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U.N. Secretary-General calls for scale up of global malaria efforts ahead of World Malaria Day

Global malaria control efforts must be significantly scaled up if the world is to reach the goal of reducing malaria deaths to almost zero by 2015, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message on Thursday ahead of World Malaria Day, which is officially observed on Monday, the U.N. News Centre writes.

25 Apr 2011

Group B streptococci continues to increase risk of sepsis in newborns

Bloodstream infections in newborns can lead to serious complications with substantial morbidity and mortality. What's more, the pathogens responsible for neonatal infections have changed over time. In recent years, however, antibiotic prophylaxis given to at-risk mothers has reduced the incidence of early-onset group B streptococcal infections among their babies.

25 Apr 2011

FDA approves Sanofi Pasteur's meningococcal vaccine

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted licensure to expand the indication for its meningococcal conjugate vaccine, Menactra, to include a two-dose schedule for infants and children 9 months through 23 months of age.

25 Apr 2011

AHF opposes Florida officials' AIDS budget proposal at 'Rule 64D' hearings

Beginning Monday April 25th the Florida Department of Health is conducting four public hearings on proposed reductions to the eligibility threshold to Florida's AIDS Drug Assistance Program, AIDS Insurance Continuation Program, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, and possibly other Ryan White funded programs and services.

25 Apr 2011

AP reports on Global Fund malaria drug thefts, issues correction

The Associated Press on Wednesday published an article reporting that hundreds of millions of dollars of malaria medication had been stolen from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, but later issued a correction.

25 Apr 2011

Maxwell Biotech, Sequella enter license agreement to commercialize SQ109 for TB treatment

Sequella, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on commercializing novel antibiotics to treat life-threatening infectious diseases, and Maxwell Biotech Venture Fund announced their agreement to complete the clinical development and commercialize SQ109 for treatment of tuberculosis in the Russian Federation and neighboring Commonwealth of Independent States countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine.

25 Apr 2011

Creative approach can tackle bacterial infections in patients with cystic fibrosis

An over-the-counter drug used to treat diarrhea combined with minocycline, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, could one day change the lives of those living with cystic fibrosis.

25 Apr 2011

Anacor's AN2728 and GSK '052 new data to be presented at upcoming meetings

Anacor Pharmaceuticals announced today that it will present data on two of its compounds at the following conferences: “Safety and efficacy of AN2728 ointment in a phase 2b dose-ranging bilateral study of mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis”.

25 Apr 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

When health ministers gather for the World Health Assembly in May they will try to come up with a solution to "a dilemma that has dogged decision-makers for decades - whether and when to destroy the last remaining stocks of the smallpox virus," David Heymann and Emma Ross, both of the Global Health Security Centre at Chatham House, write in an article in The World Today.

25 Apr 2011

Sanofi Pasteur receives FDA approval for Menactra to prevent meningococcal disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the use of Menactra in children as young as 9 months for the prevention of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y and W-135. Menactra already is approved for use in people ages 2 through 55 years.

24 Apr 2011

Congressman Holt congratulates Vaxinnate for BARDA award to develop next generation of flu vaccines

U.S. Congressman Rush Holt (R-12th) visited the headquarters of VaxInnate Corporation today, where he congratulated the biotechnology company on having received a U.S. government contract to fund development of the next generation of flu vaccines and called for more technology investments to improve the health of all Americans.

22 Apr 2011

Idera announces delay in commencement of IMO-2125 Phase 2 clinical trial in treatment-naive HCV patients

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has chosen to delay initiating its planned Phase 2 clinical trial of IMO-2125 based on preliminary data from a 26-week nonclinical toxicology study of IMO-2125 in rodents. The Phase 2 clinical trial involves the evaluation of IMO-2125 plus ribavirin in treatment-naïve, genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients.

22 Apr 2011

UNITAID has raised $2B through airline tax since 2006, could be model for G20 development funding, UNITAID chair says

UNITAID, an international drug financing program established to help fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries, has raised about $2 billion since 2006 through taxes on airline tickets in 15 countries, Philippe Douste-Blazy, chair of the UNITAID executive board, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reports. According to Douste-Blazy, UNITAID's experience could provide a model for G20 development funding efforts.

