Disease/Infection News

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Study linking chronic fatigue syndrome with virus infection retracted

The study published in the journal Science in October 2009, which found an association between the illness and a mouse leukemia retrovirus known as XMRV, was retracted last week by the editors of the journal.

28 Dec 2011

Critical considerations for adenovirus-based HIV vaccine trials

A clinical trial testing a candidate HIV vaccine known as the STEP study was halted in September 2007 after interim analysis indicated that the vaccine did not work. Moreover, subsequent analyses indicated that the vaccine made some individuals more susceptible to HIV, in particular individuals who had pre-existing immune effectors (antibodies) that recognized a component of the vaccine (adenovirus serotype 5 [Ad5]).

28 Dec 2011

Pioneer in infectious disease medicine shares his perspectives in new podcast series

Beginning this month, the journal Medicine launches a series of podcasts featuring pioneering infectious disease physician John Bartlett, MD. Medicine is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

28 Dec 2011

FDA clears Meridian Bioscience's new Clostridium difficile assay

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio today announced it has received FDA clearance for a new Clostridium difficile assay, ImmunoCard C. difficile GDH.

27 Dec 2011

FDA accepts Gilead's Quad HIV regimen NDA for review

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) for the Quad, a complete single-tablet HIV regimen containing elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate.

26 Dec 2011

TheraBiogen launches Social Media campaign

TheraBiogen, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of homeopathic nasal sprays for aiding in the relief of allergies, cold and flu symptoms and migraine headaches, announced today the launch of its Social Media campaign as part of its ongoing product marketing program.

26 Dec 2011

LANL's top 10 science stories of 2011

Los Alamos National Laboratory's top 10 science stories of 2011 illustrate the broad variety of scientific excellence that's the hallmark of the Laboratory. This year's stories include alternative energy research, world record magnetic fields, disease tracking, the study of Mars, climate change, fuel cells, solar wind, and magnetic reconnection.

26 Dec 2011

Roundup: HIV staff to be cut in Ga.; Abortion news in N.J., Mo.; Wis. Medicaid coverage in limbo

A loss of $3.7 million in federal funds is forcing Georgia to reduce its workforce for HIV prevention. After an inquiry by Georgia Health News, the Department of Public Health this week acknowledged that 20 people in state health districts have been notified they will probably lose their jobs in January, and that an unspecified number of staffers at the department level have received the same notification.

23 Dec 2011

Science names HIV prevention trial as '2011 Breakthrough of the Year'

"The journal Science has chosen the HPTN 052 clinical trial, an international HIV prevention trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)," which found that early treatment with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) reduced the risk of transmission among sero-discordant partners by 96 percent, as the "2011 Breakthrough of the Year," an NIH press release states (12/22).

23 Dec 2011

ARV drugs can prevent transmission of HIV

The finding of a team of researchers - including several members from Johns Hopkins - that HIV treatment with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) can actually prevent transmission of the virus from an infected person to his or her uninfected partner has been named "Breakthrough of the Year" for 2011 by the journal Science.

23 Dec 2011

MSF publishes list of top 10 stories of 2011 about access to medicine

This Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) special report highlights the top 10 stories of 2011 regarding access to essential medicines, according to MSF.

23 Dec 2011

Federal officials seek to keep details on bird flu study secret

A federal board has asked two scientific journals to restrict access to details of a genetic study of the bird flu in which researchers altered the virus to be more easily transmittable between humans.

23 Dec 2011

WHO researchers release critique of methods to estimate global malaria incidence

"Richard Cibulskis and colleagues at the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland present a critique of different estimation methods of the worldwide incidence of malaria in this week's PLoS Medicine," according to a post in the PLoS Medicine "Community Blog."

23 Dec 2011

AVAC report outlines science-based agenda for ending AIDS epidemic

AVAC's annual report, titled "AVAC Report 2011: The End?," "is intended as a vision and a challenge to the field, and a first step in holding all of us -- civil society, researchers, governments, and funders -- accountable for progress" toward ending AIDS, according to the AVAC website (12/22).

23 Dec 2011

PBS NewsHour examines role of religious leaders in Morocco's fight against HIV/AIDS

In this post in PBS NewsHour's "The Rundown" blog, journalist Ray Suarez reports on the role of religious leaders in Morocco's battle against HIV/AIDS and stigma.

23 Dec 2011

UNICEF aims to vaccinate 1.7M children against measles in DRC

A UNICEF measles immunization campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) aimed to vaccinate 1.7 million children under age five between December 19 and December 21, IRIN reports.

23 Dec 2011

'Dramatic gains' in fight against malaria in jeopardy due to Global Fund shortfall

In this post on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Kent Campbell, director of the Malaria Control Program at PATH, says "dramatic gains" made in the fight against malaria, and the possibility of ending the disease, are in jeopardy because the "Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which provides two-thirds of the global financing for efforts to combat malaria, is facing a financial crisis due to unfulfilled donor commitments."

23 Dec 2011

BBC News Magazine examines antiviral drug research

BBC News Magazine examines an antiviral drug called Draco, developed by Todd Rider, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "which has proven successful against all 15 viruses to which it has been applied in lab trials with human tissue and mice," including "the common cold, H1N1 or swine flu, a polio virus, dengue fever, and the notorious and fatal Ebola virus."

23 Dec 2011

UTA chemist to develop simple, paper-based test for drug-resistant TB

Developing a simple, paper-based test for drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is the goal of a University of Texas at Austin chemist, whose project just received a $1.6 million point-of-care diagnostics grant through Grand Challenges in Global Health, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

23 Dec 2011