Disease/Infection News

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Polio making a comeback

The World Health Organization (WHO) says increasing numbers of people around the world are vulnerable to polio because they have not been previously exposed to the disease.

30 Jul 2006

Teen in Thailand dies from bird flu caught from fighting cockrel

A teenage boy has become the first victim in over seven months to die of bird flu in Thailand.

27 Jul 2006

Simple policies could control a smallpox epidemic

A series of simple public health policies would be able to effectively contain the spread of smallpox if it were released into a population, according to research published in PNAS.

27 Jul 2006

Thailand confirms case of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza

The Ministry of Public Health in Thailand has confirmed a case of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza.

26 Jul 2006

Lassa fever reported in Germany

German health authorities have reported to WHO an imported case of Lassa fever, confirmed by laboratory tests at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.

25 Jul 2006

Distribution of more than 18 million malaria bednets in Africa

Roll Back Malaria Partners are supporting mass distribution of malaria bednets to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from malaria in many endemic countries.

25 Jul 2006

Global early warning system for zoonoses launched

A global early warning system for animal diseases transmissible to humans (zoonoses) was formally launched this week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

24 Jul 2006

Inadequate hospital hand hygiene is spreading MRSA

Unwashed hands in England's hospitals are contributing to the spread of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and will continue unless healthcare professionals are taught to assess risk, reveals new research.

24 Jul 2006

Combating Campylobacter with common sense

A ban on the sale of fresh chicken meat is the not answer to preventing outbreaks of campylobacteriosis says food microbiologist Associate Professor John Brooks.

24 Jul 2006

Research offers new hope in helping elderly fight infections

Thousands of infections could be prevented each year in older people and hospital stays reduced following findings from two studies which show that imbalances in the immune systems of people aged over 65 make them more prone to illnesses like flu or bacterial infections as a result of cuts and falls.

21 Jul 2006

New laser test screens for Hepatitis B

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for a device, called Cell-Dyn Ruby, which uses laser optics and provides diagrams showing changes in white and red blood cells and platelets.

20 Jul 2006

Cleaning water at household is best diarrhea prevention

Clean water can prevent diarrhea and save lives, but among the world's most susceptible populations, it is cleaned best at its point of use rather than its source, researchers report in a large new review of studies.

19 Jul 2006

The fight against zoonotic pathogens around the world

At the beginning of 2006 bird flu was the main topic in the media.

19 Jul 2006

FDA approves fully automated screening tests for hepatitis B surface antigen

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the approval of the first fully automated product that combines both screening and confirmatory tests for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).

18 Jul 2006

Clinton Foundation seals deal in Nigerian AIDS fight

The Clinton Foundation, an AIDS charity set up by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, has signed a deal with Nigeria to make cheap AIDS drugs available to fight the disease in Africa's most populous nation.

18 Jul 2006

India develops local bird flu vaccine

Officials in India say they have successfully produced a vaccine against bird flu in poultry.

17 Jul 2006

Africa@home

While you are sending an email or surfing the web, your computer could be helping to tackle one of Africa's major humanitarian challenges, malaria.

17 Jul 2006

77 die from rare tropical disease on island paradise

Travellers to an exotic island in the Indian Ocean have been issued with warnings against a rare tropical disease.

17 Jul 2006

Indonesia struggles as death toll from bird flu reaches 42

The death of a 44-year-old man four days ago from bird flu has put Indonesia on a par with Vietnam when it comes to confirmed human deaths from the deadly virus.

17 Jul 2006

Suspect chicken smuggled in from China may have been eaten

Health officials in Michigan in the U.S. are working to track down frozen Chinese poultry smuggled into the United States and found in a warehouse in Oakland County.

13 Jul 2006