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CDC releases update on polio eradication efforts

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released an update on its polio eradication efforts.

16 Jan 2013

India marks two years since last diagnosed polio case

On January 13, India "completed two years since the last case of the crippling disease was reported ... a huge achievement for a country that as recently as 2009 reported 741 cases of polio -- more than any other country in the world, and almost half of cases reported globally that year," the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog reports.

16 Jan 2013

WHO recommends switching to injectable polio vaccine

"[T]his month the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, proposed a shift in [polio] vaccination strategy from oral vaccines to injected ones that may have to be administered in clinics," Nature reports, adding, "The change is needed to mop up the last remaining pockets of polio, but experts say that it poses challenges in [rural areas], which have poor access to health care."

16 Jan 2013

Link between infections and venous thromboembolism in surgical patients

Despite receiving blood thinners and other clot prevention treatment, some patients still develop potentially lethal blood clots in the first month after their operations anyway, especially if they developed a surgical-site infection while in the hospital, according to results of a study at Johns Hopkins.

16 Jan 2013

Addressing cholera with an 'integrated approach' in 2013

"There has been so much news related to cholera and cholera research since the start of 2013 I can only hope it means this year will be a banner year for prevention efforts," Helen Matzger, a program officer in new vaccine delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

16 Jan 2013

Gates Foundation official discusses efforts to fight malaria

AllAfrica features an interview with David Brandling-Bennett, deputy director of the malaria program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in which he discusses "current tools being used to fight the disease, the prospect for a vaccine, and the hope of new drugs to accelerate progress," according to the news service.

16 Jan 2013

Flu: ERs seeing more patients, N.Y. declares state of emergency

Emergency rooms around America are dealing with an influx of those with the flu while the virus forces New York officials to declare a state of emergency.

16 Jan 2013

Research shows genetic factors increase risk of visceral leishmaniasis

A new study published in Nature Genetics last week shows that genetics likely influence whether an individual develops visceral leishmaniasis, a lethal form of the parasitic disease transmitted by sandflies, the New York Times reports.

16 Jan 2013

It's still too early to evaluate whether flu season is worse than normal

New York officials declare a public health emergency as federal officials say the epidemic may have peaked.

16 Jan 2013

Polio official discusses eradication efforts in Gates Foundation blog interview

In the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Eric Porterfield, director of global health communications at the United Nations Foundation, interviews Jeffrey Bates, a polio communications for development (C4D) officer, about India's efforts to eradicate polio.

16 Jan 2013

Janssen receives EC approval for PREZISTA 800mg tablet to treat HIV

Janssen R&D Ireland announced today that the European Commission (EC) has approved a new PREZISTA (darunavir) 800mg tablet allowing people living with HIV to take one darunavir tablet once a day.

16 Jan 2013

Zimbabwe continues to face medicine shortages, stock-outs, PlusNews reports

"Chronic shortages of generic and antiretroviral drugs, stock-outs, high medication costs, and long distances to clinics are some of the hurdles people face in their quest to access essential medicines in Zimbabwe," PlusNews reports.

16 Jan 2013

Experts blame lack of immunization coverage for Pakistan's measles outbreak

In 2012, measles "claimed the lives of more than 300 children in Pakistan," with more than 200 of those deaths from Sindh province, and health experts and the WHO are saying "the huge difference in routine immunization coverage between the provinces, districts and cities is at the root of the measles outbreak," Inter Press Service reports.

16 Jan 2013

White House, Congress should increase funding for PEPFAR, Global Fund to achieve 'AIDS-free generation'

"The Blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in November 2012 makes a bold declaration: We are at a tipping point in this most devastating pandemic of our time," Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

16 Jan 2013

CHOP to study antibiotic delivery to children after hospitalization for serious bacterial infection

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) was awarded nearly $2M in research funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study antibiotic delivery to children returning home after hospitalization for a severe bacterial infection.

16 Jan 2013

Experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect against Ebola virus infection

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have found that an experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect nonhuman primates from Ebola virus infection.

16 Jan 2013

Supreme Court agrees to hear case challenging federal anti-prostitution pledge

"The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider whether the government can require groups that receive federal funding for overseas HIV/AIDS programs to have explicit policies that oppose prostitution and sex trafficking," Reuters reports.

16 Jan 2013

NPR's 'Shots' blog examines cholera epidemic in Haiti; U.N. SG calls for continued international support of country

NPR's "Shots" blog examines the cholera epidemic in Haiti and addresses the controversy surrounding the U.N.'s role in the outbreak, noting, "Most scientists now think Nepalese soldiers unwittingly brought cholera to Haiti when they joined a U.N. peacekeeping force there in 2010."

16 Jan 2013

Diospyrin inactivates a drug target for tuberculosis in new way

A compound from the South African toothbrush tree inactivates a drug target for tuberculosis in a previously unseen way.

16 Jan 2013

Researchers discover molecular blueprint behind the IFIT protein

Researchers at McGill University and the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have discovered the molecular blueprint behind the IFIT protein.

15 Jan 2013