Cholera News and Research

Latest Cholera News and Research

Updated WHO data finds deaths caused by tainted food are underestimated

New WHO data finds that unsafe food kills an estimated 1.2 million people over the age of five in Southeast Asia and Africa each year, including three times more adults than previously thought, Reuters reports. "It is a picture that we have never had before," WHO Food Safety Director Jorgen Schlundt said. "We now have documentation of a significant burden outside the less than five group, that is major new information."

12 Nov 2009

Walls Street journal examines big pharma's 'growing interest' in emerging-market vaccine development, production

The Wall Street Journal examines "big pharma's growing interest in a corner of healthcare - emerging-market inoculations," in light of a recent move by Novartis to purchase an 85 percent stake in the Chinese vaccine maker Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co. In the summer, drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA made a similar move to acquire a majority stake in India's Shantha Biotechnics, the newspaper notes.

6 Nov 2009

Researchers find link between cholera outbreaks and seasonal low river flow and floods in Bengal

Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has reemerged as a global killer. Outbreaks typically occur once a year in Africa and Latin America. But in Bangladesh the epidemics occur twice a year - in the spring and again in the fall.

5 Nov 2009

Fero Industries to complete acquisition of Pyro Pharmaceuticals by November 30, 2009

Fero Industries, Inc. is pleased to provide certain disclosures relating to the ten pending patent applications of Pyro Pharmaceuticals, Inc. As previously announced, the Company has initiated the process of acquiring Pyro Pharmaceuticals, Inc. through an exchange of Pyro’s capital stock for shares of the Company’s common stock, with Fero remaining as the parent entity and Pyro as a subsidiary. The acquisition of Pyro is expected to close by November 30, 2009.

27 Oct 2009

Additional CFTR inhibitor technology licensed to Napo Pharmaceuticals

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has in-licensed from the University of California Regents additional small-molecule cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) inhibitor technology including gastrointestinal (GI) and polycystic kidney disease (PKD) indications.

26 Oct 2009

Philippines calls for help to address disease outbreak in storms' aftermath

The WHO on Thursday said the Philippines is requesting "international help to fight a deadly outbreak of an infectious disease following two devastating tropical storms," Agence France-Presse reports. Parts of Manila, which are still flooded almost four weeks after Tropical Storm Ketsana hit, are experiencing an outbreak of the bacterial infection, leptospirosis (10/22).

24 Oct 2009

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's initiative to transform health in developing countries

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced 76 grants of US$100,000 each to pursue bold ideas for transforming health in developing countries. The grants support researchers across 16 countries, including nine in Europe and Africa with ideas as diverse as using the power of sunlight to kill malaria-causing mosquito larvae and developing a device that repels mosquitoes without insecticides.

21 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Cholera in Zimbabwe; personal computers; medical 'outliers'; rain in Kenya; generic drugs

A cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has infected more than 100, resulting in five deaths, state media said Tuesday, Reuters reports, "raising fears of a repeat of last year's epidemic that claimed more than 4,000 lives.

21 Oct 2009

Philippines at risk for rapid spread of disease after typhoons

"Survivors of two powerful storms that caused widespread destruction in the Philippines in recent weeks are threatened by outbreaks of potentially life-threatening diseases, as the country braces for another super-typhoon," named Lupit, that is expected to make landfall on Thursday, the Guardian reports.

19 Oct 2009

IMF policies harm Kenyan health system, report says

According to a report released Tuesday, policies set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have restricted government spending on health services, "denying sick Kenyans access to drugs and quality healthcare," Business Daily reports.

15 Oct 2009

Clinical trial reveals cholera vaccine is safe, offers protection for up to 2 years

A clinical trial of an Indian-made "modified killed-whole-cell" oral cholera vaccine "that meets WHO standards" has found that the vaccine is safe and effective in children living in parts of India where the disease is endemic, Reuters reports. The researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Lancet, hope to soon introduce the vaccine into other cholera endemic settings.

9 Oct 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet comment examines an Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm) program to help countries procure subsidized artemisinin-based combination treatments (ACTs).

