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Copper may help fight against healthcare-associated infections

In a busy Birmingham teaching hospital, researchers swapped a conventional toilet seat, tap-handles and a ward door push-plate for similar items made from 70% copper. They compared the number of microbes on the copper surfaces against the number of bacteria on the same items from another ward and found that the copper surfaces had 90-100% fewer live bacteria than the non-copper surfaces.

2 Dec 2009

Universal Access and Human Rights: A central theme for World AIDS Day 2009

More than 33.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the world today with 2.7 million new infections occurring each year. FHSSA reports, Sub-Saharan Africa is unequally impacted by HIV/AIDS, with 71% of new infections each year.

2 Dec 2009

New patented technology to combat healthcare-associated infections

Independent testing performed at ATS Labs, an internationally recognized antimicrobial testing laboratory, demonstrated that PerfectClean with Micrillon wipers eliminated biological contaminants in a very short time. This promising technology has the potential to impact disinfection practices in the healthcare market.

2 Dec 2009

World AIDS Day: IAC to be held in D.C.; examination of Obama's HIV/AIDS efforts; UNICEF report

During a briefing on the eve of World AIDS Day Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the International AIDS Society (IAS) has chosen Washington, D.C., to host the 2012 International AIDS Conference (IAC) now that the "decades-old ban on HIV-positive visitors" to the U.S. has been lifted, Agence France-Presse reports (11/30).

2 Dec 2009

Kaiser Permanente announce grants to nonprofit organizations to help HIV/AIDS patients

Kaiser Permanente announced today that more than 60 nonprofit organizations from Kern to San Diego will receive grants totaling more than $750,000 to help fund a wide range of services for people with HIV and AIDS, including youth education, prevention, screening and treatment programs, as well as housing assistance and food pantries.

2 Dec 2009

CHG Healthcare Services implements campaign to lessen the spread of H1N1 among employees

With the height of seasonal flu season approaching and the pandemic of H1N1 in the headlines, CHG Healthcare Services has designed and mobilized a campaign to keep employees informed of the latest flu trends affecting their offices.

2 Dec 2009

Op-eds on World AIDS Day: Research, funding, hunger, Uganda

The "National Institutes of Health - perhaps our best hope for funding a cure for AIDS - has been underfunded since 2003," Kate Krauss, director of the AIDS Policy Project, writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece.

1 Dec 2009

Swine flu cases appear to have peaked

The current wave of pandemic H1N1 appears to have peaked, with four weeks of declines in several key indicators, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Despite the decrease, the outbreak is continuing to take a heavy toll of hospitalizations and deaths, especially among children.

1 Dec 2009

Chembio Diagnostics donates over 4,500 HIV test kits for the 2009 Testing Millions Global Campaign

Chembio Diagnostics, Inc., a NY-based company that develops, manufactures, licenses and markets proprietary rapid diagnostic tests, is donating more than 4,500 rapid HIV test kits to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's 2009 Testing Millions Global Campaign, based in Los Angeles, to commemorate World AIDS Day 2009 on December 1st.

1 Dec 2009

Positive results from Ardea Biosciences' ongoing drug-drug interaction study of RDEA594 and febuxostat

Ardea Biosciences, Inc. announced positive results from the first dosing group of an ongoing drug-drug interaction and pharmacodynamic study of RDEA594, its lead product candidate for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout, and febuxostat (Uloric®, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Adenuric®, Ipsen). This

1 Dec 2009

MedImmune to develop and commercialize Trellis Bioscience's anti-RSV antibodies

Trellis Bioscience, Inc. announced today the granting of a worldwide exclusive license to MedImmune, LLC, the global biologics unit of AstraZeneca, to develop and commercialize Trellis’ antibodies directed against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

1 Dec 2009

Positive data from Provectus Pharmaceuticals' psoriasis and atopic dermatitis trials

Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development-stage oncology and dermatology biopharmaceutical company, announced preliminary data for the company’s PH-10 Phase 2 clinical trial for Psoriasis as well as for its Phase 2 clinical trial for Atopic Dermatitis.

1 Dec 2009

New form of pathogen becomes a healthcare challenge in Africa

Research shows how a new, more deadly strain of Salmonella emerged over an 18-month period. Becoming resistant to antibiotics, acquiring the ability to spread from person to person and losing genes along the way, the new strain has become a healthcare challenge in Africa, killing up to one in four patients.

1 Dec 2009

Akonni Biosystems receives $3.2M Phase II SBIR grant from NIH

Akonni Biosystems, a molecular diagnostics (MDx) company focused on providing rapid and highly scalable solutions for infectious disease testing, today announced receipt of a $3.2M Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

1 Dec 2009

AHF lauds WHO for its crucial HIV treatment recommendations

On the eve of World AIDS Day 2009, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) praised the World Health Organization (WHO) for its new HIV treatment recommendations which include starting lifesaving antiretroviral treatment (ART) earlier (at a t-cell count of <350 cells/mm3 instead of <200) for all HIV-positive adults and adolescents and earlier treatment initiation for HIV-positive pregnant women who should now begin treatment at 14 weeks into pregnancy, rather than 28 weeks as previously recommended, and continue until the end of breastfeeding.

1 Dec 2009

New research highlights need for national strategy on HIV prevention education

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that well over one million people in the United States are infected with HIV/AIDS. New research from North Carolina State University shows that many of those infected are minorities and do not have health insurance, and highlights the need for a national strategy to facilitate education and prevention efforts in minority and low-income populations.

1 Dec 2009

New analysis suggests physicians should change their diagnosis and treatment for sore throat

New analysis from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) suggests that physicians need to re-think their diagnosis and treatment of sore throat, or pharyngitis, in adolescents and young adults to consider a more newly identified and potentially dangerous culprit as the source of that infection.

1 Dec 2009

Department of Health reminds Pennsylvanians to be tested regularly for HIV

In recognition of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, Department of Health Secretary Everette James today reminded Pennsylvanians to be tested regularly for HIV - the virus that causes AIDS.

1 Dec 2009

Global community once again recognizes World AIDS Day

On December 1, the global community once again recognizes World AIDS Day and the 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. This is also a time to renew our commitment to work together to fight against this epidemic and pay homage to the millions of people who have lost their lives because of it.

1 Dec 2009

Mechanism blocking HIV-1 from entering cells identified

Publishing in PLoS Pathogens, researchers at from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found a novel mechanism by which drugs block HIV-1 from entering host cells.

1 Dec 2009