Disease/Infection News

RSS

Workers combat hospital infections

CNN reports on efforts to combat hospital-acquired infections, which affect 1.7 million people each year and kill 99,000, while adding $28 billion to the nation's overall health care bill, according to federal research. "But there are signs of improvement. Pennsylvania, which requires the most extensive reporting of hospital-acquired infections, saw the annual rate for all infections drop 8 percent, according to the most recent figures available from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council."

22 Jan 2010

Progress in Anadys Pharmaceuticals' Phase II study of ANA598 announced

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that ANA598 dosing has been completed in the first dose cohort, 200 mg bid, in an ongoing Phase II study of ANA598 in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin (SOC) in HCV patients.

22 Jan 2010

AHF/Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ tour to conduct testing event at Albuquerque, New Mexico

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour, a six month, 48 state national cross country HIV testing tour, will tumble into Albuquerque, New Mexico for a testing event at El Mezquite Market from 10am to 2pm Friday January 22nd. Free testing will take place on AHF’s new, state-of-the-art ‘Testing America’ mobile HIV testing unit. AHF is working in conjunction with New Mexico AIDS Services, a respected local non-profit HIV/AIDS organization.

22 Jan 2010

GSK announces new initiatives for addressing healthcare challenges in the world's poorest countries

Andrew Witty, Chief Executive of GlaxoSmithKline, today announced a series of new initiatives targeted at further transforming the company's approach to diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poorest countries. His announcements build on commitments made in 2009 to work in partnership, expand access to medicines and encourage new research into neglected tropical diseases.

22 Jan 2010

BioTech Medics begins creating TV and radio commercials for SHBAN Alcohol Free Antiseptic Hand Sanitizer

BioTech Medics, Inc. announced today that they have begun the pre-production stage of creating two minute, sixty second and thirty second direct response TV and radio commercials for nationwide distribution for its proprietary SHBAN™ Alcohol Free Antiseptic Hand Sanitizer.

22 Jan 2010

OHAfrica reaches significant milestone in HIV/AIDS treatment program in Africa

For more than five years, OHAfrica - through Tšepong Clinic - has helped support HIV/AIDS treatment and testing in Lesotho, a small country in southern Africa with the third highest HIV infection rate in the world.

22 Jan 2010

hESC "reporter" line to measure endothelial cell production and activity

New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF)-Druckenmiller Fellow, Daylon James, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medial College, is lead author on a study defining conditions for generating a plentiful supply of endothelial (vessel lining) cells that are suitable for therapeutic use. Dr. James and his colleagues created a human embryonic stem cell (hESC) "reporter" line that can be used to measure endothelial cell production and activity.

22 Jan 2010

Pediatric hospitals can decrease bloodstream infections following low-tech rules

Pediatric hospitals can significantly decrease the number of bloodstream infections from central venous catheters by following some low-tech rules: Insert the catheter correctly and, above all, keep everything squeaky clean after that.

22 Jan 2010

Researchers show how MRSA transmission can be tracked in hospital settings

For the first time, researchers have shown how transmission of MRSA from one person to another can be precisely tracked in a hospital setting. The team have developed a remarkable new method that can 'zoom' from large-scale inter-continental transmission events to the much finer detail of person-to-person infection of MRSA within a single hospital.

22 Jan 2010

Current research suggests flu may predispose to secondary bacterial infections

Current research suggests that the flu may predispose to secondary bacterial infections, which account for a significant proportion of mortality during flu pandemics. The related report by Lee et al, "A mouse model of lethal synergism between influenza virus and Haemophilus influenzae," appears in the February 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

22 Jan 2010

New study concerning the severity of H1N1 influenza published in CMAJ

A new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/doi/10.1503/cmaj.091884 concerning the severity of H1N1 influenza has found that admissions to an intensive care unit (ICU) were associated with a longer interval between symptom onset and treatment with antivirals and with presence of an underlying medical condition.

22 Jan 2010

Clorox urges organizations to equip with flu prevention educational tools to prevent virus spread

Seasonal flu activity typically peaks in January or later, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the flu virus can spread as late as May. On top of the rising seasonal flu activity, this season the 2009 H1N1 virus is also circulating. Organizations – and particularly mass transportation systems where many people pass through daily – need to be ready to combat and help prevent the further spread of both flu viruses this winter and spring.

