Disease/Infection News

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Lotion which glows under ultraviolet light lights up nasty bacteria

A team of Canadian scientists using a lotion which glows under ultraviolet light have shown that up to a third of patient toilets are not properly cleaned. Their findings, published in BioMed Central's journal, BMC Infectious Diseases, also show that spores from the nasty bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) linger in the loo even when it has been thoroughly wiped down.

11 May 2008

HIV/AIDS funding in Tanzania expected to total $476 million, government report says

Funding for HIV/AIDS in Tanzania from the government and international donors from 2007 to 2008 is expected to total more than 568 billion Tanzanian shillings, or about $476 million, according to a recently released government report, the Africa Science News Service reports.

8 May 2008

HIV on the rise in Germany

The number of new HIV cases reported in Germany increased by 4% in 2007, according to data recently released by the Robert Koch Institute, Xinhua/People's Daily reports. The country recorded 2,752 new HIV cases last year, compared with 2,643 in 2006, the institute said (Xinhua/People's Daily, 5/6).

8 May 2008

Namibia to launch pilot HIV testing, counseling project

The Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services will launch a pilot project to provide no-cost HIV testing and counseling in certain regions of the country to mark its National HIV Testing Day on May 9, Namibia's New Era reports.

8 May 2008

Rapid HIV tests highly effective in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in India

Rapid HIV tests have been found to be highly effective in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in clinical trials in India, according to a study published online Tuesday in PLoS Medicine, the Times of India reports (Sinha, Times of India, 5/7). For the study, the researchers used OraSure Technologies' OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV 1/2 Antibody Test (Derfel, Montreal Gazette, 5/6

8 May 2008

Human cytomegalovirus mimics human protein to hijack cell division machinery

Viruses are masters of deception, duping their host's cells into helping them grow and spread. A new study has found that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can mimic a common regulatory protein to hijack normal cell growth machinery, disrupting a cell's primary anti-cancer mechanism.

8 May 2008

Shift in HIV prevention priorities needed - reducing multiple sexual partnerships and providing male circumcision services should be emphasized

According to a new policy analysis led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of California, Berkeley, the most common HIV prevention strategies-condom promotion, HIV testing, treatment of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), vaccine and microbicide research, and abstinence-are having a limited impact on the predominantly heterosexual epidemics found in Africa.

8 May 2008

New deadly superbug Steno an ever-increasing threat

Scientists in the Britain say hospitals could be facing an increasing threat from yet another deadly bacterial infection with the potential to rapidly develop a resistance to drugs.

8 May 2008

ART drugs for pregnant women eradicates baby's risk of HIV

Researchers in Britain say a baby's risk of contracting HIV from its mother can be almost eradicated with the use of antiretroviral drugs.

8 May 2008

China struggling to come to grips with enterovirus 71

As health authorities in China struggle to come to grips with an outbreak of the intestinal virus EV71 or Enterovirus 71, the Ministry of Health is urging local health officials to step up public health education.

8 May 2008

Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing

Experts are warning that the risk of a human bird flu pandemic remains just as real and is in fact probably growing.

8 May 2008

Urgent action needed to address HIV/AIDS among U.S. minority communities as cases 'skyrocket,' expert says

HIV/AIDS rates among blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. have reached alarming levels, and the U.S. urgently needs to establish new initiatives to address the spread of the disease among the groups, Beny Primm, executive director of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Addiction Research and Treatment, said at an event in Connecticut on Sunday, the Hartford Courant reports.

7 May 2008

Government, businesses should cooperate to mitigate effects of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea, conference delegate says

The government and businesses in Papua New Guinea should work together to alleviate the effects of HIV/AIDS and avoid a "catastrophic health burden," Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Duncan Kerr said Monday at the start of the 24th Papua New Guinea-Australia Business Forum, Papua New Guinea's Post-Courier reports.

7 May 2008

Utah law requiring HIV tests for convicted sex workers, solicitors fails to slow spread of HIV because it is not enforced, editorial says

A Utah state law that requires convicted commercial sex workers and solicitors of commercial sex to be tested for HIV and makes sex work and solicitation a "felony offense for repeat offenders who were aware they had tested positive for HIV" could "deter" sex work, but it is "not happening" because the law is not enforced, a Salt Lake Tribune editorial says (Salt Lake Tribune, 5/5).

7 May 2008

Gordon Brown holds conference on role of businesses in efforts to meet MDGs

Multinational companies need to increase their efforts to address development issues worldwide, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday ahead of a conference on global businesses and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, AFP/Google.com reports.

7 May 2008

U.N. launches workplace HIV program

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday launched U.N. Cares, a new workplace HIV program that will provide such services as training, counseling and testing for U.N. staff and their families, Xinhua/China View reports.

7 May 2008

Experts review influenza pandemic preparedness guidance

With the onging threat of a global influenza pandemic demanding continued vigilance, 120 influenza and planning experts from WHO Member States, research institutions and UN agencies around the globe are meeting in Geneva this week to review the current WHO pandemic preparedness guidance. Key scientific and situational developments make the review particularly important. WHO will release the revised guidance later this year.

7 May 2008

The design of a vaccine against Leishmaniasis

The parasitology team at the "Severo Ochoa" Molecular biology centre (CSIC-UAM) has focused its research efforts on the search for a vaccine capable of activating immunity against the parasite that causes leishmaniasis.

7 May 2008

Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing

Experts are warning that the risk of a human bird flu pandemic remains just as real and is in fact probably growing.

7 May 2008

Group B streptococcus has decreased among newborns, increased among adults

Group B streptococcus, a major cause of serious infections, declined about 25 percent among infants younger than 7 days from 1999 to 2005, but increased nearly 50 percent among persons 15 to 64 years old, according to a study in the May 7 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

6 May 2008