Disease/Infection News

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Colonoscopic FMT effective in treating IBD, C.difficile-associated diarrhea

Growing evidence for the effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplants as a treatment for patients with recurrent bouts of Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) associated diarrhea is presented in three studies -- including a long-term follow-up of colonoscopic fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) for recurrent C. difficile Infection that included 77 patients from five different states-- unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC.

1 Nov 2011

Potential transmission of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in nail salons and barbershops

The risk of hepatitis transmission through non-single use instruments -- such as nail files, nail brushes, finger bowls, foot basins, buffers, razors, clippers, and scissors -- during nail salon and barbershop visits cannot be excluded, according to the results of a new report unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC.

1 Nov 2011

Panel backs anthrax vaccine testing on children

An important panel of government advisers Friday recommended that the government should sponsor a controversial study to test the anthrax vaccine in children to see whether the inoculation would protect young Americans against a bioterrorist's attack.

31 Oct 2011

PEPFAR and women's health in South Africa

This report, titled "Improving Women's Heath in South Africa: Opportunities for PEPFAR," by Janet Fleischman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that with "major change ... unfolding in health and HIV services in South Africa," "[t]he United States can find feasible, flexible ways to support" the decentralization of "HIV services to the primary care level ... even though its health program through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is scaling down.

31 Oct 2011

FDA grants Premarket Approval for Roche's IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen assay

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Premarket Approval for its IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (Anti-HBc IgM) assay for use on the cobas e 601 analyzer, the immunoassay module of the cobas 6000 analyzer series for mid-volume laboratories.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 31 Oct 2011

Nursing home residence may allow for 'on-admission' prediction model of C. difficile infection severity

Antibiotics may not be the only risk factor associated with community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection, indicating that other undefined causes of the potentially life-threatening infection may exist and could also predict whether or not a patient will require hospitalization, according to the results of the study, "Predictors of Hospitalization in Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile Infection."

31 Oct 2011

Gen-Probe receives FDA approval for APTIMA HPV assay

Gen-Probe Incorporated announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its APTIMA HPV assay, an amplified nucleic acid test that detects high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that are associated with cervical cancer and precancerous lesions.

31 Oct 2011

New antibiotic regimes may increase infections after specific surgical procedures

The introduction of new antibiotic regimes to tackle hospital-acquired infections, such as C. difficile, must take into account the possibility of increased infections following specific surgical procedures.

31 Oct 2011

Astex to present data on direct acting antiviral agents against HCV at 62nd AASLD meeting

Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics, announced that it will present data on its novel, first-in-class direct acting antiviral agents (DAA) against Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco, November 4-8, 2011.

31 Oct 2011

Fierce Vaccines highlights Inovio's VGX-3100 as one of 10 Promising Therapeutic Vaccines

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is advancing synthetic vaccines to fight cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that VGX-3100, its investigational SynCon vaccine for treating cervical dysplasia and cancer caused by human papillomavirus, was highlighted by Fierce Vaccines as one of 10 Promising Therapeutic Vaccines.

31 Oct 2011

New study describes 2010 norovirus outbreak involving several NBA teams

A new study describes a 2010 outbreak involving several NBA teams, the first known report of a norovirus outbreak in a professional sports association. Published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online, the study highlights unique circumstances for spreading this highly contagious virus among players and staff on and off the court.

31 Oct 2011

ZAMSTAR project reduces prevalence of tuberculosis by 22%

The results of a large-scale community-randomized trial presented at the 42nd World Conference on Lung Health in Lille, France today show that the Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) project reduced the prevalence of tuberculosis by 22%.

31 Oct 2011

Cranberry juice far better than extracts at fighting urinary tract infections

With scientific evidence now supporting the age-old wisdom that cranberries, whether in sauce or as juice, prevent urinary tract infections, people have wondered if there was an element of the berry that, if extracted and condensed, perhaps in pill form, would be as effective as drinking the juice or eating cranberry sauce. A new study from researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute helps to answer that question.

29 Oct 2011

USAID celebrates 50 years of partnership with Kenya

This post in USAID's "IMPACTblog" -- the third of a four-part series on USAID's partnership with Kenya -- reports on how "USAID's health and population program ... works with partners in Kenya to bring health workers directly to the communities. These health workers provide information and care through HIV/AIDS and malaria programs, as well as work with community religious leaders to discuss family planning."