22 Jan 2010

BC Centre for Disease Control launches influenza genome sequencing project

The BC Centre for Disease Control has launched an influenza genome sequencing project to better understand how the pandemic H1N1 flu virus has evolved in British Columbia, and may continue to evolve in the coming months.

22 Jan 2010

Ordinary face masks and hand hygiene can reduce transmission of influenza-like illness

Ordinary face masks and hand hygiene can effectively reduce the transmission of influenza-like illness during flu season. The finding comes from a new study, now available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/650396), published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

22 Jan 2010

HIV infection causes premature aging of the brain

HIV infection or the treatments used to control it are prematurely aging the brain, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California-San Diego have found.

22 Jan 2010

Reuters examines chronic disease in developing countries, future of drug prices

"Global health projections leave little doubt that chronic diseases are rapidly overtaking infectious diseases, such as malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), as the world's biggest killers - a shift emphasized by a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on global health risks," Reuters writes in a story analyzing the future of drug pricing in the developing world. Longer life-spans in developing countries "and changing patterns of food, alcohol and tobacco consumption are creating a 'double burden' for poor nations, piling chronic diseases on top of infectious diseases," the news service writes.

21 Jan 2010

Exalenz Bioscience finalizes production of its BreathID System for detecting H. pylori bacteria

Exalenz Bioscience has finalized production of the BreathID® and is preparing to ship the first devices and kits that are used in the detection of Helicobacter pylori bacteria. Additionally, in preparation for its American launch, the company is in the process of establishing national distribution channels. The company has recently announced the appointment of Mr. Dennis Boyle as Vice-President and National Manager in the USA. In his previous position, Mr. Boyle was director of sales and marketing to medical laboratories for Siemens USA.

21 Jan 2010

Pharmasset commences PSI-7977 Phase 2a trial for HCV

Pharmasset, Inc. today announces the initiation of a 28-day Phase 2a study with PSI-7977, a chirally pure isomer form of PSI-7851, a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor in development for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV). The trial will evaluate various doses of PSI-7977 in combination with Pegasys (peginterferon alfa 2a) and Copegus (ribavirin) in patients with HCV genotype 1 who have not been treated previously.

21 Jan 2010

ETMC Athens effectively handles record number of H1N1 cases

Throughout the month of September, East Texas Medical Center Athens (ETMC Athens) has seen a 42% average increase in number of patients per day and is taking it in stride. Improved efficiencies in the Emergency Department facilitated by a process improvement firm, Compirion Healthcare, have allowed the hospital to absorb the volume and see an improvement in quality.

21 Jan 2010

Global health community to be engaged in using resources of GSK and Alnylam IP Pool

BIO Ventures for Global Health, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Alnylam announced today that the organizations are partnering to engage the global health community in using the powerful resources of the GSK and Alnylam Intellectual Property (IP) Pool.

21 Jan 2010

Disease/Infection News

Workers combat hospital infections

Progress in Anadys Pharmaceuticals' Phase II study of ANA598 announced

AHF/Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ tour to conduct testing event at Albuquerque, New Mexico

GSK announces new initiatives for addressing healthcare challenges in the world's poorest countries

BioTech Medics begins creating TV and radio commercials for SHBAN Alcohol Free Antiseptic Hand Sanitizer

OHAfrica reaches significant milestone in HIV/AIDS treatment program in Africa

hESC "reporter" line to measure endothelial cell production and activity

Pediatric hospitals can decrease bloodstream infections following low-tech rules

Researchers show how MRSA transmission can be tracked in hospital settings

Current research suggests flu may predispose to secondary bacterial infections

New study concerning the severity of H1N1 influenza published in CMAJ

Clorox urges organizations to equip with flu prevention educational tools to prevent virus spread

BC Centre for Disease Control launches influenza genome sequencing project

Ordinary face masks and hand hygiene can reduce transmission of influenza-like illness

HIV infection causes premature aging of the brain

Reuters examines chronic disease in developing countries, future of drug prices

Exalenz Bioscience finalizes production of its BreathID System for detecting H. pylori bacteria

Pharmasset commences PSI-7977 Phase 2a trial for HCV

ETMC Athens effectively handles record number of H1N1 cases

Global health community to be engaged in using resources of GSK and Alnylam IP Pool

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

Latest News