Disease/Infection News

RSS

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center establishes new vaccine and disease institute

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has established a new Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute to develop and implement prevention strategies for globally important infectious diseases, including HIV, malaria and cancer.

2 May 2007

West Nile virus may require some extra attention, thought and planning this year

Dry weather in the west may lead to an abundance of fertile mosquito breeding grounds as creeks and streams dry up to bogs and puddles faster than usual, while recent storms across the middle of the country and on the East coast could result in more abundant standing water for mosquitoes to lay their eggs.

2 May 2007

Top 10 diseases by cost

Bladder, prostate and other urinary tract diseases cost Americans nearly $11 billion a year, according to a new report from the National Institutes of Health.

2 May 2007

Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets WHO chief on polio eradication

Days after Afghanistan vaccinated more than 7 million children against polio, the world's top health official and Afghan President Hamid Karzai pledged to capitalize swiftly on the country's remarkable progress towards eradicating the disease.

2 May 2007

PEPFAR 'on track' to meet goals when authorization expires, Dybul says

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is "dead on track" to meet its goal of providing antiretroviral drugs to two million people when it's five-year authorization expires in 2008, Ambassador Mark Dybul, who serves as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administers PEPFAR, said Thursday in an interview during a visit to San Francisco, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

1 May 2007

Health officials urge Nevada legislators to support HIV testing bill aimed at pregnant women

Physicians and health care officials on Wednesday called on Nevada lawmakers to support a bill ( SB 266) that would guarantee all pregnant women in the state have access to an HIV test as part of routine prenatal care, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

1 May 2007

Oregon, Texas HIV/AIDS, STI awareness efforts focus on black youth

The following summarizes recent newspaper coverage of efforts in Texas and Oregon to increase HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections awareness among black youth.

1 May 2007

New interactive map shows spread of avian flu virus

Scientists here have designed a new, interactive map of the spread of the avian flu virus (H5N1) that for the first time incorporates genetic, geographic and evolutionary information that may help predict where the next outbreak of the virus is likely to occur.

1 May 2007

Protecting Americans against a smallpox outbreak

In the event of a smallpox outbreak in the United States, how long would it take for a vaccine to start protecting Americans by stimulating an immune response? A new national study led by Saint Louis University School of Medicine will attempt to answer this question.

1 May 2007

Drg resistant HIV quickly hides in infants' cells

New evidence shows that drug-resistant virus passed from mother-to-child can quickly establish itself in infants, CD4+ T cells where it can hide for years, likely limiting their options for future treatment.

1 May 2007

Google maps used to track avian flu spread

An interactive "supermap" that portrays the mutations and spread of the avian flu around the globe over time should help researchers and policy makers better understand the virus and anticipate further outbreaks, according to a new study involving University of Colorado at Boulder and Ohio State University researchers.

1 May 2007

Gambian President Jammeh is giving people false hope

Leading HIV experts are alarmed that the government of The Gambia is encouraging citizens living with HIV to stop taking antiretroviral medications in order to try an unproven herbal remedy.

1 May 2007

3M and Gen-Probe collaborate to combat healthcare-associated infections

3M and Gen-Probe have announced that the companies have formed an exclusive worldwide collaboration to develop and commercialize rapid, easy-to-use nucleic acid tests to detect certain dangerous healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

1 May 2007

UNESCO launches programs to build capacity of education sector in southern Africa to address HIV/AIDS

UNESCO is launching programs aimed at building the capacity of the education sectors throughout Southern Africa to help fight HIV/AIDS in the region, UNESCO Zimbabwe Representative Juma Shabani said Tuesday at an HIV/AIDS skills-building meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, Xinhua/People's Daily reports.

30 Apr 2007

60% of HIV-positive people in India live in rural areas

About 60% of the approximately 5.2 million adults living with HIV/AIDS in India live in rural areas, according to a report recently released by the World Health Organization, PTI/Financial Express reports.

30 Apr 2007

Feasible to create a stockpile of H5N1 vaccine

Countries and vaccine manufacturers agreed on Wednesday in a meeting at WHO that it may be feasible to create a stockpile of H5N1 vaccine, and to separately develop a mechanism to ensure broader access to pandemic influenza vaccine for developing countries in the advent of a pandemic.

30 Apr 2007

When it comes to food scares, dare we trust the FDA?

In an attempt to reassure the public on food safety standards a joint statement has been issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the latest food scare over contaminated animal feed has not affected the human food supply.

29 Apr 2007