 Feb 2012

Cholera epidemic spreads in DRC; Efforts to combat disease remain underfunded, U.N. reports

"A cholera epidemic has spread to nine out of 11 provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations said on Tuesday," SAPA/News24 reports.

23 Feb 2012

Burma unable to expand HIV, TB treatment programs without more donor support, MSF report says

Approximately 85,000 HIV-positive people in Burma, also known as Myanmar, are in need of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and cannot access it "due to a lack of funding, despite renewed international engagement with the government amid a wave of political reform, according to a report released Wednesday" by the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Associated Press/CBS News reports.

23 Feb 2012

Novartis delivers 100 million child-friendly antimalarial treatments to 39 countries

One hundred million treatments of Coartem- Dispersible (artemether-lumefantrine), an antimalarial developed especially for children with Plasmodium falciparum malaria, have been delivered by Novartis to 39 malaria-endemic countries, Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announced today.

23 Feb 2012

Candida albicans can sense immune status of host cells and evade them

Glen Palmer, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, was part of an international research team led by Luigina Romani, MD, at the University of Perugia, that discovered opportunistic fungi like Candida albicans can sense the immune status of host cells and adapt, evading immune system defenses.

23 Feb 2012

International Microbicides Conference to take place from April 15-18

The biennial International Microbicides Conference is the premier gathering for those working on new approaches to HIV prevention and this year's conference in Sydney, Australia will place a strong emphasis on the role of community in both research and implementation of scientific findings. The conference will take place from April 15-18 at the Sydney Exhibition and Conference Centre located on the Darling Harbour waterfront.

23 Feb 2012

First-ever comparative analysis of antimalarial medicines at every step of the parasite's life cycle

MMV and partners have completed the first-ever comparative analysis of all currently available and in-development antimalarials in terms of the steps they target in the parasite's lifecycle. This information provides the missing pieces of the puzzle needed to develop future medicines able to block transmission of the parasite from person to person.

23 Feb 2012

IDRI launches LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE Phase 1 trial for kala-azar

The first clinical trial of a new vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been launched by the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based nonprofit that develops products to prevent, detect, and treat diseases of poverty. The Phase 1 trial is taking place in Washington State, with a companion Phase 1 trial planned in India, an epicenter of the disease.

23 Feb 2012

Routine hepatitis C testing of the middle aged could save thousands of lives: CDC report

Increasing number of people are dying of damaged livers due to hepatitis C infection. Federal health officials are considering whether anyone born between 1945 and 1965 should get a one-time blood test to check if they are harboring the dangerous virus. Two-thirds of people with hepatitis C are in this age group, most unaware that a virus that takes a few decades to do its damage has festered since their younger days.

22 Feb 2012

India still faces challenges in efforts to eradicate polio

The PBS NewsHour examines polio eradication efforts in India, which has gone an entire year without reporting a polio case. "For India, the challenge is to remain vigilant and polio free for two more years to officially fall off the list of endemic countries," according to the news service.

22 Feb 2012

March issue of BMJ's 'Sexually Transmitted Infections' focuses on HIV, health systems

Karen Grepin, assistant professor of global health policy at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, describes the March issue of BMJ's Sexually Transmitted Infections in this post in her "Global Health Blog."

22 Feb 2012

PBS NewsHour blog discusses curable, preventable neglected tropical diseases with CDC experts

In this video report, PBS NewsHour's "The Rundown" examines curable and preventable diseases such as measles and river blindness that countries are focusing more effort on fighting. Mark Eberhardt, a neglected tropical diseases expert at the CDC, and Stephen Cochi, a measles and polio expert from the CDC, "describe the diseases and why they still need attention."

22 Feb 2012

IRIN examines whether poverty reduction schemes can help lower TB rate in developing countries

IRIN examines "whether a new generation of social protection schemes, aimed at reducing poverty and often using cash transfers to the poorest, can be harnessed to bring down the rate of tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries."

22 Feb 2012

Russian government's censorship of websites with harm reduction methods for drug users helps fuel HIV epidemic, IPS reports

"A recent government crackdown on Russian media, particularly online information portals specializing in health tips and harm reduction methods for drug users, has sparked widespread public opposition, with critics claiming that the 'draconian silencing' of public health advocates could worsen an already perilous health situation in the country," Inter Press Service reports.

22 Feb 2012

Disease/Infection News

Sustainable funding needed to reduce Burma's HIV, TB treatment gap

Scientific American examines Gates Foundation toilet-design initiative

USAID releases external evaluation of President's Malaria Initiative

Maintaining differential diagnosis inclusive of infectious etiology may help save children's life

South Korea stepping up fight against TB, CBS News reports

Studies provide global perspective on condom use problems and errors

Scientists employ metagenomics to identify new possible antibiotics against MRSA

Cholera epidemic spreads in DRC; Efforts to combat disease remain underfunded, U.N. reports

Burma unable to expand HIV, TB treatment programs without more donor support, MSF report says

Novartis delivers 100 million child-friendly antimalarial treatments to 39 countries

Candida albicans can sense immune status of host cells and evade them

International Microbicides Conference to take place from April 15-18

First-ever comparative analysis of antimalarial medicines at every step of the parasite's life cycle

IDRI launches LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE Phase 1 trial for kala-azar

Routine hepatitis C testing of the middle aged could save thousands of lives: CDC report

India still faces challenges in efforts to eradicate polio

March issue of BMJ's 'Sexually Transmitted Infections' focuses on HIV, health systems

PBS NewsHour blog discusses curable, preventable neglected tropical diseases with CDC experts

IRIN examines whether poverty reduction schemes can help lower TB rate in developing countries

Russian government's censorship of websites with harm reduction methods for drug users helps fuel HIV epidemic, IPS reports

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