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China's Health Ministry orders hospitals to treat HIV patients

"China's Health Ministry has banned hospitals from turning away patients infected with HIV/AIDS," the Associated Press/Fox News reports.

27 Nov 2012

Recognizing pharmaceutical philanthropy's role in fighting NTDs

"In October 1987, Roy Vagelos, then the chief executive of pharmaceutical company Merck, launched the largest pharmaco-philanthropic venture ever," William Foege, an epidemiologist and former director of the CDC, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece highlighting the company's efforts to combat onchocerciasis in the developing world through the free distribution of its drug Mectizan.

27 Nov 2012

Clinics on Cambodian-Thai border aim to prevent spread of drug-resistant malaria

BBC News examines "a worrying drop in the effectiveness of the artemisinin-based drugs" against malaria along the Cambodian-Thai border, and how clinics are attempting to combat the trend by offering monetary incentives to patients to complete treatment regimens.

27 Nov 2012

Wall Street Journal reports on challenges of fighting multi-drug resistant TB in India

"More than one-quarter of people diagnosed with tuberculosis [TB] at a clinic in India's largest city of 18 million have a strain that doesn't respond to the main treatment against the disease, according to preliminary data from a new diagnostic being tested," the Wall Street Journal reports.

27 Nov 2012

New SARS-like virus detected in total of six people from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, WHO says

"A new virus from the same family as SARS which sparked a global alert in September has now killed two people in Saudi Arabia, and total cases there and in Qatar have reached six, the World Health Organization said" on Friday, Reuters reports.

27 Nov 2012

California researchers develop new strategy to find novel antibiotics for bacterial infections

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed a new strategy for finding novel antibiotic compounds, using a diagnostic panel of bacterial strains for screening chemical extracts from natural sources.

27 Nov 2012

Routine HIV testing can reduce illness and death across Canada

Offering routine HIV testing to the general population rather than only to high-risk individuals will significantly reduce illness and death, argues Dr. Julio Montaner and coauthors in an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

27 Nov 2012

Roche’s cobas 4800 HPV Test receives CE mark

Roche today announces an expanded CE mark indication for the cobas 4800 HPV Test. The newly expanded indication for the cobas® 4800 HPV Test as a primary screen means Pap cytology is no longer required as a co- or pre-test in countries that accept a CE mark.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 27 Nov 2012

Some nicotine-free snus products can increase risk of caries

It is a myth that snus (Swedish snuff) users today have fewer dental caries. On the contrary, some types of nicotine-free snus contain both carbohydrates and starch that increase the risk of cavities. Those are the findings of a thesis from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

27 Nov 2012

GW professor receives federal grant to study effects of microsporidia in HIV patients

Imtiaz A. Khan, M.D., professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, received a $1.6 million federal grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study the effects of microsporidia-opportunistic inter-cellular pathogens-that cause morbidity and mortality in HIV patients.

27 Nov 2012

Experimental flu vaccine technique could reduce time needed to develop new shots for humans

"An experimental vaccine based on a molecule related to DNA protects animals against influenza and may one day offer an ultra-rapid way to develop new shots for humans, German scientists reported on Sunday," Reuters reports.

27 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: Sen. Corker's plan to avoid the 'fiscal cliff'; Romney's brave attempt to deal with health entitlements; Fixing the drug shortage

I have shared with House and Senate leaders as well as the White House a 242-page bill that, along with other agreed-upon cuts that are to be enacted, would produce $4.5 trillion in fiscal reforms and replace sequestration.

27 Nov 2012

Chronic suppurative lung disease: an interview with Dr Robyn Marsh

Chronic suppurative lung disease, or CSLD, is used to describe a range of lung diseases characterised by a chronic wet cough and progressive lung damage. We are interested in the non-cystic fibrosis forms of the disease with a focus on bronchiectasis – the severe form of CSLD.

26 Nov 2012

Max Planck scientists identify unknown proteins of the herpesvirus

The genome encodes the complete information needed by an organism, including that required for protein production. Viruses, which are up to a thousand times smaller than human cells, have considerably smaller genomes. Using a type of herpesvirus as a model system, the scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich and their collaboration partners at the University of California in San Francisco have shown that the genome of this virus contains much more information than previously assumed.

26 Nov 2012

Avermectin family of drugs shows promise against TB

A well-established family of drugs used to treat parasitic diseases is showing surprising potential as a therapy for tuberculosis (TB), according to new research from University of British Columbia microbiologists.

26 Nov 2012

mRNA vaccines offer protection against influenza A virus infections in various animal models

CureVac GmbH, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of therapies and vaccines based on mRNA, and the German Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), Germany, today announced that mRNA vaccines (RNActive) based on the company's RNA technology platform have the potential to provide effective protection against infectious diseases.

26 Nov 2012

Lymphopenia driven diseases and the orphan drug industry: an interview with Damian Marron, CEO of Cytheris

Lymphopenia is when you lack the T cells of your immune system. T cells are very important for controlling infection. Probably the most known cause of lymphopenia is HIV.

23 Nov 2012

Research reveals surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of human cytomegalovirus

New findings reveal the surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of the human cytomegalovirus, or HCMV, and provide the first steps toward understanding how the virus manipulates human cells during infection. The genome of the HCMV was first sequenced over 20 years ago, but researchers have now investigated the proteome-the complete set of expressed proteins-of this common pathogen as well.

23 Nov 2012

Major advance in understanding how flu viruses replicate within infected cells

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a major advance in understanding how flu viruses replicate within infected cells. The researchers used cutting-edge molecular biology and electron-microscopy techniques to "see" one of influenza's essential protein complexes in unprecedented detail. The images generated in the study show flu virus proteins in the act of self-replication, highlighting the virus's vulnerabilities that are sure to be of interest to drug developers.

23 Nov 2012

People worried about catching infections in public transport during flu season

As flu season gets underway, public transport such as buses, trains and subway trains head the list of places where people worry about catching viruses and infections, according to new research by Microban.

23 Nov 2012

Disease/Infection News

China's Health Ministry orders hospitals to treat HIV patients

Recognizing pharmaceutical philanthropy's role in fighting NTDs

Clinics on Cambodian-Thai border aim to prevent spread of drug-resistant malaria

Wall Street Journal reports on challenges of fighting multi-drug resistant TB in India

New SARS-like virus detected in total of six people from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, WHO says

California researchers develop new strategy to find novel antibiotics for bacterial infections

Routine HIV testing can reduce illness and death across Canada

Roche’s cobas 4800 HPV Test receives CE mark

Some nicotine-free snus products can increase risk of caries

GW professor receives federal grant to study effects of microsporidia in HIV patients

Experimental flu vaccine technique could reduce time needed to develop new shots for humans

Viewpoints: Sen. Corker's plan to avoid the 'fiscal cliff'; Romney's brave attempt to deal with health entitlements; Fixing the drug shortage

Chronic suppurative lung disease: an interview with Dr Robyn Marsh

Max Planck scientists identify unknown proteins of the herpesvirus

Avermectin family of drugs shows promise against TB

mRNA vaccines offer protection against influenza A virus infections in various animal models

Lymphopenia driven diseases and the orphan drug industry: an interview with Damian Marron, CEO of Cytheris

Research reveals surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of human cytomegalovirus

Major advance in understanding how flu viruses replicate within infected cells

People worried about catching infections in public transport during flu season

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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