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Global Polio Eradication Initiative not on track to end transmission by 2012, report says

The latest quarterly report (.pdf) by an independent board that monitors the progress of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), released in mid-October, warned that "unless the program addresses 'fundamental problems,' there is a 'substantial risk' that stopping polio transmission will not be achieved by end-2012," AlertNet reports.

24 Oct 2011

Number of cholera cases to reach 500,000 by year's end, WHO says

The WHO on Friday "said the number of cholera cases in Haiti is expected to reach 500,000 by the end of the year" if current trends continue, Agence France-Presse reports.

24 Oct 2011

Scientists, WHO warn of public health implications of proposed mercury ban due to its use in vaccines

"Scientists are warning officials negotiating a global treaty on mercury that banning the deadly chemical completely would be dangerous for public health because of the chemical's use in vaccines," the Associated Press reports.

24 Oct 2011

Sustained 'vigilance and money' necessary to fight malaria

With the RTS,S malaria vaccine trial results showing "moderate" success, helping to reignite "optimism about eradicating malaria entirely," "there are other big hurdles still to surmount," a New York Times editorial states.

24 Oct 2011

World Health Summit provides platform to discuss incorporating NTDs into MDGs

In anticipation of next week's 2011 World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany, Neeraj Mistry, managing director of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Disease, recaps gains in the treatment and prevention of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) around the world through the commitment of the U.S., the U.K. and other G8 countries and makes the case for a global NTD initiative in the network's "End the Neglect" blog.

24 Oct 2011

India polio free for 9 months, raising hopes of eradication, health experts say

"India has not had a case of polio in nine months, raising hopes the country is on the verge of defeating the disease, health officials said Monday," the Associated Press reports.

24 Oct 2011

House to consider bill to scale back health law's Medicaid expansion

In other Medicaid news, AIDS experts worry that the current model of HIV/AIDS care could be put at risk by fiscal pressures and the changes that will occur as a result of the health law.

24 Oct 2011

Vertex initiates INCIVEK combination Phase 3b study for hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced the initiation of a Phase 3b study called CONCISE that will evaluate the potential for treatment with INCIVEK (telaprevir) combination therapy to be shortened to 12 weeks in people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C who have the 'CC' variation near the IL28B gene.

24 Oct 2011

SafeMinds praises UNEP's draft treaty ban on use of mercury in pharma products

SafeMinds applauds UNEP's draft treaty language which does not exempt the use of mercury in pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, from the global ban. Governmental regulators, public health officials and pharmaceutical companies have recognized that the toxicity of mercury in pharmaceutical and personal care products, to which people are directly exposed, justifies a preventive approach to minimize all exposures.

24 Oct 2011

Bioject receives FDA communication on use of jet injectors with flu vaccines

Bioject Medical Technologies Inc., a leading developer of needle-free drug delivery systems, today announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a communication on the use of jet injectors with influenza vaccines.

24 Oct 2011

Proper daily care and maintenance of central lines might reduce infection rate in PICUs

By following a few basic rules for handling central venous catheters, nurses and doctors at a group of children's hospitals have, in three years, prevented nearly a thousand infections and saved more than a hundred children's lives and millions of dollars, according to a study by investigators at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and elsewhere.

24 Oct 2011

First step in the development of new drug combinations against diseases, conditions

The researchers found a way of identifying ideal drug combinations from billions of others which would prevent inflammation from occurring.

From The University of Manchester 24 Oct 2011

C. sinensis parasite lacks enzymes required for fatty acid biosynthesis

The human liver fluke Clonorchis sinensis affects more than 35 million people in South East Asia and 15 million in China. Infection by this parasite causes clonorchiasis. Repeated or chronic infection can lead to serious disease of the liver, gall bladder or bile ducts, including the frequently fatal bile duct cancer - cholangiocarcinoma.

24 Oct 2011

DFMO appears to protect against nonmelanoma skin cancers

An antiparasitic agent used to treat African sleeping sickness might someday be used to prevent nonmelanoma skin cancers. Researchers found that DFMO, or α-difluoromethylornithine, still appeared to protect against nonmelanoma skin cancers years after people stopped taking the drug, according to a poster presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.

24 Oct 2011

Pivotal pediatric clinical study comparing Q/LAIV to FluMist meets primary endpoint

The pivotal pediatric clinical study compared Q/LAIV to two trivalent formulations of MedImmune's licensed seasonal influenza vaccine, FluMist (Influenza Vaccine Live, Intranasal) and met its primary endpoint.

22 Oct 2011

Ambitious vision, lasting investment in science can save countless lives

In this post in the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's "ASTMH Blog," Rick Steketee, science director of PATH's Malaria Control Program and ASTMH council member, responds to the results of the RTS,S malaria vaccine trial, writing, "It's milestones like this week's findings that remind us all that ambitious vision and a lasting investment in science can yield the tests, treatments and tools to save countless lives."

22 Oct 2011

Pfizer's Prevnar 13: Additional data from adult clinical studies presented at 49th IDSA

Pfizer Inc. announced today that additional data from several clinical studies of Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine) conducted in adults 50 years and older will be presented during the 49th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which is being held Oct. 20-23, 2011, in Boston, Mass.

22 Oct 2011

Sewage provides perfect ecosystem for studying diversity of uncharacterized viral populations

Raw sewage provides a perfect ecosystem for studying the diversity of viral populations that remain uncharacterized. This is one of the principal conclusions of a study published in the journal mBio by a team comprising experts from the UB's Laboratory of Water and Food Viral Pollution, Washington University and the University of Pittsburgh, under the direction of James Pipas.

22 Oct 2011

Janssen announces FDA label update approval for PREZISTA HIV tablets

Janssen Therapeutics, Division of Janssen Products, LP, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a label update for PREZISTA (darunavir) tablets to include 192-week data from the ARTEMIS study.

22 Oct 2011

Brazil to become world supplier of Chagas disease treatment

"Brazil is keen to take part in the international effort to expand access to medicines and to produce its own drugs, and will start by becoming the world supplier of medicines to treat Chagas disease," Health Minister Alexandre Padilha announced "at the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, which opened Tuesday October 19 in Rio de Janeiro," Inter Press Service reports.

22 Oct 2011