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Nature editorial, opinion piece address H7N9 virus

The journal Nature published an editorial and opinion piece on the emergence of the H7N9 avian influenza strain.

26 Apr 2013

USAID blog highlights World Malaria Day

"Time and again, we see the same predictable cycle in public and private sector programs all over the world. Success turns the volume down on the alarm bells that drive the investments that produced that success in the first place, and when that happens, only failure raises the alarm again".

26 Apr 2013

Bill Gates seeks additional $1.5B in donations for polio eradication efforts

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "is seeking a further $1.5 billion in donations to wipe out polio by 2018 and make it the first infectious disease eradicated since smallpox was wiped from the planet in 1979".

26 Apr 2013

New strain of bird flu poses pandemic threat

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling the new strain of H7H9 influenza virus "lethal" and The University of Kansas Hospital is preparing now for any potential cases.

26 Apr 2013

Financial Times publishes special report on malaria

The Financial Times has published a special report (.pdf) on malaria featuring articles examining issues including prevention, treatment and research and development (R&D).

26 Apr 2013

Blog examines independent evaluation of PMI

While the giant PEPFAR program to fight HIV/AIDS in developing countries gets a lot of attention in U.S. foreign policy discussions, a lesser known initiative to address malaria is achieving sustained, impressive results.

26 Apr 2013

Sustained funding for malaria efforts needed to maintain momentum

"When in the year 2000 African leaders first decided to put a Malaria Day on the calendar of the world, the ravages of malaria were barely visible to global decision-makers in prosperous countries," Fatoumata Nafo-Traor, executive director of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership and a former minister of health in Mali, writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog.

25 Apr 2013

New York Times profiles Carter center's leader for guinea worm eradication

The New York Times on Monday profiled Donald Hopkins, who is leading the fight to eradicate Guinea worm in his role as "vice president for health programs at the Carter Center, the group founded by former President Jimmy Carter to advance human rights and fight disease."

25 Apr 2013

Microbial population in New York City subway system is nearly identical to that of ambient air on city streets

The microbial population in the air of the New York City subway system is nearly identical to that of ambient air on the city streets. This research, published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, establishes an important baseline, should it become necessary to monitor the subway's air for dispersal of potentially dangerous microbes.

25 Apr 2013

New antimicrobial agents do not rely on traditional antibiotics

In an advance toward coping with bacteria that shrug off existing antibiotics and sterilization methods, scientists are reporting development of a new family of selective antimicrobial agents that do not rely on traditional antibiotics.

25 Apr 2013

Childhood meningitis linked with lower educational achievement and economic self-sufficiency in adult life

In a study that included nearly 3,000 adults from Denmark, a diagnosis of meningococcal, pneumococcal, or Haemophilus influenzae meningitis in childhood was associated with lower educational achievement and economic self-sufficiency in adult life, according to a study in the April 24 issue of JAMA.

25 Apr 2013

New hope for patients with chronic HBV infection

Exciting new data presented today at the International Liver Congress- 2013 include rults from early in vitro and in vivo studies targeting covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which may form the basis of a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

25 Apr 2013

Research reveals deadly impact of alcohol and body weight on liver disease

Research announced today at the International Liver CongressTM 2013 has revealed the deadly impact that alcohol and body weight have on liver disease.

25 Apr 2013

Studies demonstrate encouraging results for new direct-acting antiviral agents

New data from a number of clinical trials presented for the first time at the International Liver Congress- 2013 demonstrate encouraging results in the use of new direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) for the treatment of hepatitis C.

25 Apr 2013

Study reveals humans are passing antibiotic resistance to wildlife in protected areas

A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered that humans are passing antibiotic resistance to wildlife, especially in protected areas where numbers of humans are limited.

25 Apr 2013

New information on mitigating spread of infection from flu viruses

Pandemic flu continues to threaten public health, especially in the wake of the recent emergence of an H7N9 low pathogenic avian influenza strain in humans.

25 Apr 2013

H7N9 flu virus found to transmit from birds to humans but not person-to-person

Scientists in China have confirmed for the first time that the influenza A H7N9 virus has transmitted from birds—specifically, chicken at a wet poultry market—to humans, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet.

25 Apr 2013

To avoid difficulties experienced during SARS epidemic, China must remain transparent in H7N9 efforts

"On this 10th anniversary of China's April 2003 admission that the SARS virus had spread across that country ... Beijing finds itself once again in a terrible position via-a-vis the microbial and geopolitical worlds," Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece, noting the emergence of a new strain of bird flu, H7N9, in the country.

25 Apr 2013

Three steps to eliminating NTDs

In a post on the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) editor-in-chief Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, reviews progress being made toward the elimination of NTDs through mass drug administration and other efforts.

25 Apr 2013

UNITAID, Medicines Patent Pool work to improve access to medicines in developing world

Devex features a sponsored interview with Dennis Broun, executive director of UNITAID, which uses innovative financing and "its understanding of how to address market shortcomings to improve access to quality-assured treatment and diagnostics for HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria patients in low-income countries."

25 Apr 2013