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$HIV-infected patients may face increased risk of bone fracture$

HIV-infected patients may face increased risk of bone fracture

Low bone mineral density in HIV-infected patients is common and raises concerns about increased risks of fracture. Although there have been several studies regarding bone mineral density, there have been few data on rates of fracture in this population.

11 Mar 2011

Positive preliminary results from Sinovac EV71 vaccine phase I trial in adults

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today the unblinding of the Phase I clinical trial results for the adult population for its proprietary inactivated vaccine against human enterovirus 71, which causes hand, foot, and mouth disease.

10 Mar 2011

FDA approves Matrix NDA for Zidovudine Tablets

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Matrix Laboratories Limited has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief for its New Drug Application for Zidovudine Tablets, 100 mg.

10 Mar 2011

House Foreign Affairs Committee hears testimony on security, human rights, health in Democratic Republic of Congo

At a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Tuesday, Ben Affleck, the actor, writer and director, and "other witnesses urged the Obama administration to immediately appoint a special envoy" for the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is due for a national election in November, CNN reports.

10 Mar 2011

New research identifies major surgeries that face risk of developing postoperative sepsis

Sepsis, a life-threatening bacterial infection of the blood, is an unwanted and costly complication to patients and the health care system. New research at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has identified major elective surgeries in which sepsis occurs most often post-procedure, along with extenuating conditions such as age, gender and type of hospital that increase the risk for sepsis.

10 Mar 2011

PQC: Americans express rising concern about hospital acquired infections

Despite significant advances made during the last several years, most Americans view the care delivered in America today as merely adequate - with 20 percent rating care as poor compared to only 8 percent who rated care as excellent. Americans expressed rising concern about hospital acquired infections, sepsis and other preventable conditions, according to new research released today by the Partnership for Quality Care.

10 Mar 2011

AHF unveils new national advertising campaign about AIDS drugs

AIDS Healthcare Foundation today unveiled a new national advertising campaign headlined, "There Is No Magic Pill," an advocacy and awareness campaign to educate and prompt discussion among gay men and others regarding Gilead Sciences and its likely plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for use of its blockbuster AIDS drug Truvada as a form a 'pre-exposure prophylaxis' to prevent HIV transmission.

10 Mar 2011

Swine flu virus may evolve into a deadlier form

In the fall of 1917, a new strain of influenza swirled around the globe. At first, it resembled a typical flu epidemic: Most deaths occurred among the elderly, while younger people recovered quickly. However, in the summer of 1918, a deadlier version of the same virus began spreading, with disastrous consequence. In total, the pandemic killed at least 50 million people - about 3 percent of the world's population at the time.

10 Mar 2011

Opinions: Investing in science, technology; Indian public-private partnership for NTDs; U.S. global food security investments; Clinton's statements on PEPFAR; U.S. foreign aid; primary care

"Now is the time to support science and technology - especially in difficult economic times. It is the right thing to do, and it makes good economic sense," Alex Dehgan, science and technology adviser to the USAID administrator, and Kaitlin Christenson, coalition director for the Global Health Technologies Coalition, write in an opinion piece appearing on The Hill's "Congress Blog."

10 Mar 2011

Salmonella may serve as valuable tool to fight against cancer

University of Minnesota researchers are using salmonella - the bacteria commonly transmitted through food that sickens thousands of U.S. residents each year - to do what was once unthinkable: help people.

10 Mar 2011

Illicit drug users may face increased risk of microbial infections

Illicit drug users are at increased risk of being exposed to microbial pathogens and are more susceptible to serious infections say physicians writing in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

10 Mar 2011

Vertex to present telaprevir and VX-222 study results against hepatitis C at EASL annual meeting

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today that 15 abstracts on the company's medicines in development for hepatitis C, including its protease inhibitor, telaprevir, and polymerase inhibitor, VX-222, were accepted for presentation at the 46th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Berlin, Germany, March 30 to April 3, 2011.

9 Mar 2011

Research shows how tubercle bacterium manages to survive inside body's macrophage cells

Tuberculosis kills two million people each year and is once again gaining ground also in Sweden and other Western countries. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden are now presenting new findings that show how the tubercle bacterium manages to survive inside the body's macrophage cells in order eventually to blow them up and spread their infection.

9 Mar 2011

Merck to present VICTRELIS phase III study data against HCV at EASL annual meeting

Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced that several new data analyses from Phase III studies of VICTRELIS, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, will be presented at The International Liver CongressTM / 46th European Association for the Study of the Liver annual meeting.

9 Mar 2011

Also in global health news: Rights abuses in Myanmar; Indian malnutrition; Mali Global Fund grant; shift in USAID's programs in Afghanistan; Gates Foundation grant for vaccines

Human Rights Abuses Impacting Health Situation In Parts Of Myanmar, Study Says.

9 Mar 2011

Survey: Most HIV-positive patients die of cancer

Most HIV-positive patients die of cancer. In the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Manfred Hensel's research group presents epidemiological data.

9 Mar 2011

ITMNs can reduce Japanese Encephalitis transmission to humans

A new study revealed that using treated mosquito nets could drastically reduce the transmission of Japanese Encephalitis to humans.

9 Mar 2011

Chemotherapy drugs also kill malaria parasite

A group of researchers from EPFL's Global Health Institute (GHI) and Inserm (Institut National de la Sant- et de la Recherche M-dicale, the French government agency for biomedical research) has discovered that a class of chemotherapy drugs originally designed to inhibit key signaling pathways in cancer cells also kills the parasite that causes malaria. The discovery could quickly open up a whole new strategy for combating this deadly disease.

9 Mar 2011

Study: HBV infection reduces risk of liver metastasis in CRC patients

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Western countries. Metastatic liver disease more frequently develops metachronous metastasis following treatment of CRC.

9 Mar 2011

Study finds AFFIRM assay may accurately detect Trichamonos vaginalis

A study from the microbiology lab at Rhode Island Hospital has found that a new test may be more accurate in identifying a common sexually transmitted infection, Trichamonos vaginalis.

8 Mar 2011