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Swine Flu prevention tips from California dentists

In keeping with the global effort to limit the spread of the Swine Flu, the California Dental Hygienists’ Association (CDHA) issued a list today of simple ways patients and oral health professionals can prevent catching and spreading the disease.

8 Oct 2009

Amarillo Biosciences, Intas Pharmaceuticals enter strategic partnership to combat influenza in India

Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. today announced that it has agreed to a strategic partnership with Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited (Intas), one of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in India, whereby Intas will sponsor clinical trials of ABI's orally administered interferon-alpha lozenges in order to combat influenza. Intas will pay ABI a royalty on net sales after marketing approval is obtained in India.

8 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Carter promotes malaria eradication; India to educate tribal populations about HIV/AIDS; WFP feels impact of global recession

Former President Jimmy Carter is traveling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic in hopes of encouraging the country "leaders to forge a pact to rid the island of Hispaniola of malaria," the Associated Press/Los Angeles Times reports.

8 Oct 2009

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals establishes a new Anti-Viral Research Group

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has established a new Anti-Viral Research Group in its R&D organization.

7 Oct 2009

Microsoft launches a new online H1N1 Flu Response Center

With the current H1N1 flu (swine flu) pandemic under way, many public health officials are concerned that critical healthcare resources could be stretched thin as people flood hospital emergency departments and physicians' offices to determine whether they have the illness.

7 Oct 2009

Researchers validate a technique capable of quick TB diagnosis

The team headed by Doctor Manuel Casal, head of Microbiology at Reina Sofia Hospital in Cordoba has validated in patients a technique, originally produced by a German company, capable of diagnosing tuberculosis in only one day and determining whether or not it is resistant to two of the drugs used to treat this disease.

7 Oct 2009

Study reveals large structural differences between natural prions and man-made synthetic analogs

A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. In addition, the study has revealed surprisingly large structural differences between natural prions and the closest synthetic analogs that scientists have created in the lab.

7 Oct 2009

HHS and PEPFAR approve the 100th HIV/AIDS antiretroviral drug

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today marked today marked the recent approval of the 100th antiretroviral drug in association with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), aimed at the prevention, treatment, and care of people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide.

7 Oct 2009

Research on malarial drugs for travelers

A new review of existing research finds that a combination drug and the common antibiotic doxycycline allow travelers to fend off malaria with the fewest side effects in areas where the parasite is resistant to a widely accepted preventive treatment.

7 Oct 2009

Swine Flu vaccine arrives as flu moves quickly through population

The first doses of Swine Flu have arrived in the United States, as health officials work quickly to inoculate people against the virus.

7 Oct 2009

Research finds 50 million people vaccinated against zoonotic brain infection

Research at the University of Liverpool has supported the vaccination of more than 50 million people against a zoonotic brain infection that affects thousands of children across Asia every year.

7 Oct 2009

Mexican Health Minister to discuss preparations and responses to H1N1 influenza

Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, Secretary of Health, United States of Mexico, discussed preparations and responses to the H1N1 influenza during a visit to Washington D.C.

7 Oct 2009

Parents should watch out for flu warning signs, says Minnesota physicians

Minnesota's physicians are urging parents to watch for the warning signs that their child is having a severe case of H1N1 and to seek out the H1N1 vaccine for their child when it becomes available.

7 Oct 2009

Research to explore diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases

The National Institutes of Health announced today a second phase of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) including funds for 19 research consortia.

7 Oct 2009

Reuters examines health effects of climate change in Africa

Reuters examines how floods, droughts and rising temperatures, thought to be caused by climate change, are compromising African farm lands and leading to health problems for already vulnerable populations - a topic discussed at the "first pan-African climate hearings."

7 Oct 2009

USAID grants over $10.5 million for fight against malaria

The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced over $10.5 million in grants to seven organizations working in six countries in Africa to extend malaria prevention and control activities in communities most affected by the disease, particularly children under age 5 and pregnant women.

7 Oct 2009

New study leads to the development of first prophylactic treatment for leishmania

Leishmania is a deadly parasitic disease that affects over 12 million people worldwide, with more than 2 million new cases reported every year. Until recently, scientists were unsure exactly how the parasite survives inside human cells. That mystery has now been solved according to a new study published in Science Signaling by a team led by Dr. Martin Olivier - a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and McGill University.

7 Oct 2009

Opinion piece responds to 'skeptics' of development aid

After a recent trip to Africa, "to see firsthand the region's fight against malaria," Tachi Yamada, the president of the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in a CNN opinion piece that a visit to a pediatric hospital ward in Zanzibar that did not have "a single patient" was the "single most memorable image of the trip."

7 Oct 2009

New cases of H1N1 worldwide up 24,000 in two weeks

The number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases reported in WHO regions worldwide has grown by at least 24,000 in two weeks to cross the 340,000 mark since the virus was first detected in mid-April, the CDC reported Monday, according to Agence France-Presse.

7 Oct 2009

Measures taken by Memorial Blood Centers to stay prepared for the spread of H1N1 virus

Memorial Blood Centers today outlined steps the organization is taking to stay prepared for the spread of the H1N1 virus and to ensure a safe experience for blood donors and an ample blood supply for our communities.

7 Oct 2009