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.

Viewpoints: GOP should focus on fixing health law; bishops refuse to accept victory

Los Angeles Times: It's Time To Focus On Fixing The Affordable Care Act, Not Gutting It Conservatives have married their political fortunes to the notion that Obamacare is a catastrophe and must be discarded in its entirety -; even though some of the signature elements of the law, such as a requirement that most people be insured, are ideas that they originated.

15 Jul 2013

Immunization in developing countries: an interview with Dr. Jos Vandelaer, Chief of Immunization for UNICEF

Overall, worldwide, immunization programs reach around 83% of all children – this is an enormous achievement. With this level of immunization coverage, we prevent over 2 million deaths, year after year. This statistic is often forgotten or taken for granted.

11 Jul 2013

Study shows disrupted micronuclei may prove to be a valuable tool for detecting cancer

Scientists studying cancer development have known about micronuclei for some time. These erratic, small extra nuclei, which contain fragments or whole chromosomes that were not incorporated into daughter cells after cell division, are associated with specific forms of cancer and are predictive of poorer prognosis.

10 Jul 2013

Disrupted micronuclei might play more active role in carcinogenesis, new study finds

9 Jul 2013

IAIM seeks to support immunization managers to achieve vaccination goals

The Sabin Vaccine Institute today announced the launch of the newly-formed International Association of Immunization Managers (IAIM). With the support of a five-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IAIM's objective is to help drive the achievement of national, regional and international immunization goals, including those in the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), by fostering forward-thinking and superior management of immunization programs.

25 Jun 2013

New book explores experiences of polio victims alongside medical, scientific landmarks

Thanks to vaccination, polio has been pushed to the brink of extinction - but can we finish the job? This is one of the big questions which a Bristol academic addresses in his new book, published next week.

20 Jun 2013

Anatomy of a Hospital: New book chronicles history of nation's oldest hospital for orthopedics

With 537 pages and 150 photographs, "Anatomy of a Hospital" chronicles the history of the nation's oldest hospital for orthopedics, from its beginnings in a doctor's home to help destitute children with disabilities to the premier hospital it has become today.

15 Jun 2013

Study suggests possible way to halt cancer development in premalignant cells

Scientists have uncovered a survival mechanism that occurs in breast cells that have just turned premalignant-cells on the cusp between normalcy and cancers-which may lead to new methods of stopping tumors.

24 May 2013

March of Dimes, Ohio research centers and hospitals establish new research program to prevent preterm birth

Three major Ohio universities and four hospitals have joined with the March of Dimes Foundation to establish a new collaborative research program aimed exclusively at finding the unknown causes of premature birth.

22 May 2013

Researchers say that receiving cancer radiation therapy late in the day may minimize hair loss

Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock - a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair - researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized if these treatments are given late in the day.

21 May 2013

WHO's Health Assembly opens 66th Session in Geneva

WHO's Health Assembly, the world's largest health policy-making body, opened its 66th Session today in Geneva with around 3000 participants from around the world.

21 May 2013

Viewpoints: Health law's effect on patient safety; Angelina Jolie's surgery is the ultimate 'choice'

Much of the discussion over the Affordable Care Act has focused on whether it will bring down health care costs. Less attention has been paid to another goal of the act: improving patient safety. Each year tens of thousands of people die, and hundreds of thousands more are injured, as a result of medical error (Joanna C. Schwartz, 5/16).

18 May 2013

Weekend reading: Volunteers in the battle with heart disease; Psychiatry without medication; Owning your genes

Psychiatrists who take time with their patients are not the norm. It's not because others don't care. Rather the system rewards efficiency, not empathy.

17 May 2013

India's DBT, Bharat Biotech announce positive Phase III clinical trial results of rotavirus vaccine

The Government of India's Department of Biotechnology and Bharat Biotech announced positive results from a Phase III clinical trial of a rotavirus vaccine developed and manufactured in India.

14 May 2013

Research findings may pave way to new treatment for Alzheimer's disease in humans

A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer's disease in aged mice following short-term treatment.

14 May 2013

Scientists identify TR4 protein that drives the formation of pituitary tumors in Cushing's disease

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a protein that drives the formation of pituitary tumors in Cushing's disease, a development that may give clinicians a therapeutic target to treat this potentially life-threatening disorder.

8 May 2013

New NTD Special Envoys to focus on eliminating NTD primarily on LAC region

Today, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, a major initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, announced His Excellency, President Alvaro Arz- Irigoyen of Guatemala (1996-2000), His Excellency, President Ricardo Lagos Escobar of Chile (2000-2006) and former Pan American Health Organization Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago as the organization's newest Neglected Tropical Disease Special Envoys.

8 May 2013

With GPEI plan, polio eradication may finally be within reach

"After 25 years of remarkable achievements and sometimes harrowing setbacks, a successful conclusion to global polio eradication could finally be within reach," Nellie Bristol, a fellow with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president and director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS, write in a CSIS commentary.

3 May 2013

IPS reports on Taliban attacks on health care facilities in Pakistan's FATA

Inter Press Service reports on Taliban-sponsored attacks on health care facilities in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.