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CDC awards Duke University $2M to study prevention of HAIs using Tru-D disinfection system

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded $2 million to Duke University Prevention Epicenter as part of its program to conduct innovative research in the science of preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections, or HAIs, with the goal of saving lives in healthcare settings.

25 Mar 2011

HIV uses base excision repair pathway to insert DNA into host-cell genome

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS, makes use of the base excision repair pathway when inserting its DNA into the host-cell genome, according to a new study led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Crippling the repair pathway prevents the virus from completing this critical step in the retrovirus's life cycle.

25 Mar 2011

First evidence of H5N1 transmission between domestic farms and wild birds

Wild migratory birds may indeed play a role in the spread of bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1.

25 Mar 2011

Kenya requests emergency order of 45M condoms from PEPFAR

A condom shortage in Kenya caused by high demand and procurement bottlenecks has forced the country to request an emergency order of 45 million condoms from PEPFAR, Kenyan health officials said Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reports. According to the news service, a January order of 19 million condoms was exhausted in about six weeks (3/23).

25 Mar 2011

Study finds malaria as a serious problem for patients with landmine injuries

Malaria can complicate the course of disease in poor farmers with landmine injuries in underdeveloped countries, where both malaria and war injuries are frequent causes of illness and death. Tove Heger's doctoral research has charted the extent and effect of malaria on war-injured people and studied the potential for preventing them contracting the disease.

25 Mar 2011

Graceway receives FDA approval for Zyclara Cream to treat genital warts

Graceway Pharmaceuticals announced today that the Food and Drug Administration has approved Zyclara Cream for the treatment of external genital and perianal warts in patients 12 years of age and older.

25 Mar 2011

FXB and Merck partner to improve systems for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Botswana

The Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center (FXB) of the University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ) School of Nursing will provide training to 150 clinicians in Botswana who will then train more than 6,000 healthcare workers thanks to a grant of nearly $375,000 from The Merck Company Foundation.

25 Mar 2011

Antibiotic treatment does not benefit patients with discoloured phlegm

Prescribing antibiotics for patients with discoloured phlegm caused by acute cough has little or no effect on alleviating symptoms and recovery, a Cardiff University study has found.

25 Mar 2011

EU supports new collaborative research projects on tuberculosis

It's March 24th again and the World Tuberculosis Day reminds us that for almost 50 years no new drugs have been developed against this terrible disease, which is currently killing nearly two million people worldwide each year. It's a global problem because the emergence of drug resistant strains of this infectious disease - normally associated with poverty - is a growing problem even in high-income economies.

25 Mar 2011

Financial Times, other media outlets highlight key issues in Global TB fight

In recognition of World Tuberculosis Day on Thursday, the Financial Times published a series of stories on TB worldwide.

25 Mar 2011

SeraCare launches new HIV panel

SeraCare Life Sciences, a global life sciences company providing vital products and services to facilitate the discovery, development and production of human diagnostics and therapeutics, announces the launch of its new Worldwide HIV Performance Panel.

25 Mar 2011

Researchers find high rates of multi-drug resistant pathogen among LA population

Researchers with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have found high rates of the multi-drug resistant pathogen, carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae among the patient population in long-term acute care hospitals compared to general acute care hospitals across the county.

25 Mar 2011

Opinions: Using taxes to reduce poverty; fighting TB; meeting global food demands

To improve living standards and create jobs," African governments "need to provide their citizens with better health care, better education, more infrastructure. How to pay for this - in a way that is both fair and efficient - is a question that all governments face," Mark Plant, deputy director of the IMF's African Department, writes in a BusinessDay opinion piece where he describes how increased tax revenues in several African countries have led to "in-roads into poverty reduction."

25 Mar 2011

Study finds significant increase in MRSA infections during summer, autumn months

A new study from Rhode Island Hospital has found a significant increase in the occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in the summer and autumn months.

25 Mar 2011

Merck & Co receives FDA approval for Zostavax vaccine to treat shingles

The Food and Drug Administration today approved the use of Zostavax, a live attenuated virus vaccine, for the prevention of shingles in individuals 50 to 59 years of age. Zostavax is already approved for use in individuals 60 years of age and older.

25 Mar 2011

Mosquitoes carry risk of Murray Valley encephalitis warn Victorian health authorities

After detecting some new cases of Murray Valley encephalitis in chickens, health authorities have warned Victorians to protect themselves from mosquito bites. Victoria's chief health officer, Dr John Carnie warned that the deadly disease had been detected in "sentinel" chickens at Cobram, Rutherglen, Toolamba and Bendigo. “These latest detections follow positive results in chickens in similar areas a month ago, including Barmah and Kerang… Evidence of the virus is again present in these areas,” Dr Carnie said.

24 Mar 2011

Immune system misinterprets threats and attacks body's own cells and tissue

Many chronic diseases are the result of the body's immune system mistakenly perceiving that the body is under attack from foreign bodies. A counterattack is then launched - an inflammatory response meant to vanquish the intruder. In reality, the immune system has misinterpreted the threat and is actually attacking the body's own cells and tissue.

24 Mar 2011

WHO report urges countries to step up fight against drug-resistant TB

A WHO report released Wednesday says countries with the highest drug-resistant tuberculosis burdens are making progress in addressing the disease, "but despite the recent scale up in efforts, the world needs to do much more to get care to all [multi-drug resistant] patients who need it," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, Times LIVE reports.

24 Mar 2011

Department of Health acting Secretary stresses need to raise TB awareness

Department of Health acting Secretary Dr. Eli Avila today stressed the need to raise public awareness of tuberculosis, or TB, and the importance of efforts to control—and eventually eliminate—the infectious airborne disease.

24 Mar 2011

Physicians launch international advocacy campaign on TB

Physicians across the globe are coming together to advocate for a large, underrepresented patient population - those suffering from tuberculosis. On World TB Day, March 24th, a team of physician and researchers led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine's Tuberculosis Research Unit will nationally launch "I am TB," an international advocacy campaign aimed at reducing stigma among patients with TB and those at risk for the disease.

24 Mar 2011