Polio News and Research

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Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause severe paralysis. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Polio mainly affects children under five years of age. Naturally occurring polio was eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere by 1991; however, worldwide efforts are continuing towards eradication of this contagious and devastating disease.

Gene linked to autism lays groundwork for crucial brain structure during prenatal development

A gene linked to mental disorders helps lays the foundation for a crucial brain structure during prenatal development, according to Salk Institute research published January 14, 2016 in Cell Reports.

18 Jan 2016

Salk Institute scientists find new target for glioblastoma multiforme treatment

Glioblastoma multiforme is a particularly deadly cancer. A person diagnosed with this type of brain tumor typically survives 15 months, if given the best care. The late Senator Ted Kennedy succumbed to this disease in just over a year.

11 Jan 2016

FAU study shows benefits of regular mammography among elder women

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer and occurred in 230,000 women in the United States in 2015. Breast cancer afflicts 1 in 8 women in their lifetime and 1 in 25 die from this disease.

7 Jan 2016

CFDA issues new drug certificate and production license for Sinovac's EV71 vaccine

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today announced that the China Food and Drug Administration issued the new drug certificate and production license for its Enterovirus 71 ("EV71") vaccine.

4 Jan 2016

Study reports generation of new vaccine strains that appear effective against polio virus

While the goal of polio virus eradication is in sight, there are concerns about post-eradication manufacturing and stockpiling vaccine stores containing live virus that could escape and repopulate the environment. A study published on December 31st in PLOS Pathogens reports the generation of new vaccine strains that appear both effective and unable to cause disease after accidental or intended release.

4 Jan 2016

Salk researchers move one step closer to unlocking how the brain functions

How the brain functions is still a black box: scientists aren't even sure how many kinds of nerve cells exist in the brain. To know how the brain works, they need to know not only what types of nerve cells exist, but also how they work together. Researchers at the Salk Institute have gotten one step closer to unlocking this black box.

17 Dec 2015

New research sheds light on how gut damage can cause malnutrition, oral vaccine failure

It has been estimated that if every nutritional measure known to be helpful were applied to every child in the world, global malnutrition would be decreased by only a third. New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the University of Vermont and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh sheds light on why: Damage to the gut from infection explains why food alone is not a solution to malnutrition.

15 Dec 2015

United Spinal denounces Uber's new Washington, D.C. TAXI WHEELCHAIR option as inadequate, unsustainable

United Spinal Association, today denounced Uber's new Washington, D.C. TAXI 'WHEELCHAIR' option that enables riders to request a wheelchair accessible taxi on-demand as "inadequate and unsustainable."

13 Dec 2015

Sinovac gets approval to begin clinical trials on Sabin Inactivated Polio Vaccine candidate

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today announced that the Company has obtained approval to begin human clinical trials on its Sabin Inactivated Polio Vaccine (or "sIPV") candidate.

10 Dec 2015

WHO develops innovative system to track attacks on health workers

In the early hours of 3 October, rockets slammed into a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing at least 14 health workers and injuring 37. An MSF clinic in the southern Yemen city of Taiz was bombed on 2 December, injuring 9 people, including 2 MSF staff.

10 Dec 2015

RTFCCR grant supports ASCOLT study that evaluates effectiveness of Aspirin in colorectal cancer patients

Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research, an international private foundation based in Switzerland, has awarded a US $800,000 grant to be released over two years for the ASCOLT study conducted by Dr John Chia, Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Division of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore.

9 Dec 2015

Experimental drug candidate aimed at combating Alzheimer's disease has anti-aging effects

Salk Institute researchers have found that an experimental drug candidate aimed at combating Alzheimer's disease has a host of unexpected anti-aging effects in animals.

13 Nov 2015

Salk scientists uncover enzyme responsible for suppressing deadly lung cancer

Scientists at the Salk Institute have uncovered a molecule whose mutation leads to the aggressive growth of a common and deadly type of lung cancer in humans.

3 Nov 2015

Sinovac Dalian receives approval to start human clinical trials of varicella vaccine candidate

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today announced that one of its subsidiaries, Sinovac Dalian, has received approval to begin human clinical trials on its varicella vaccine candidate. The clinical trial application for the varicella vaccine was officially accepted by the China Food and Drug Administration in January 2013.

26 Oct 2015

SAGE recommends pilot implementation of malaria vaccine to protect young children

The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) recommended pilot projects to understand how to best use a vaccine that protects against malaria in young children.

26 Oct 2015

WHO officials hope to eradicate polio by 2024

Shortly after the successful global Smallpox Eradication Programme (SEP) in the 80's, world leaders and public health officials announced a plan to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) off the face of the Earth; the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO) together championed the cause.

16 Oct 2015

Global Health Film Festival programme published for 30 and 31 October

The full programme has been published for the first Global Health Film Festival to be held on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October at the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE. A collaboration between the Royal Society Medicine, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the festival aims to use film and media as a catalyst to inspire change in health and development.

15 Oct 2015

Get your flu shot before fall festivities, says Loyola infectious disease specialist

While planning your family's fall festivities this month, add the flu shot to the list. Then follow through with a visit to your doctor to make sure everyone is protected for the flu season. October is the recommended month to receive the vaccine for your best shot at preventing the flu.

13 Oct 2015

Scientists can now use skin samples from older patients to grow brain cells

For the first time, scientists can use skin samples from older patients to create brain cells without rolling back the youthfulness clock in the cells first. The new technique, which yields cells resembling those found in older people's brains, will be a boon to scientists studying age-related diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

9 Oct 2015

Polio no more in Nigeria, WHO says

The World Health Organization announced today that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria. This is the first time that Nigeria has interrupted transmission of wild poliovirus, bringing the country and the African region closer than ever to being certified polio-free.

29 Sep 2015