29 Oct 2011

NTDs among America's poor populations must be addressed

"The number of Americans living in poverty is at an all-time high, with close to 50 million people living below the poverty line," therefore "we desperately need a national dialogue about the unique afflictions of the bottom 50 million, paying particular attention to their neglected tropical diseases, which represent important stealth reasons trapping them in a vicious cycle of poverty," Peter Hotez, founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, writes in an Austin-American Statesman opinion piece.

29 Oct 2011

Not too early to consider funding for, distribution of malaria vaccine

In this Huffington Post opinion piece, Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center of Johns Hopkins University, notes some of the parallels between the development of RTS,S, the experimental malaria vaccine currently being tested in Africa, and the polio vaccine, but he says "there are also some particularly disappointing ways in which the polio and malaria efforts could differ."

29 Oct 2011

Some experts question early release of RTS,S malaria vaccine trial data

Nature News reports on last week's announcement of preliminary results from a large clinical trial testing the efficacy of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) RTS,S malaria vaccine, writing that while media coverage of the announcement touted it as a "big breakthrough in the long campaign to create a malaria vaccine," "several leading vaccine researchers, who are critical of the unusual decision to publish partial trial data, argue that the results raise questions about whether the RTS,S/AS01 candidate vaccine can actually win approval."

29 Oct 2011

Seeking a broad scientific consensus on disease eradication

In a SciDev.Net letter to the editor, Rashid Zargar from the Centre of Research for Development at the University of Kashmir, responds to an editorial published by the news service last week in which editor David Dickson suggested that "focusing on the science and technology required to eliminate a disease, rather than just control it, can pay off."

29 Oct 2011

Global Health Technologies Coalition blog reports on health research projects in Kenya

In a post in the Global Health Technologies Coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog, GHTC's Kim Lufkin reports on her travels to Kenya this month "to visit global health research projects and see the impact on people in the country," writing, "Although we visited a range of projects, I was left with the lasting impression that much of this research is so close to producing new health tools that can lead to amazing innovations in public health," including "the first ever malaria vaccine, gels women can use to protect themselves from HIV, and new drugs for neglected diseases that affect the poorest of the poor."

29 Oct 2011

Researcher's compound disables bacteria instead of killing them

After 70 years, antibiotics are still the primary treatment for halting the spread of bacterial infections. But the prevalence of antibiotic resistance is now outpacing the rate of new drug discovery and approval. A microbiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has discovered a different approach: Instead of killing the bacteria, why not disarm them, quashing disease without the worry of antibiotic resistance?

29 Oct 2011

Disease/Infection News

Colonoscopic FMT effective in treating IBD, C.difficile-associated diarrhea

Potential transmission of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in nail salons and barbershops

Panel backs anthrax vaccine testing on children

PEPFAR and women's health in South Africa

FDA grants Premarket Approval for Roche's IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen assay

Nursing home residence may allow for 'on-admission' prediction model of C. difficile infection severity

Gen-Probe receives FDA approval for APTIMA HPV assay

New antibiotic regimes may increase infections after specific surgical procedures

Astex to present data on direct acting antiviral agents against HCV at 62nd AASLD meeting

Fierce Vaccines highlights Inovio's VGX-3100 as one of 10 Promising Therapeutic Vaccines

New study describes 2010 norovirus outbreak involving several NBA teams

ZAMSTAR project reduces prevalence of tuberculosis by 22%

Cranberry juice far better than extracts at fighting urinary tract infections

USAID celebrates 50 years of partnership with Kenya

NTDs among America's poor populations must be addressed

Not too early to consider funding for, distribution of malaria vaccine

Some experts question early release of RTS,S malaria vaccine trial data

Seeking a broad scientific consensus on disease eradication

Global Health Technologies Coalition blog reports on health research projects in Kenya

Researcher's compound disables bacteria instead of killing them

How GLP‑1 Agonists Are Shaping the Future of Obesity Treatment With Dr Bryony Henderson

Flow chemistry, AI, and NMR: A next-gen approach to scalable API production

Digital pathology and the PathoVerse: A conversation with Dr. Singh

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