Diarrhea News and Research

Latest Diarrhea News and Research

New production technology to develop vaccine for norovirus

Scientists have used a new vaccine production technology to develop a vaccine for norovirus, a dreaded cause of diarrhea and vomiting that may be the second most common viral infection in the United States after the flu. Sometimes called the "cruise ship virus," this microbe can spread like wildfire through passenger liners, schools, offices and military bases.

19 Aug 2009

Genentech announces Phase III study results for Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemo in HER2-negative breast cancer

Genentech, Inc. today announced that a Phase III study (RIBBON 2) of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy increased the time women with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer whose initial chemotherapy had stopped working lived without the disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS), compared to chemotherapy alone.

18 Aug 2009

U.S. District Court rules against Lilly regarding Gemzar patent

Eli Lilly and Company today announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has granted a motion by Sun Pharmaceuticals for partial summary judgment.

17 Aug 2009

New guidance on novel H1N1 influenza for K-12 schools

The Secretary of Health today released guidance on Novel H1N1, also known as swine flu, for elementary and secondary schools in an effort to keep kids and staff healthy and flu-free this school year.

17 Aug 2009

Health Canada approves Multaq (Dronedarone) for atrial fibrillation

Sanofi-aventis Canada announced today that Multaq (dronedarone, 400 mg tablets) has received Health Canada approval for the treatment of patients with a history of, or current atrial fibrillation to reduce their risk of cardiovascular hospitalization due to this condition.

12 Aug 2009

Time examines how zinc supplements may help save children worldwide

TIME examines the "quiet revolution [now] under way" to treat diarrhea using zinc supplements. The magazine reports that globally the disease "kills an astonishing 1.6 million children under 5 every year," according to the WHO.

9 Aug 2009

Genzyme’s Mozobil approved in Europe

Genzyme Corporation announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization for Mozobil ® (plerixafor injection), providing a significant new option for patients with the blood cancers lymphoma and multiple myeloma who require an autologous stem cell transplant.

6 Aug 2009

New understanding on Gleevec's limitations

University of Michigan researchers have developed an animal model that provides strong evidence why imatinib, marketed as Gleevec, helps patients with chronic myeloid leukemia survive longer, but does not keep the disease from returning if treatment ends.

4 Aug 2009

Breastfeeding can save 1.3 million children annually, WHO says

About 1.3 million children's lives could be saved each year by teaching new mothers how to breastfeed, but many women do not receive help and stop trying, the WHO said on Friday ahead of the start of World Breastfeeding Week, which runs from August 1 through August 7, Reuters reports.

3 Aug 2009

Washington Post examines health toll of Congo conflict

The Washington Post examines the devastating toll the conflict in the Congo has had on the health of the country's displaced civilians, as told through the death of a 36-year-old farmer, who succumbed to typhoid fever far away from the home he abandoned.

3 Aug 2009

Tarceva shown to extend survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer when used after initial chemo

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced further results from the Phase III SATURN study showing that Tarceva® (erlotinib) extended the survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) when used as single agent, maintenance therapy in patients who did not progress following first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.

2 Aug 2009

U.N. program has little effect in reducing deaths among children in Bangladesh, study finds

"The U.N. unveiled a multimillion dollar strategy a dozen years ago to save children worldwide, but a new [Lancet] study has found the program had surprisingly little effect in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries," the Associated Press reports.

31 Jul 2009

Research suggests that zinc activates a key protein on T cells needed to fight infections

Everyone knows that vitamins "from A to zinc" are important for good health. Now, a new research study in the August 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that zinc may be pointing the way to new therapeutic targets for fighting infections.

31 Jul 2009

U.N. allocates $6 million emergency fund to address health problems in Ethiopia

The U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) recently allocated $6 million to address several health challenges facing Ethiopia, IRIN reports.

28 Jul 2009

Gates Foundation donates additional $80 million to Indian HIV-prevention program, receives Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will give an additional $80 million to Avahan, a foundation initiative launched in 2003 for HIV prevention programs in India, Bill Gates said on Thursday, the Seattle Times blog, "Business of Giving" reports.

28 Jul 2009

Increased fighting makes humanitarian work, health situation more difficult in Somalia, U.N. says

Despite increasing danger posed by "al Qaeda-linked militants," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said Tuesday U.N. aid workers "were not backing away" from the country, Reuters reports.

22 Jul 2009

Fewer births in states such as California rates shifting rotavirus epidemics

Fewer births in states such as California may be delaying the annual onset of a common intestinal virus in the southwest, according to epidemiologists. The timing of infectious outbreaks in other locations such as the northeast remains more or less unchanged.

17 Jul 2009

Discovery of new transmission patterns may help prevent diarrhea-causing disease rotavirus

New vaccines have the potential to prevent or temper epidemics of the childhood diarrhea-causing disease rotavirus, protect the unvaccinated and raise the age at which the infection first appears in children, federal researchers reported in a study today.

16 Jul 2009

Novartis to partner with OneWorld Health to develop diarrhea drug

"Swiss drug company Novartis AG and the Institute for OneWorld Health, a nonprofit group, will announce this week a partnership to discover drugs for a type of diarrhea that kills about 1.6 million children each year in the developing world," the Wall Street Journal reports.

15 Jul 2009

Multaq approved for atrial fibrillation by FDA

Sanofi-aventis announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Multaq (dronedarone) 400 mg Tablets. Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter (AFL) soon will have a new treatment option to help improve current management of their disease. Multaq is the first drug approved in the United States that has shown a clinical benefit to reduce cardiovascular hospitalization in patients with AF/AFL.

7 Jul 2009