Disease/Infection News

RSS

Smoking-related illnesses could kill up to 1b people this century, U.N. official says

As many as one billion people could die of smoking-related illnesses this century if efforts to curb the practice are not implemented, a senior U.N. health official warned on Friday, the U.N. News Centre reports.

3 May 2011

Washing hands with contaminated soap can increase bacterial infection

People who wash their hands with contaminated soap from bulk-soap-refillable dispensers can increase the number of disease-causing microbes on their hands and may play a role in transmission of bacteria in public settings according to research published in the May issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

3 May 2011

Opinions: Population growth; global HIV response; global malaria fight; child brides

International population dynamics are a "ticking time bomb, which we cannot afford to neglect any longer," George Tsereteli, president of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, writes in a New Europe opinion piece.

3 May 2011

Secondhand smoke is hazardous for children hospitalized with flu

Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to need intensive care and intubation when hospitalized with influenza, according to new research by the University of Rochester Medical Center presented today at the Pediatric Academic Society meeting in Denver. The children also had longer hospital stays.

3 May 2011

FDA clears ITI's FilmArray RP assay for respiratory virus detection

Idaho Technology, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a 510(k) clearance for the FilmArray instrument and the FilmArray Respiratory Panel.

3 May 2011

Pregnant women with H1N1 more likely to have low birth weight baby

In 2009, the United States was gripped by concern for a new winter threat: the H1N1 strain of influenza. According to research conducted through that winter, pregnant women were right to be concerned.

3 May 2011

Hospitals can implement preventive measures to reduce measles outbreak

The U.S. measles vaccination program has been successful in eliminating endemic measles in the United States; yet this success has provided challenges that require ongoing vigilance for the rapid identification and response to measles cases in health care settings.

2 May 2011

Young black MSM may face high risk of HIV infection

Young black men who have sex with men get infected with HIV nearly five times more often than MSM from other races, even though they don't have more unprotected sex.

2 May 2011

New research sheds light on why young black males have high HIV infection rates

New research is shedding light on why young black males who have sex with males have among the highest rates of HIV infection in the United States, even though their reported use of condoms is similar to males of other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

2 May 2011

MedImmune abstracts on influenza and RSV to be presented at PAS meeting

MedImmune announced today it will present 11 abstracts at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO, April 30 - May 3, 2011.

2 May 2011

Penn State launches unique oral hygiene approach for dementia patients

Nurses who care for patients with dementia now have a tailored approach to dental hygiene for their charges, thanks to a pilot study by a team of nurses.

2 May 2011

Addison's patients with low cortisol levels more likely to get infections

Two new studies presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Rotterdam show the possible dangers facing patients with Addison's disease are higher than previously thought.

2 May 2011

Obese pregnant women are less able to fight infections

Pregnant women who are obese are less able to fight infections than lean women, which could affect their baby's health after birth and later in life, according to research to be presented Sunday, May 1, at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Denver.

2 May 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

African Nations Rightly Proceed With DDT Plans: "Environmental activists inside and outside UNEP love to hate DDT and will seemingly stop at nothing to ensure it is never produced or used. But there is a macabre irony in their anti-DDT campaigns. With all the technological advancement of the 21st century that now ensures the average person born today will live longer than at any time in human history, SADC will be producing a chemical first synthesized in the 1800s.

30 Apr 2011

PURE named winner of CSN 2011 National Child Safety Award

PURE Bioscience, Inc., creator of the patented silver dihydrogen citrate antimicrobial, today announced that Child Safety Network has named PURE the winner of its 2011 National Child Safety Award and has granted PURE Hard Surface disinfectant its Safe Family Seal of Approval.

30 Apr 2011

Bioniche Life Sciences opens new livestock vaccine manufacturing facility

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today officially opened its new Animal Health and Food Safety Vaccine Manufacturing Centre at its corporate headquarters in Belleville, Ontario, Canada.

30 Apr 2011

HIV/AIDS research in Africa

Nowhere in the world has the AIDS/HIV pandemic cut a greater swath of devastation than in sub-Saharan Africa, where two-thirds of all people infected with the virus reside. As Barbara Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN, discovered firsthand, no segment of society there has been left unscathed.

30 Apr 2011

Preventive measures needed to ensure protection from workplace hazards, ILO head says

Preventive measures are the best way to ensure people are protected from hazards in the workplace, U.N. International Labor Union Director-General Juan Somavia said in a message Thursday marking the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the U.N. News Centre reports.

30 Apr 2011

AAHIVM praises Pennsylvania Senate's passage of legislation that reduces barriers to routine HIV testing

The American Academy of HIV Medicine, the nation's leading HIV care provider organization, praised the Pennsylvania State Senate today for the passage of legislation sponsored by state Sen. Ted Erickson (R-26) that reduces barriers to routine HIV testing.

30 Apr 2011

AHF advocates to attend drug giant Abbott Laboratories' Annual General Meeting

A group of advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation will attend drug giant Abbott Laboratories' Annual General Meeting Friday April 29 at 9:00am in Abbott Park, Illinois planning to speak at and question Abbott executives regarding Abbott's pricing and policies on its HIV/AIDS medications.

30 Apr 2011