Disease/Infection News

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ISEFC, TB Alliance to establish Global Health R&D Center of China

The International Scientific Exchange Foundation of China, a technical public foundation dedicated to promoting and advancing scientific development, cooperation, and exchange, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, to work together to establish the Global Health R&D Center of China, a world-class organization focused on developing innovative new treatments for public health diseases, including tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

24 Mar 2011

SAVE THE PATIENT offers hygiene tips to prevent hospital-acquired infection

With infections contracted in hospitals rising at alarmingly high rates, patients cannot simply rely on hospital hygiene practices and protocols to protect themselves. Patients need to proactively interact with health care staff to ensure their own safety.

24 Mar 2011

Gilead's elvitegravir Phase III trial against HIV-1 meets primary objective

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that the Phase III clinical trial of its investigational antiretroviral agent elvitegravir, a novel oral integrase inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-experienced patients, met its primary objective.

24 Mar 2011

Tick-borne disease identified as emerging threat

Five years ago, large numbers of farmers in central China began falling victim to an mysterious disease marked by high fever, gastrointestinal disorder and an appalling mortality rate - as high as 30 percent in initial reports. Investigators from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention hurried to the scene of the outbreak. On the basis of DNA evidence, they quickly concluded that it had been caused by human granulocytic anaplasmosis, a bacteria transmitted by tick bites.

24 Mar 2011

Drug resistance tuberculosis concerns

According to a report released Wednesday, the World Health Organization revealed that drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) accounts for about 440,000 cases and 150,000 deaths worldwide each year. The WHO called for better diagnosis and more funding for treatment of the drug-resistant disease that's harder to cure.

23 Mar 2011

Researchers create nanosurfaces to seal leg prosthetics against bacteria entry

In recent years, researchers have worked to develop more flexible, functional prosthetics for soldiers returning home from battlefields in Afghanistan or Iraq with missing arms or legs. But even new prosthetics have trouble keeping bacteria from entering the body through the space where the device has been implanted.

23 Mar 2011

Japanese, International officials continue to monitor radiation levels

Japanese officials plan to measure radiation levels in the ocean beyond the country's borders on Tuesday and Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said, CNN reports.

23 Mar 2011

Opinions: Counterfeit medicines; oral rehydration therapy in Bangladesh; increasing access to safe drinking water; attracting R&D for health issues in Latin America

"The Obama administration and Congress should continue efforts to strengthen the safety of America's drug supply and, simultaneously, coordinate a global response to the problem of counterfeit drugs," Thomas Kubic, president & CEO of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute and a former deputy assistant director at the FBI, writes in a post on The Hill's "Congress Blog," where he describes the health risks associated with such drugs.

23 Mar 2011

Strong 'innate immunity' effective in chikungunya patients

Chikungunya is transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. The disease is spreading in the world and periodically sparks new outbreaks. Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean and even Southern Europe are now affected.

23 Mar 2011

Researchers launch free online Atlas of TB vaccination policies around the world

Tuberculosis continues to pose a major global health threat. Someone in the world is newly infected with TB bacteria every second. Every year, more than 9 million people develop active TB and it claims about 2 million lives.

22 Mar 2011

CSL Behring presents Hizentra study data against PI at AAAAI meeting

Data presented by CSL Behring today suggest that treatment with higher dose Hizentra correlates with reduced risk of infection and missed school or work among patients with primary immunodeficiencies.

22 Mar 2011

VirWall launches new UV sanitizer to eliminate bacteria, virus from communication devices

ViraShield, the new UV sanitizer introduced by VirWall Systems Inc., is the first multi-purpose device of its kind that takes only seconds to rid those products we've come to depend on of the bacteria and viruses that typically crawl, breed and cover the surfaces of our personal communications devices.

22 Mar 2011

Watson introduces Famciclovir tablets to treat cold sores, genital herpes

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc. has launched Famciclovir tablets, 125 mg, 250 mg and 500 mg, the generic version of Novartis' Famvir following approval of its Abbreviated New Drug Application by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

22 Mar 2011

Abbott receives CE-Mark for new qualitative PCR-based HIV-1 test

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced today that it has received CE-Mark for a new qualitative PCR-based HIV-1 test that produces highly accurate results from dried blood spot and plasma specimens. The new assay is a long-awaited diagnostic tool for health officials in African nations and other resource-limited areas to detect HIV-1 infected infants at early stages and begin treatment when success is more likely.

21 Mar 2011

FDA clears Insmed IND for ARIKACE Phase 3 clinical trial in nontuberculous mycobacteria lung infections

Insmed Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, announced today that the Company's Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to conduct a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of ARIKACE™ (liposomal amikacin for inhalation) in nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung infections has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

21 Mar 2011

NanoViricides reports improved efficacy with optimized FluCide nanoviricide drug candidates for influenza

NanoViricides, Inc. reported dramatically improved antiviral efficacy with its optimized FluCide™ drug candidates in its most recent animal study.

21 Mar 2011

Medicago launches clinical development of seasonal flu vaccine

Medicago Inc. a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that the first dose of vaccine has been administered thereby initiating the Company's phase I H1N1 influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H1N1 vaccine") clinical trial in the United States. The primary safety and immunogenicity results for this trial are expected within three months.

21 Mar 2011

APHA issues statement recommending improved safety for workers in adult film industry

In a newly posted position paper on its website, the American Public Health Association, the oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world representing over 50,000 health professionals and others who work to promote health, prevent disease and ensure conditions in which all can be safe and healthy, has issued a comprehensive policy statement, "Prevention and Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV among Performers in the Adult Film Industry," that includes a series of recommendations intended to foster improved safety and workplace conditions for workers in the adult film industry.

19 Mar 2011

Symposium discusses about novel approaches to bacterial caries management

Saturday, March 19, during the 89th General Session & Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, held in conjunction with the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research and the 35th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, a symposium titled "Novel Approaches to Bacterial Caries Management: an Efficacious Solution in View?" will take place.

19 Mar 2011

Reports highlight global state of TB epidemic, concerns over drug-resistant TB

Increasing rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis "are hampering world health programs aimed at tackling TB and threaten to wipe out progress made against the disease, scientists said on Friday," Reuters reports (Kelland, 3/18).

19 Mar 2011