22 Apr 2011

Sleeping sickness parasites alter form to survive and spread

Fresh insight into the survival strategy of the parasite that causes sleeping sickness could help inform new treatments for the disease.

22 Apr 2011

New study: Children born with HIV are now faring well into adolescence, adulthood

Once facing an almost certain death sentence, most children born with HIV are now faring well into adolescence and adulthood, according to a newly published study co-authored by Tulane infectious diseases expert Dr. Russell Van Dyke. The study was published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

22 Apr 2011

Researchers discover new compound to fight against shingles

Researchers at the University of Georgia and Yale University have discovered a compound with the potential to be more effective than existing agents in treating the very painful blisters known as shingles-a condition that affects up to 30 percent of Americans, mostly elderly, and for which no specific treatment exists.

22 Apr 2011

Also in global health news: Nuclear accidents; measles outbreak in Europe; funding shortfall in Zimbabwe; drinking water in Pakistan; agricultural development in S. Asia

The world must prepare for more major nuclear accidents, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday at a Kiev conference marking the explosion of a reactor at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear reactor 25 years ago, the Associated Press reports.

22 Apr 2011

Scientists discover new mechanism behind Salmonella invasion into gut cells

Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany have discovered a new, hitherto unknown mechanism of Salmonella invasion into gut cells: In this entry mode, the bacteria exploit the muscle power of cells to be pulled into the host cell cytoplasm.

22 Apr 2011

Opinions: Fight against malaria; small, medium businesses in developing countries; BP oil spill health implications

Despite progress over the past decade in the global fight against malaria, significant challenges remain, Awa Marie Coll-Seck, executive director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and former health minister of Senegal, writes in a Modern Ghana opinion piece ahead of World Malaria Day.

22 Apr 2011

CTIS Pregnancy Health Information Line aims to educate women about meningitis

The California Teratogen Information Service Pregnancy Health Information Line, a state-wide non-profit organization based at the University of California, San Diego with affiliates across North America, will join in the effort to raise awareness of meningitis prevention by helping to launch a new study that will assess safety of the meningitis vaccine in pregnancy.

22 Apr 2011

Disease/Infection News

U.N. Secretary-General calls for scale up of global malaria efforts ahead of World Malaria Day

Group B streptococci continues to increase risk of sepsis in newborns

FDA approves Sanofi Pasteur's meningococcal vaccine

AHF opposes Florida officials' AIDS budget proposal at 'Rule 64D' hearings

AP reports on Global Fund malaria drug thefts, issues correction

Maxwell Biotech, Sequella enter license agreement to commercialize SQ109 for TB treatment

Creative approach can tackle bacterial infections in patients with cystic fibrosis

Anacor's AN2728 and GSK '052 new data to be presented at upcoming meetings

Recent releases in Global Health

Sanofi Pasteur receives FDA approval for Menactra to prevent meningococcal disease

Congressman Holt congratulates Vaxinnate for BARDA award to develop next generation of flu vaccines

Idera announces delay in commencement of IMO-2125 Phase 2 clinical trial in treatment-naive HCV patients

UNITAID has raised $2B through airline tax since 2006, could be model for G20 development funding, UNITAID chair says

Sleeping sickness parasites alter form to survive and spread

New study: Children born with HIV are now faring well into adolescence, adulthood

Researchers discover new compound to fight against shingles

Also in global health news: Nuclear accidents; measles outbreak in Europe; funding shortfall in Zimbabwe; drinking water in Pakistan; agricultural development in S. Asia

Scientists discover new mechanism behind Salmonella invasion into gut cells

Opinions: Fight against malaria; small, medium businesses in developing countries; BP oil spill health implications

CTIS Pregnancy Health Information Line aims to educate women about meningitis

Unlocking drug amorphization: Continuous, solvent-free twin screw granulation

How can super-resolution technology help study neurotransmission?

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

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