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Inovio achieves best-in-class immune responses in PENNVAX-B HIV vaccine Phase I study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of synthetic immunogens against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that it has achieved best-in-class immune responses in a Phase I clinical study of PENNVAX-B, its product for the prevention of the HIV sub-type prevalent in the US and Europe.

14 Sep 2011

Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir avoids grim AIDS predictions

When the only community health care center providing medical and psychosocial care for people living with HIV/AIDS in India's northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir "closed down six months ago for lack of patients, it was a sure sign that the north Indian state had beaten back dire forecasts," Inter Press Service reports.

14 Sep 2011

Jefferson neurologist receives Harold G. Wolff Lecture Award for migraine headache model

Michael L. Oshinsky, Ph.D., assistant professor of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and a member of the Jefferson Headache Center team, was recently named the 2011 Harold G. Wolff Lecture award recipient for creating a new animal model of migraine headache.

14 Sep 2011

Heavy rains, flooding exacerbating cholera epidemic in West and Central African countries

A cholera epidemic in West and Central Africa, which is being worsened by heavy rains and flooding, has already caused nearly 40,000 cases this year in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, killing almost 1,200 people in the countries adjacent to the Lake Chad Basin, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), VOA News reports.

14 Sep 2011

Study finds high prevalence of lymph node evaluation for colon cancer

During the past two decades there has been a significant increase in the percentage of patients who have a high number of lymph nodes evaluated during colon cancer operations, but this improvement is not associated with an increase in the overall proportion of colon cancers that are node positive, according to a study in the September 14 issue of JAMA.

14 Sep 2011

Council on Foreign Affairs backgrounder examines global action on NCDs

Toni Johnson, senior staff writer for the Council on Foreign Affairs, writes about global action on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in this backgrounder published by the organization on Monday.

14 Sep 2011

Researchers identify abnormal hippocampal blood flow in veterans with Gulf War illness

Blood flow abnormalities found in the brains of veterans with Gulf War illness have persisted 20 years after the war, and in some cases have gotten worse, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

14 Sep 2011

Researchers at South Korean lab make advance in fight against neglected tropical diseases

VOA News reports on a scientific breakthrough, which researchers call a "game changer" for developing new drugs, developed at Institut Pasteur Korea [IPK], a South Korean branch of the 124-year-old French research institute that is developing new drugs to combat diseases mainly affecting developing countries, including neglected tropical diseases.

14 Sep 2011

IDF, Albert Einstein College of Medicine to host Global Diabetes Symposium

While infectious diseases tend to grab media headlines and public attention, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and chronic respiratory diseases together comprise the number one killer in the world and represent a serious social and economic burden to developed and developing countries alike.

14 Sep 2011

AP: Working-age people losing ground on health coverage

Hurt by high unemployment, working-age Americans are expected to lose ground when new census figures on poverty and the uninsured are released.

14 Sep 2011

New data from Pfizer's investigational oncology compounds to be presented at EMCC 2011

Pfizer Oncology announced today that data evaluating crizotinib in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as data from Pfizer's renal cell carcinoma (RCC) portfolio on axitinib, an investigational compound, and SUTENT(sunitinib malate) will be presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress in Stockholm, Sweden, September 23 - 27, 2011.

14 Sep 2011

Rwanda to treat HIV-positive people in discordant relationships as soon as they test positive

After a landmark study published in May "showed major reductions in HIV transmission among discordant couples due to early treatment," Rwanda has decided to begin treating people in discordant relationships with antiretroviral therapy as soon as they test HIV-positive "as part of a plan to boost national HIV prevention and treatment efforts," PlusNews reports.

14 Sep 2011

Merck issues statement on GARDASIL human papillomavirus vaccine

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, issued the following statement on GARDASIL, Merck's vaccine to protect against certain diseases caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16 and 18.

14 Sep 2011

EMBL, five countries sign ELIXIR's Memorandum of Understanding

Today marks an important step for ELIXIR, Europe's emerging research infrastructure for life-science information, as five countries plus the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to catalyse the implementation and construction of ELIXIR.

14 Sep 2011

Black women with wide waists are equally at risk of early death as whites

Ever since the mid-1970s when Harvard initiated what is now known as "The Nurses Study" we've been told that white women with waists over 40 inches, raised their risk of early death by 40% vs. their slimmer sisters who maintained waists in the 26 to 27 inch measure.

14 Sep 2011

U-M selects new integration technology for its children and women's hospitals

The University of Michigan Health System has selected a new system-wide integration platform to connect clinical alarm and alert data from medical to communications devices, wireless phones and pagers for its new 348-bed C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital.

14 Sep 2011

UN report on illicit drug use worldwide

According to a new United Nations report the use of stimulant drugs of abuse like amphetamine, ecstasy and meth is increasing worldwide. The report adds that the growing trade in these illegal drugs and the high profits they bring to criminals are posing an increasing threat to health and security.

14 Sep 2011

Prescription drugs expensive in Australia and likely to increase

According to experts Australians are facing some of the highest ‘out-of-pocket’ costs in the industrialized world for prescription medicines and the problem is likely to worsen

14 Sep 2011

Australians depressed, obese, alcoholic and in denial: Survey

Reports reveal that Australians are in denial about their increasing rates of obesity and claim to be the unhappiest in the world. The findings came from an international health survey which also revealed that Australians were among the world's biggest drinkers, coming in just behind the British. The survey by health insurer BUPA showed that while 64 per cent of Australians said they were in relatively good shape, there were some worrying trends.

14 Sep 2011

Dementia needs early diagnosis: Report

According to a new report sponsored by Alzheimer’s Disease International, nearly three-quarters of the 36 million people living with dementia have not been diagnosed with it. Experts say the lack of diagnosis has enormous repercussions on early treatment and care, and has a direct impact on the disease’s cost to society.

14 Sep 2011