Disease/Infection News

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90% of public support H1N1 vaccination for health care workers

As H1N1 influenza vaccine begins to be shipped across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasize getting the first doses to high-priority groups. One such group is health care workers.

3 Oct 2009

Face mask: A vital tool in fighting H1N1

With flu season officially underway on October 4th, Cantel Medical Corp., a company dedicated to infection prevention and control, recommends that Americans take extra precautions against spreading H1N1 influenza. Crosstex International, a subsidiary of Cantel Medical, is one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of face masks.

3 Oct 2009

Avexa's ATC Phase III study concludes

Avexa Limited today announced that the apricitabine (ATC) Phase III study will be closed and the data will be subsequently unblinded and analyzed. After extensive interaction with the regulatory authorities and potential partners, the decision was made to evaluate the 24 week data with the results due in the first quarter of 2010.

3 Oct 2009

Interim results of Sanofi Pasteur's Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine clinical trials announced

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, announced today an interim analysis of data from clinical trials of the U.S. licensed Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine in adults 18 years through 64 years of age and over the age of 65 years.

3 Oct 2009

News outlets continue to examine findings of recent U.N. report

News outlets continue to mine through the findings of the U.N.'s 2009 progress report on HIV and AIDS.

3 Oct 2009

New flu emergency website launched

United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania has launched a new regional website geared towards helping families, individuals and organizations find up-to-date information on where to go for H1N1 and seasonal influenza shots and other critical news regarding the seasonal flu epidemics expected to hit the region.

3 Oct 2009

Phase 1b clinical trial results of PEG-Interferon lambda to be presented

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and ZymoGenetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZGEN) announced that final results from a Phase 1b clinical trial in patients with hepatitis C (HCV) treated with PEG-Interferon lambda, a new class of interferon, in combination with ribavirin will be presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) annual meeting October 30–November 3, 2009, in Boston.

3 Oct 2009

EMEA grants positive opinion for Baxter's CELVAPAN H1N1 pandemic vaccine

Baxter International Inc. today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) granted its “positive opinion” for CELVAPAN H1N1 pandemic vaccine using Baxter’s Vero cell technology. This positive opinion confirms the acceptability of Baxter’s regulatory submission to obtain final marketing authorization and licensure of the product.

From Baxter International Inc. 3 Oct 2009

First U.S. patients could receive H1N1 vaccine next week

U.S. health officials announced Thursday the first batches of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine the government ordered will begin arriving in designated locations across the country on Tuesday and may be administered in the first patients by the end of next week, Reuters reports (Fox, 10/1).

3 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health news: U.S. food aid declines; agriculture in Zimbabwe; U.S.-backed ITN network; reducing maternal mortality; DNDI expands; healthcare in Congo

Although U.S. food aid funding has increased by 53 percent over the last two years, a Government Accountability Office report on Wednesday said that during the same time period, the "amount of food delivered to address emergencies abroad fell 5 percent," the Washington Independent reports.

3 Oct 2009

Advanced Liquid Logic awarded an NIAID contract to develop a rapid HIV diagnostic device

Advanced Liquid Logic announced today that it has received a large, four-year contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, for the development of a rapid, point-of-care, diagnostic device for the detection of HIV in low resource settings.

3 Oct 2009

$7.2 million grant awarded to develop microbicide-releasing vaginal ring

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a four-year, $7.2 million grant to develop a microbicide-releasing vaginal ring to prevent HIV transmission.

3 Oct 2009

Enzyme that helps make tuberculosis resistant to a human's natural defense system identified

Researchers at Iowa State University have identified an enzyme that helps make tuberculosis resistant to a human's natural defense system. Researchers have also found a method to possibly neutralize that enzyme, which may someday lead to a cure for tuberculosis.

3 Oct 2009

Bacteria could be used to control mosquitoes, prevent disease, study says

New findings, published in the journal Science, about the bacteria Wolbachia could be used to control mosquito populations and prevent malaria, dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases, Discovery News reports.

2 Oct 2009

Opinions: Bridging the divide to stop the spread of HIV; ending future world hunger

"With less than half the people who need treatment having access and with each day more people becoming infected with HIV than are started on treatment, we are mortgaging our future. But we are also exposing a fundamental social injustice - between the privileged and the forsaken - a divide we can bridge," Michael Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, writes in a Daily Nation opinion piece.

1 Oct 2009

New website offers personalized advice on H1N1

Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a new website which gives personalised advice on coping with swine flu and other cold and flu symptoms.

1 Oct 2009

CVS Caremark to offer vouchers worth $3 million for free seasonal flu shots

With the unemployment rate currently at the highest in over two decades, CVS Caremark today announced it has begun to provide 100,000 free seasonal flu shots to the unemployed as part of its efforts to help keep Americans healthy this flu season. The initiative kicks off today at The Work Place, a member of the Massachusetts Career One-Stop Initiative in Boston.

1 Oct 2009

Study shows students do not follow proper hygiene routines

Thousands of bacteria lurk in college dormitories, but students are not following proper hygiene routines to help protect themselves from serious illness, according to a study released today from the Simmons College Center for Hygiene and Health in Home and Community, sponsored by an educational grant from LYSOL® brand products.

1 Oct 2009

Study aims to discover effective antibiotics to fight against hard-to-treat microbes

Scientists are reporting discovery of a much sought after crack in the armor of a common microbe that infects the stomachs of one-sixth of the world's population, causing stomach ulcers and other diseases. They identified a group of substances that block a key chemical pathway that the bacteria need for survival.

1 Oct 2009

Studies show vitamin D plays an important role in preventing respiratory infections

Several studies and articles published this year show that vitamin D plays an important role in the prevention of respiratory infections such as the cold and flu.

1 Oct 2009