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Organ transplant recipients infected with West Nile virus develop more severe neurological illness

West Nile virus is an infection which in the last three years has had a significant impact in the United States. The virus is spread from birds to humans via mosquito bites. Symptoms include headache, fever and disorientation, and the disease can cause serious illness in a small percentage of infected people.

18 Aug 2004

Exposure to natural and man-made substances in the environment accounts for at least two-thirds of all the cases of cancer in the U.S.

These environmental factors include lifestyle choices like cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, lack of exercise and excessive sunlight exposure. Other factors include exposure to certain medical drugs, hormones, radiation, viruses, bacteria, and chemicals that may be present in the air, water, food and workplace.

18 Aug 2004

2004 AIDS Vaccine Conference has announced it's forthcoming programme

The Conference will examine the entire spectrum of issues in AIDS vaccine development and deployment, including the global effort in preventative and therapeutic vaccines, immunology, pediatric and adolescent vaccines, clinical trials in emerging countries and the need for strong political and financial commitment.

17 Aug 2004

Large-scale computer simulations help understand SARS

A Mayo Clinic researcher is the first to develop a series of three-dimensional (3D) models of an enzyme responsible for the replication of the deadly SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome) virus.

17 Aug 2004

Contract for the production of an investigational vaccine based on an H9N2 strain of avian influenza virus

In 1999 and 2003, an H9N2 influenza strain caused illness in three people in Hong Kong. Scientists are concerned about H9N2 and other emerging types of avian influenza viruses because as they spread—most commonly through poultry—they continually mutate, increasing chances that they may infect humans, evade the body’s immune response and become more lethal.

17 Aug 2004

Public scandal - People with Alzheimer’s disease being denied essential drug treatments

People with Alzheimer’s disease will be denied essential drug treatments as part of a new cost-cutting exercise being considered by East Sussex County Healthcare Trust.

17 Aug 2004

Iacocca pledges $1 million to the type 1 diabetes cause

Lee Iacocca the Chief Executive Officer of Chrysler from 1978 to 1992 has announced the launch of "Join Lee Now," a fundraising initiative to investigate a potential cure for type 1 diabetes. Mr Iacocca has personally pledged $1 million to the cause.

17 Aug 2004

South Africa will continue providing Nevirapine as monotherapy to mothers and babies

The South African Government's policy to reduce the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV, remains unchanged.

17 Aug 2004

Cell biologists may have discovered a new effective therapy for psoriasis

About two million Germans suffer from psoriasis (from the Greek psora meaning ‘itching, scratching’). In this incurable disease the regeneration of the epidermis is speeded up enormously: whereas it normally renews itself in just under four weeks, this period is cut to four to seven days in psoriasis patients.

16 Aug 2004

Revolutionary new test for identifying people infected with tuberculosis

The test – named T SPOT-TB – is designed to replace the century old skin test for TB, which is currently given to 600,000 UK schoolchildren every year. The test comes from discoveries made over the last 10 years at the University of Oxford by Dr Aljit Lalvani and collaborators at the Nuffield Department of Medicine.

16 Aug 2004

Discovery of new ways to manipulate AIDS virus

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute, have discovered new information about how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency (AIDS), possibly evades eradication from the body.

16 Aug 2004

One of the largest causes of death and disability worldwide

A new series of 5 seminars about one of the largest causes of death and disability worldwide - COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) - starts in this week’s issue of the Lancet.

15 Aug 2004

MDA opens center for Lou Gehrig's disease

The University of Rochester Medical Center in New York state has been designated as the site of a new MDA/ALS center. The center is the 32nd facility to receive the designation from the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s ALS Division.

13 Aug 2004

Three recent deaths in Viet Nam were caused by infection with avian influenza

The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has informed the World Health Organization (WHO) that three recent deaths from influenza-like illness in Viet Nam were caused by infection with avian influenza. These are the first officially reported cases of avian influenza in Viet Nam since late February.

13 Aug 2004

Hong Kong seeks details on suspected bird flu cases

The Centre of Health Protection is liaising with Vietnam health authorities on recent reports that several people died of bird flu in that country, Director of Health Dr Lam Ping-yan says.

12 Aug 2004

No adverse side-effects have been observed in clinical trial of SARS vaccine

Sinovac Biotech has announced that all 36 subjects of the Phase I human clinical trial for its inactivated SARS vaccine have now been vaccinated with either SARS vaccine or placebo.

11 Aug 2004

First human cases of West Nile virus in Mississippi

The seven human cases occurred in: Covington (1), Harrison (1), Lincoln (1), Leflore (1), Rankin (2) and Simpson (1) counties; these numbers include the five suspected cases reported last week by the Mississippi State Department of Health.

11 Aug 2004

Children vaccinated against chickenpox who then contract chickenpox are half as contagious as those who have not been vaccinated

A study published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that children and young adults who have had the chickenpox vaccine and gone on to contract chickenpox are half as contagious as those who have not been vaccinated.

11 Aug 2004

Death from locally acquired West Nile Virus within Los Angeles County

Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of WNV antibodies in a 91-year-old San Fernando Valley resident who passed away late last week. This is the third reported death for WNV in California and the first for Los Angeles County.

11 Aug 2004

Significant number of pediatric physicians fail to diagnose Kawasaki disease

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report in the August 10 issue of Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal that a significant number of pediatric physicians fail to diagnose Kawasaki disease in children younger than six months and older than eight years.

11 Aug 2004