Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

ViroStatics to present VS411 Phase II dose-ranging trial data at International AIDS Conference in Vienna

ViroStatics, a US/Italian biopharmaceutical company developing innovative immunotherapies for HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases, is releasing Phase II data from a randomized, dose-ranging trial of VS411, the Company's novel combination product for treating HIV/AIDS, during the XVII International AIDS Conference this week in Vienna, Austria.

19 Jul 2010

BioRadar develops TransFMDV for Foot and Mouth Disease

BioRadar UK Ltd. predicted one year ago the current severe Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks after recording an increase of the Replikin Count (ref. 1) of the FMD Virus (FMDV) to its highest level in 52 years. Based on these findings, a new synthetic Replikins Trans-Strain FMD Vaccine, called TransFMDV(TM), has been developed and is now available. The announcement was made at the recent Biorbis Conference on Vaccine Production and Manufacturing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The conference was attended by major pharmaceutical company executives to examine how vaccine production could be accelerated in view of the problem last year of responding "too little, too late" to the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

17 Jul 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

As part of a series in advance of AIDS 2010, the "Science Speaks" blog features an interview with U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby "about his expectations for the conference, what was behind the Uganda problem with shortages of AIDS medicine, and whether The New York Times was right when it reported in May that the Ugandan drug shortfall was 'the first example … of how the war on AIDS is falling apart.'"

16 Jul 2010

Hemispherx publishes report of Japanese government funded program to develop nasally delivered H5N1 vaccine

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. announced that it was publicizing the full technical (unedited) report in Japanese, prepared by Hideki Hasegawa, M.D. Ph.D., Director, Laboratory of Infectious Disease Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Disease (NIID, formerly Japan's National Institute of Health) and the certified English translation.

16 Jul 2010

First 1M doses of smallpox vaccine for immune-compromised populations delivered

Delivery to the Strategic National Stockpile of the first 1 million doses of the nation's first smallpox vaccine for certain immune-compromised populations is now complete, the result of a Project BioShield contract.

15 Jul 2010

Over half of UK swine flu hospital admissions, deaths occurred in previously healthy people: Research

Over half of UK swine flu hospital admissions and inpatient deaths occurred in people with no underlying health problems or obvious risk factors, research at the University of Liverpool has found.

15 Jul 2010

AVAC Report surveys state of biomedical HIV prevention research

A new report from AVAC surveys the state of biomedical HIV prevention research, including the first evidence of vaccine-induced protection in humans and the emergence of ARV-based prevention -- and provides strategic recommendations for moving forward in a time of constrained resources and faltering commitment to ending AIDS.

15 Jul 2010

Health care industry does not have routine ways to prevent patient harm, expert argues

In health care reform discussions, talk inevitably turns to making hospitals and physicians accountable for patient outcomes. But in a commentary being published in the July 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Johns Hopkins patient safety expert Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., argues that the health care industry doesn't yet have measurable, achievable and routine ways to prevent patient harm — and that, in many cases, there are too many barriers in the way to attain them.

14 Jul 2010

HIVMA, RWMPC support National HIV/AIDS Strategy

The HIV Medicine Association applauds the Obama administration's release of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy that signals a strengthened national commitment to real and sustained success in the battle against HIV/AIDS. As clinicians and researchers on the frontline of this pandemic, we welcome this new comprehensive roadmap and look forward to working with diverse stakeholders at all levels of government and within the private sector to implement it.

14 Jul 2010

Sperian Respiratory Protection awarded VHA contract for 65,000 special configuration half-mask respirators

The U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has awarded Sperian Respiratory Protection USA a contract to purchase 65,000 special configuration modified Sperian Blue1 half-mask respirators with speaking diaphragm for use in VHA hospitals nationwide. VHA is the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States with over 150 hospitals and 130,000 healthcare workers. This award is a result of Sperian's emphasis on developing respiratory products that enhance speech intelligibility when worn by healthcare workers.

13 Jul 2010

Report on program to develop, test nasally delivered H5N1 vaccine filed with Japan's MHLW

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc., announced that it has received a report, prepared by Hideki Hasegawa, M.D. Ph.D., Director, Laboratory of Infectious Disease Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Disease, that summarizes the results of a three year Japanese government funded program to develop and test a nasally delivered H5N1 (Avian Flu) vaccine which, when coupled with Ampligen®, an experimental therapeutic, provided a robust and long lasting immune response to the vaccine.

