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Researchers identify novel type of antibody that potently inhibits HIV infection

A small antibody fragment that is highly effective in neutralizing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by preventing the virus from entering cells has been identified by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

21 Oct 2008

Google.org helps identify future disease hot spots

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has announced grants of more than $14 million to support partners working in Southeast Asia and Africa to prevent the next pandemic.

21 Oct 2008

Getting the flu early may protect against worse one later

New evidence about the worldwide influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 indicates that getting the flu early protected many people against a second deadlier wave, an article co-authored by an NIH epidemiologist concludes.

20 Oct 2008

Contact lenses are home to pathogenic amoebae

Contact lenses increase the risk of infection with pathogenic protozoa that can cause blindness. New research, published in the November issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology, shows that a high percentage of contact lens cases in Tenerife are contaminated with Acanthamoeba that cannot be killed by normal contact lens solution.

20 Oct 2008

Many parents get their children's weight wrong

Australian researchers have found that parents are often mistaken in assessing whether their child is under or overweight and as many as 4 in 10 parents get it wrong.

20 Oct 2008

Surface analysis exposes counterfeit medicines

CERAM Surface and Materials Analysis has published a white paper highlighting how surface analysis can expose counterfeit medicines. It describes how technologies such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (ToFSIMS) are being used in novel ways to not only analyse the composition of various pharmaceuticals, but also to determine differences in the manufacturing processes involved.

15 Oct 2008

Study reveals too many people have faecal bacteria on their hands

According to a preliminary study conducted by the research team, the further north you go in Britain, the more likely you are to have faecal bacteria on your hands, and men were the worse offenders.

14 Oct 2008

Black patients with chronic pain less likely to have obesity measured

At the intersection of two U.S. health epidemics - obesity and chronic pain - researchers from the University of Michigan Health System found black patients with chronic pain were less likely to have their weight or body mass index (BMI) recorded, even though they are at higher risk for having obesity when compared with their white counterparts.

14 Oct 2008

Antiretroviral drug efavirenz associated with better outcomes in HIV-infected adults

A study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that HIV-infected patients taking the antiretroviral drug efavirenz were more likely to adhere to treatment and less likely to experience virologic failure and death compared to patients taking nevirapine.

14 Oct 2008

Diabetics more likely to lose their vision

Experts in the United States have found that vision loss is more common in people with diabetes than those without the disease.

14 Oct 2008

Visual impairment more common in people with diabetes

Visual impairment appears to be more common in people with diabetes than in those without the disease, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

13 Oct 2008

TB Alliance receives pledge of up to $40 million from USAID

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit, product development partnership leading the development of new and affordable tuberculosis (TB) drugs, announced today a new grant and pledge of up to $40 million over the next five years from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

13 Oct 2008

5 things you should know about stem cell research

In just a few weeks, Michigan voters will have an important decision to make when casting their ballots.

13 Oct 2008

Global Health Group to assist Namibia in developing strategic malaria control plan

A five-member team from the University of California-San Francisco's Global Health Group will help Namibia develop a strategic plan aimed at eradicating malaria in the country, the New Era reports. The team, which arrived in Namibia on Oct. 5, has conducted site visits in the country's malaria-endemic northern region and met with Prime Minister Nahas Angula on Wednesday to discuss malaria control efforts.

13 Oct 2008

35% of annual new HIV infections in Spain occur among immigrants, researcher says at conference

Thirty-five percent of the 2,000 to 2,500 new HIV infections in Spain last year occurred among immigrants, Daniel Zulaika, president of the AIDS Interdisciplinary Society of Spain, said Wednesday at the XI National Congress on AIDS in Cordoba, Spain's El Pais reports.

13 Oct 2008

Women's independence necessary to address HIV/AIDS in Uganda, opinion piece says

Although Uganda had many achievements to celebrate on the anniversary of its independence on Wednesday, the country must "focus on independence on the individual level," especially among women affected by HIV/AIDS in the country, Milly Nattimba of the Makerere University School of Public Health writes in a New Vision opinion piece.

13 Oct 2008

Link found between bisphenol A and heart disease

British scientists have revealed a possible link between the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) and disease in adults.

13 Oct 2008

Experts say more exercise and better diet the key to childhood obesity

With experts saying the life expectancy of Australian children will be shortened by two years if something is not done about the country's obesity epidemic, researchers in Britain are saying the one hour of moderate exercise a day recommended to children from health experts may not be enough to tackle the problem of childhood obesity.

13 Oct 2008

Bisphenol A linked to diabetes and heart disease in adults

A research team from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the University of Iowa, have found evidence linking Bisphenol A (BPA) to diabetes and heart disease in adults.

12 Oct 2008

Better air ventilation in infants' bedrooms linked to reduced SIDS risk

Infants who slept in a bedroom with a fan ventilating the air had a 72 percent lower risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome compared to infants who slept in a bedroom without a fan, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study appears in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

6 Oct 2008