Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

International activists ask: 'Will MDG summit fail HIV-positive people?'

A group of Russian AIDS activists are charging that the Russian Ministry of Health is denying that there are drug stock-outs that prevent patients from starting or continuing treatment. "In this situation, people with HIV face a choice: to die quietly at home or try to attract the attention of the government and the media," said Alexey Yaskovich, a Russian activist from Novgorod. "Therefore, activists will continue to go to the streets of Moscow and hold public events dedicated to saving their lives."

21 Sep 2010

Regular consumption of watercress can prevent breast cancer: Research

Watercress, the super food, is now watercress the breast cancer preventive according to a study released September 20, 2010 in The British Journal of Nutrition conducted by the Cancer Research Centre at the School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital in the United Kingdom.

21 Sep 2010

Study suggests older people may not benefit from new tuberculosis vaccines

Elderly people might not benefit from some of the tuberculosis vaccines currently in development, recent research suggests.Some vaccines under study are designed to activate a specific molecule that is an early participant in the immune response against TB in young people. But a recent Ohio State University study suggests that in older people, this molecule remains relatively inactive, even in the face of TB infection.

21 Sep 2010

ABL receives new patent for TherapyEdge and ViroScore technology

Advanced Biological Laboratories (ABL) S.A., a biomedical company engaged in the development and commercialization of personalized healthcare electronic medical record systems coupled with expert rules using decision support tools, is pleased to announce today that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has issued a Notice of Allowance and the Patent Office of India has issued a new patent for our patent applications derived from our U.S. Patent Nos. 6,081,786 and 6,188,988 to Barry et al.

21 Sep 2010

Opinions: MDGs

"The overarching and noble goal [of this week's Millennium Development Goal (MDG) summit in New York] is reducing global poverty. But the most compelling and achievable objectives - huge reductions in maternal and child mortality worldwide - will be severely undermined if the Obama administration either directly or covertly integrates abortion into the final outcome document," Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

21 Sep 2010

Biomagnetics signs merger agreement with Zhuhai Energy Science and Technology

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria detection, and other innovative technologies, recently announced its management team was flying to China to close its merger with Zhuhai Energy Science and Technology. Biomagnetics Diagnostics is pleased today to announce the signing of the formal merger agreement. All necessary governmental approvals are expected to be completed mid-week.

20 Sep 2010

Scientists develop computer model to examine genetic switch for TB dormancy

An examination of a portion of the tuberculosis genome that responds to stress has allowed Rice University bioengineers Oleg Igoshin and Abhinav Tiwari to zero in on a network of genes that may "switch" the disease into dormancy.

18 Sep 2010

Global Fund head repeats appeal for emerging countries to invest more in fight against AIDS, TB, malaria

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Director Michel Kazatchkine on Thursday repeated his appeal for emerging countries to scale up their contributions to fight the three major diseases, Agence France-Presse reports.

18 Sep 2010

Emergent BioSolutions signs contract with HHS to develop rPA anthrax vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that it has signed a contract, valued at up to $186.6 million, with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority of the Department of Health and Human Services, for the development of a recombinant protective antigen anthrax vaccine.

18 Sep 2010

Researchers identify mechanism to reduce pathogenic effect of bacillus bacteria

A European-Asian collaboration of scientists, notably including CNRS, the Institut Pasteur in Paris, the Institut Pasteur Korea in Seoul (IP Korea/Equipe Avenir Inserm and the Université de Toulouse have identified ten virulence genes of the tubercle bacillus. The inactivation of these genes lessens the pathogenic effects of the bacillus.

16 Sep 2010

Opinions: Global nursing; U.S. funding of Global Fund; Global demands for water; Food security

"Almost every nation, regardless of its wealth and resources, faces a continuing shortage of nurses and an acute lack of nursing faculty available to educate more nurses. This dearth of practicing nurses and nurse educators is particularly critical in countries like Haiti and other developing high-risk, low-resourced nations," Martha Hill, dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece encouraging the expansion of global nursing.

15 Sep 2010

Experts to announce new findings on Malaria control

Leading malaria experts, officials and advocates to announce new findings detailed in "Saving Lives with Malaria Control: Counting Down to the Millennium Development Goals," a report published as part of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership's Progress & Impact Series.

14 Sep 2010

Excelimmune presents positive results for HRPA therapy against MRSA infections

Excelimmune, Inc. announced positive results from preclinical studies evaluating the efficacy of its human recombinant polyclonal antibody (HRPA) therapy against infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

14 Sep 2010

AIDS advocates call for African Governments to spend more of their own funds on health

Doctors and AIDS activists on Friday urged African governments to fulfill a decade-old pledge to spend more of their own money on health if they want international help in fighting AIDS.

14 Sep 2010

Accord reached on draft declaration for MDG summit

World powers have reached an accord, after weeks of tough talks, on a document to be adopted at a Millennium Development summit this month for which [U.N.] Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is seeking billions of dollars of new funding,Agence France-Presse reports in an article that describes how representatives from donor and developing nations debated how best to pay for a kick start to the ambitious development goals first set at the Millennium summit in 2000.

13 Sep 2010

395 new vaccines being developed for infectious diseases: PhRMA

Critical challenges remain in the centuries-old battles against infectious diseases, particularly as bacteria and viruses mutate and as the threat of bioterrorism grows. Responding to this need, America's biopharmaceutical research companies this year have 395 new medicines and vaccines in the pipeline to fight infectious diseases. All 395 are in later stages of development, meaning in clinical trials or under Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review.

10 Sep 2010

Summit negotiators seek to get MDGs 'back on track'

"World powers are moving slowly toward an accord on the strategy to be embraced at a looming United Nations summit aiming to get the lofty Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] back on track," Agence France-Presse writes in an article examining the ongoing debates over how best to achieve the MDGs before the 2015 deadline.

10 Sep 2010

Discovery on Mycobacterium tuberculosis can offer new approaches for TB prevention

One third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), which leads to tuberculosis (TB), a leading cause of death world-wide. A new discovery, led by a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, offers hope for new approaches to the prevention and treatment of TB. The team's discovery of a novel mechanism that may contribute to immune recognition of MTB is published in the September issue of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.

10 Sep 2010

Aethlon Hemopurifier captures immunosuppressive exosomes from individuals with metastatic melanoma.

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that its researchers have demonstrated the ability of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® to capture immunosuppressive exosomes derived from individuals with metastatic melanoma.

9 Sep 2010

Emergent BioSolutions receives early termination grant to acquire Trubion

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 ("HSR Act"), as amended, with respect to the planned acquisition of Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by Emergent BioSolutions announced on August 12, 2010.

9 Sep 2010