Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

Scientists report cervarix vaccine offers protection against cervical cancer

The Cervarix vaccine provides protection against two types of human papillomavirus (HPV) for more than six years, US scientists have reported.

5 Dec 2009

Number of new active TB cases increases from 2007 to 2008, WHO says

The WHO's Stop TB Department released data on Thursday at the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health indicating that the number of new active TB cases worldwide rose from 9.27 million in 2007 to 9.4 million in 2008, Reuters reports. Experts, who were gathered for the conference in Cancun, Mexico, "called for more research funding to develop better diagnostic tests, vaccines and drugs for tuberculosis, which killed 1.8 million people around the world last year," according to the news service.

4 Dec 2009

Foreign Policy examines 'philanthrocapitalism' trend

Foreign Policy examines "a revolutionary idea for how to remake charity in the 21st century [that] is taking off: philanthrocapitalism." The magazine writes: "Unlike their colleagues in government bureaucracies and tried-and-true NGOs, the philanthrocapitalists are a nimble, business-minded stock."

4 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

Ahead of the U.N. Climate Change conference in Copenhagen next week, a Lancet comment examines the health consequences associated with climate change and the case for linking climate and health goals. "The issue now is not whether climate change is occurring, but how we can respond most effectively. ... Responding to climate change is not a distraction from the business of protecting health: it is part of the same agenda," the author writes (Chan, 12/5).

4 Dec 2009

Eastern Technology Council names Puricore as winner of the Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year

PuriCore, the life sciences company focused on developing and commercializing proprietary, green solutions that safely, effectively, and naturally kill infectious pathogens without causing harm to human health or the environment, was named as winner of the Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year award, at the Eastern Technology Council’s 17th annual Enterprise Awards gala.

4 Dec 2009

Also in global health news: U.S. aid to Philippines, Swaziland, Guyana; Uganda Bills; Botswana HIV/AIDS

U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney said the U.S. will give the country an additional $10 million worth of food aid for people affect by the recent typhoons, the Manila Bulletin reports. This brings "the total amount of its disaster relief and recovery assistance to US$30 million" (Sabater, 12/3).

3 Dec 2009

U.S. unveils 5-year PEPFAR strategy

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby on Tuesday "unveiled a five-year strategy for fighting AIDS worldwide, shifting the focus from emergency response to sustainable programs in countries worldwide," Agence France-Presse reports.

3 Dec 2009

Leaders respond to World AIDS Day; South Africa to expand HIV treatment program

Marking World AIDS Day on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon "warned ... that new infections are outpacing the gains from treating people with the HIV virus" and that discrimination against HIV-positive people remains "widespread," the Associated Press reports.

2 Dec 2009

Guardian Technologies International introduces Signature Mapping TBDx to diagnose TB

Guardian Technologies International is bringing the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) into the 21st century with Signature Mapping TBDx™ (SM TBDx), an automated diagnostic solution using sophisticated detection algorithms to identify TB under microscopy in sputum samples, at the laboratory level.

2 Dec 2009

MUHC researchers identify first genetic resistance factor against TB infection

Why do some people who are exposed to tuberculosis not become infected or develop the disease? Dr. Erwin Schurr and his team at the Research Institute from the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), in collaboration with Dr. Alexandre Alcais, from the Institut national de la sant- et de la recherche m-dicale (INSERM) in Paris, has shed light on this question for the first time. Their

2 Dec 2009

World AIDS Day: IAC to be held in D.C.; examination of Obama's HIV/AIDS efforts; UNICEF report

During a briefing on the eve of World AIDS Day Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the International AIDS Society (IAS) has chosen Washington, D.C., to host the 2012 International AIDS Conference (IAC) now that the "decades-old ban on HIV-positive visitors" to the U.S. has been lifted, Agence France-Presse reports (11/30).

2 Dec 2009

Op-eds on World AIDS Day: Research, funding, hunger, Uganda

The "National Institutes of Health - perhaps our best hope for funding a cure for AIDS - has been underfunded since 2003," Kate Krauss, director of the AIDS Policy Project, writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece.

1 Dec 2009

Akonni Biosystems receives $3.2M Phase II SBIR grant from NIH

Akonni Biosystems, a molecular diagnostics (MDx) company focused on providing rapid and highly scalable solutions for infectious disease testing, today announced receipt of a $3.2M Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

1 Dec 2009

Global community once again recognizes World AIDS Day

On December 1, the global community once again recognizes World AIDS Day and the 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. This is also a time to renew our commitment to work together to fight against this epidemic and pay homage to the millions of people who have lost their lives because of it.

1 Dec 2009

GAA urges Obama to reflect on AIDS epidemic

On World AIDS Day 2009 the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) calls on President Obama and his advisors to reflect on two recent alarming reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) showing that the AIDS pandemic continues to be of catastrophic proportion, affecting shockingly high numbers of people around the globe.

1 Dec 2009

Biomagnetics Diagnostics announces Patent License Agreement with Los Alamos National Security

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp. (PINK SHEETS:BMGP), a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria detection, today announced the Company has finalized a "Patent License Agreement with Los Alamos National Security."

30 Nov 2009

WHITIA launches digital medical X-ray device for screening infectious diseases in developing countries

The World Health Imaging, Telemedicine and Informatics Alliance (WHITIA) today unveiled Remi-d, a new product concept that is intended to provide remote-operated X-ray capabilities for use in screening across areas of the developing world experiencing the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) co-epidemic, high incidences of Black Lung disease, or outbreaks of other infectious respiratory diseases.

30 Nov 2009

Research shows rare parasitic disease is transmitted by gay men

A rare parasitic disease, which normally only is transmitted by contaminated water, has been shown to be transmitted by gay sex between hiv-positive men. In the industrial world the disease is virtually absent, but from now on that could change.

27 Nov 2009

Global Fund approves 'in principle' $47M grant for reducing spread of HIV among MSM, transgender in South Asia

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved, "in principle," a $47 million grant to reduce the spread of HIV among gay and other men who have sex with men in seven south Asian countries, IANS/Thaindian.com reports. According to a statement IANS/Thaindian.com reports was released by the Global Fund, in New Delhi, "This [project] marks the first time, the Global Fund will support a major regional project in Asia specifically addressing men who have sex with men (MSM), transgenders and HIV."

25 Nov 2009

Despite gains, HIV/AIDS remains public-health priority, UNAIDS, WHO say

"The U.N. report said 'AIDS continues to be a major public-health priority' and called for more funds to support efforts to curb the epidemic and to distribute lifesaving drugs," the Wall Street Journal reports.

25 Nov 2009