12 Jul 2010

WHO report examines donors response to developing countries during H1N1 pandemic

CIDRAP News examines a recently-released WHO report on how donor countries and organizations have responded to the needs of developing countries during the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. In September, the WHO estimated the "64 'least-resourced countries' needed a total of $1.48 billion of aid for vaccine, medicines and supplies, laboratory and surveillance services, communications capacity, and other activities to respond to the pandemic," according to the news service.

9 Jul 2010

American, Canadian officials discuss global health developments at recent G8, G20 summits

The recent G8 summit in Canada's Muskoka region took an important step forward in improving maternal and child health in developing countries, Canadian and American officials said at a forum Wednesday in Washington, DC.

9 Jul 2010

Increasing HAART treatment for HIV/AIDS patients will provide significant cost savings: Study

Increasing highly active antiretroviral therapy treatment for people with HIV/AIDS will provide significant cost savings over a relatively short period of time, according to a formal economic analysis led by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) at Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia.

8 Jul 2010

Aethlon Medical files provisional patent on behalf of ESI for exosome detection assay

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that it has filed a provisional patent on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary Exosome Sciences, Inc. (ESI), relating to the development of an assay that will allow researchers to detect exosomes in blood and other fluids.

8 Jul 2010

HHS awards $390.5M to strengthen medical surge capability in hospitals and health care organizations

States, territories, and large metropolitan areas will receive grants totaling $390.5 million this month to help hospitals and other health care organizations strengthen the medical surge capability across the nation.

8 Jul 2010

WHO H1N1 response probe's second meeting highlights divergent views

The independent team of health experts responsible for reviewing the WHO's response to H1N1 (swine flu) wrapped up a second round of public hearings on Friday, "during which members heard testimony from widely divergent groups, from health officials to some of its most public critics," CIDRAP News reports.

7 Jul 2010

International conference focuses on HPV's impact on women

Scientists, clinicians and public health leaders from around the world are gathered in Montreal this week for the 26th International Papillomavirus Conference where they hope to generate awareness about human papillomavirus, Canwest News Service/Gazette reports (Martin/McCallum, 7/4).

7 Jul 2010

Virus related to hepatitis C discovered in Asian bats

Viral hepatitis affects more than 500 million people worldwide and is a cause of liver failure and liver cancer. While vaccines are available for hepatitis A and B, this is not the case for hepatitis C, which affects as much as two percent of the population in the U.S. Scientists today are reporting discovery of a virus related to hepatitis C in Asian bats, which may provide insights into the origins of the hepatitis C virus and into the mechanisms by which infectious diseases move from other species to humans.

2 Jul 2010

Sirnaomics receives NIH SBIR grants to advance siRNA therapeutics for critical human diseases

Sirnaomics, Inc. announced today that the company has received two SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grants from National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), of National Institute of Health (NIH). Sirnaomics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company founded in early 2007, is dedicated to developing RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics for treatment of critical human diseases.

30 Jun 2010

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

ViroStatics to present VS411 Phase II dose-ranging trial data at International AIDS Conference in Vienna

BioRadar develops TransFMDV for Foot and Mouth Disease

Recent releases in Global Health

Hemispherx publishes report of Japanese government funded program to develop nasally delivered H5N1 vaccine

First 1M doses of smallpox vaccine for immune-compromised populations delivered

Over half of UK swine flu hospital admissions, deaths occurred in previously healthy people: Research

AVAC Report surveys state of biomedical HIV prevention research

Health care industry does not have routine ways to prevent patient harm, expert argues

HIVMA, RWMPC support National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Sperian Respiratory Protection awarded VHA contract for 65,000 special configuration half-mask respirators

Report on program to develop, test nasally delivered H5N1 vaccine filed with Japan's MHLW

WHO report examines donors response to developing countries during H1N1 pandemic

American, Canadian officials discuss global health developments at recent G8, G20 summits

Increasing HAART treatment for HIV/AIDS patients will provide significant cost savings: Study

Aethlon Medical files provisional patent on behalf of ESI for exosome detection assay

HHS awards $390.5M to strengthen medical surge capability in hospitals and health care organizations

WHO H1N1 response probe's second meeting highlights divergent views

International conference focuses on HPV's impact on women

Virus related to hepatitis C discovered in Asian bats

Sirnaomics receives NIH SBIR grants to advance siRNA therapeutics for critical human diseases

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

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