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Thirty years of AIDS

Thirty years ago next month, the CDC released the first report on a mysterious disease among gay men in Los Angeles. The AIDS epidemic had begun. It has since claimed the lives of an estimated 600,000 Americans and is currently ravaging Africa.

18 May 2011

New research demonstrates how geographic profiling can help combat infectious diseases

Every 30 seconds, infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis kill as many people as Jack the Ripper did in his entire career. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal International Journal of Health Geographics demonstrates how the mathematical model of geographic profiling, used in the hunt for serial killers, can help combat infectious diseases.

18 May 2011

Opinion: Study will unite HIV advocates, add funding pressure to Obama administration

In a post on Foreign Policy's "Passport" blog, assistant managing editor Elizabeth Dickinson looks at the potential ramifications of a recent study, which found that early antiretroviral treatment in HIV-positive people can prevent transmission by 96 percent.

18 May 2011

Bill Gates urges wiser vaccine coverage worldwide to save millions

Tuesday this week, Bill Gates called for strengthened immunization programs against infectious diseases to save 4 million lives by 2015 and 10 million lives by 2020, calling it the best possible investment in global health. He was addressing the annual assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, attended by health ministers from the U.N. agency's 193 member states.

17 May 2011

Decision on destroying last of the stored small pox virus samples

Health experts from all over the world are to decide this week whether to hold on to the last remaining stockpiles of smallpox, one of the deadliest diseases in history – or to proceed with their destruction.

17 May 2011

Accelr8 presents initial ICU pilot study results at ATS International Conference

Accelr8 Technology Corporation announced that clinical investigators led by Ivor S. Douglas, MD/FRCP (UK) from Denver Health presented initial ICU pilot study results at the 2011 ATS International Conference.

17 May 2011

Uganda launches PEPFAR-supported mobile male circumcision clinic

U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Jerry Lanier on Friday in Kampala launched a Mobile Medical Male Circumcision clinic, a project of the PEPFAR-supported Makerere University Walter Reed Project, New Vision reports.

17 May 2011

AP reports on Global Fund's release of information on corruption, fund responds

After an Associated Press story on Friday reported that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria "will make public more detailed information about money it has lost to corruption and mismanagement, but won't release other information critics have sought that might have made it possible to calculate how much of the money investigated is lost to corruption, or what percentage of the fund's overall disbursements are misspent".

17 May 2011

Researchers discover bed bugs with MRSA in lower-income area residents

As if the recent resurgence of bed bugs wasn't bad enough, Canadian researchers have found some of the little blood-sucking critters carrying methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the potentially deadly superbug known as MRSA.

17 May 2011

Concern over vaccine safety prevents parents from vaccinating asthmatic children

Concern over vaccine safety is one of the primary factors preventing parents from having their asthmatic children vaccinated for influenza, or flu, according to Michigan researchers. Parents who do not vaccinate their children are also less likely to view flu as a"trigger" for their child's asthma, the researchers noted.

17 May 2011

World Health Assembly begins in Geneva

As the 64th World Health Assembly gets underway in Geneva, the body will consider "an array of subjects pertaining to reforms of the organisation and its financing, vaccines, fake medicines, and influenza pandemic preparedness, as well as communicable and non-communicable diseases," Intellectual Property Watch reports.

17 May 2011

Obese patients undergoing colon surgery more likely to develop costly surgical-site infections

Obese patients undergoing colon surgery are 60 percent more likely to develop dangerous and costly surgical-site infections than their normal-weight counterparts, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

17 May 2011

Sanofi hopes to launch dengue vaccine in 2014

France's Sanofi-Pasteur, the world's largest vaccine maker, said Friday it hopes to introduce a dengue vaccine in 2014 to some high-risk nations, AlertNet reports. The vaccine is in the last stage of clinical testing in Australia, and the company said it hopes to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine annually, according to the news agency.

17 May 2011

Super-resolution microscopy technique reveals how and why cell's defenses fail against plague

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a super-resolution microscopy technique that is answering long-held questions about exactly how and why a cell's defenses fail against some invaders, such as plague, while successfully fending off others like E.coli.

17 May 2011

Linezolid more effective than vancomycin in treating ventilated patients with MRSA pneumonia: Study

The antibiotic linezolid may be more effective than vancomycin in treating ventilated patients who develop methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia as a result of their ventilation, according to a study conducted globally by American and French researchers.

17 May 2011

Opinion: New HIV infections more expensive than providing antiretroviral drugs to existing patients

In light of study findings released last week showing the risk of HIV transmission can be reduced by 96 percent if HIV-positive patients begin combination antiretroviral therapy as soon as possible, a San Francisco Chronicle editorial asks, "The evidence is clearly starting to show that it's much better to treat patients earlier, but from where will the money come?".

17 May 2011

Hendra virus vaccine to be released soon

According to CSIRO’s early success with testing, the Hendra virus vaccine for horses could be available as early as next year. Hendra virus affects horses and is contracted through contact with flying foxes.

16 May 2011

FDA warns consumers about look like antimicrobial dietary supplements

The FDA is warning consumers not to use products marketed as dietary supplements that also claim to be antimicrobial (antibiotic, antifungal or antiviral) drugs. These illegal products are falsely promoted with claims to treat illnesses such as upper respiratory infections, sinusitis, pneumonia, bronchitis and the common cold.

16 May 2011

GenturaDx completes external HSV 1&2 alpha studies for IDbox System

Molecular diagnostics company GenturaDx announces the completion of external HSV 1&2 alpha studies for its IDbox instrument and cassette-based tests. Conducted at an external CLIA laboratory, the study analyzed more than 130 samples, including more than 70 clinical specimens.

16 May 2011

Study: HIV treatment drugs slash transmission risk

AIDS researchers offered evidence backing up the long-standing idea that people infected with HIV who are being treated are much less likely to transmit the virus than those who are not on drugs. This finding is being hailed as a breakthrough.

16 May 2011

Disease/Infection News

Thirty years of AIDS

New research demonstrates how geographic profiling can help combat infectious diseases

Opinion: Study will unite HIV advocates, add funding pressure to Obama administration

Bill Gates urges wiser vaccine coverage worldwide to save millions

Decision on destroying last of the stored small pox virus samples

Accelr8 presents initial ICU pilot study results at ATS International Conference

Uganda launches PEPFAR-supported mobile male circumcision clinic

AP reports on Global Fund's release of information on corruption, fund responds

Researchers discover bed bugs with MRSA in lower-income area residents

Concern over vaccine safety prevents parents from vaccinating asthmatic children

World Health Assembly begins in Geneva

Obese patients undergoing colon surgery more likely to develop costly surgical-site infections

Sanofi hopes to launch dengue vaccine in 2014

Super-resolution microscopy technique reveals how and why cell's defenses fail against plague

Linezolid more effective than vancomycin in treating ventilated patients with MRSA pneumonia: Study

Opinion: New HIV infections more expensive than providing antiretroviral drugs to existing patients

Hendra virus vaccine to be released soon

FDA warns consumers about look like antimicrobial dietary supplements

GenturaDx completes external HSV 1&2 alpha studies for IDbox System

Study: HIV treatment drugs slash transmission risk

How can super-resolution technology help study neurotransmission?

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

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