9 Oct 2009

Napo Pharmaceuticals hosts educational panel to address global health and environment

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Napo) recently hosted an educational panel to address the impact of the lack of access to clean water and enteric disease on global health, the environment, and human rights.

8 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

Vaccine to treat cocaine dependence reduces use of the drug, according to study

A vaccine to treat cocaine dependence appears to reduce use of the drug in a subgroup of individuals who attain high anticocaine antibody levels in response, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, only 38 percent of vaccinated individuals produced high enough antibody levels and those who did maintained them for only two months.

6 Oct 2009

Former President Clinton awards certification for new clean water system

The first chlorination system designed for cities in poor countries is now operating in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, announced Andrew Weiss at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting in New York last week. "It's a great success," said Weiss.

5 Oct 2009

Also in global health news: Tanzania's development initiatives; disease surveillance in West Africa; water, sanitation in Kenya, Malawi; doctor fights Lassa fever

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Tuesday commended Tanazanian President Jakaya Kikwete on the country's utilization of U.S. aid money and vowed her support for the country's future development projects, during a meeting in Washington, D.C., the Zimbabwean reports. "Pelosi hailed President Kikwete and his government for the commitment demonstrated by the campaigns against HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB and implementation of MCC programmes," the newspaper writes (Kulekana, 9/30).

1 Oct 2009

Exposure to PCE may cause congenital birth defects: Study

Exposure to tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchlorethylene, PCE) may cause congenital birth defects. A study of expectant women exposed to PCE in drinking water, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health, found an increased risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects in their children.

24 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health News: PNG, Nepal outbreaks; Taliban Oks polio vaccination; Technology helps in developing countries; Satellite images for malaria control

VOA News examines the ongoing struggle for Papua New Guinea's health system to treat thousands of people infected by the "simultaneous outbreaks of influenza, dysentery and cholera that have killed about 120 people." The article includes information about the difficulties heath officials are having in assessing the various outbreaks and concerns of medical workers that conditions may soon worsen (Mercer, 9/14).

16 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: PEPFAR in Swaziland; GSK HIV patent pool; Pediatric ARVs in Uganda; PNG declares health emergency; Israeli, ECOWAS agreement; Somali children

PEPFAR on Wednesday donated eight computers to Swaziland's Ministry of Health to aid in the country's ability to track the progress of the nation's HIV/AIDS programs, the Swazi Observer reports. According to the newspaper, the computers will be distributed to regional clinics across the country (Masilela, 9/10).

10 Sep 2009

Cholera News and Research

Latest Cholera News and Research

Updated WHO data finds deaths caused by tainted food are underestimated

Walls Street journal examines big pharma's 'growing interest' in emerging-market vaccine development, production

Researchers find link between cholera outbreaks and seasonal low river flow and floods in Bengal

Fero Industries to complete acquisition of Pyro Pharmaceuticals by November 30, 2009

Additional CFTR inhibitor technology licensed to Napo Pharmaceuticals

Philippines calls for help to address disease outbreak in storms' aftermath

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's initiative to transform health in developing countries

Also in Global Health News: Cholera in Zimbabwe; personal computers; medical 'outliers'; rain in Kenya; generic drugs

Philippines at risk for rapid spread of disease after typhoons

IMF policies harm Kenyan health system, report says

Clinical trial reveals cholera vaccine is safe, offers protection for up to 2 years

Recent releases in Global Health

Napo Pharmaceuticals hosts educational panel to address global health and environment

Reuters examines health effects of climate change in Africa

Vaccine to treat cocaine dependence reduces use of the drug, according to study

Former President Clinton awards certification for new clean water system

Also in global health news: Tanzania's development initiatives; disease surveillance in West Africa; water, sanitation in Kenya, Malawi; doctor fights Lassa fever

Exposure to PCE may cause congenital birth defects: Study

Also in Global Health News: PNG, Nepal outbreaks; Taliban Oks polio vaccination; Technology helps in developing countries; Satellite images for malaria control

Also in Global Health news: PEPFAR in Swaziland; GSK HIV patent pool; Pediatric ARVs in Uganda; PNG declares health emergency; Israeli, ECOWAS agreement; Somali children

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Cholera News and Research

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