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New method of testing for West Nile virus

While the United States has largely been spared the scourge of mosquito-borne diseases endemic to the developing world-including yellow fever, malaria and dengue fever-mosquito-related illnesses in the US are on the rise. One pathogen of increasing concern in the U.S. is an arbovirus known as West Nile.

24 Oct 2012

Meningitis outbreak linked to pharmaceutical compounding has long history

News outlets report that the FDA released a list of customers - including some major hospitals - of the New England Compounding Center. But the FDA later "found technical problems" and withdrew the list, promising to repost it as soon as the data are corrected.

24 Oct 2012

Blueprint for AIDS-free generation must allow HIV funds to be used for family planning

In the Huffington Post's "Politics" blog, Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, notes that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at the XIX International AIDS Conference in July that all women should be able to decide "when and whether to have children" and that PEPFAR, in a guidance released last week.

24 Oct 2012

Large hospitals not following CAUTI preventive guidelines in their ICUs

Hospital size matters when it comes to intensive care units (ICUs) adopting even the most routine prevention policies for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing, published this month in the American Journal of Infection Control.

24 Oct 2012

Fewer families refusing polio vaccination in Pakistan, but many still not immunized, officials say

Though Pakistani officials said Monday there has been a significant decline in the number of families refusing polio vaccination in the country, almost a half million children did not receive the immunization, Agence France-Presse reports.

24 Oct 2012

International community must ensure political will, financial support necessary to eradicate polio

"Last month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a group of global leaders, including [Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair] Bill Gates and heads of state of polio-affected countries, to renew the commitment to eliminate polio," William Keenan, executive director of the International Pediatric Association, and Robert Block, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, note in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

24 Oct 2012

NEJM report on best options for safe, effective patient treatment against fungal meningitis

As the number of fungal meningitis cases continues to rise, physicians across the country are faced with how best to provide the early treatment that can save lives.

24 Oct 2012

Probiotic supplementation improves health-related quality of life during common cold

College students are notoriously sleep-deprived, live in close quarters and lead stress-filled lives, making them especially susceptible for contracting colds and upper-respiratory infections. For these reasons, a team lead by researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Health Related Professions (UMDNJ-SHRP) selected this population to study the effects of probiotic supplementation on health-related quality of life (HRQL) during the common cold.

24 Oct 2012

Researchers increase potency of a compound that reactivates antibiotics against MRSA

Researchers from North Carolina State University have increased the potency of a compound that reactivates antibiotics against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic-resistant form of Staphylococcus that is notoriously difficult to treat. Their improved compound removes the bacteria's antibiotic resistance and allows the antibiotic to once again become effective at normal dosage levels.

23 Oct 2012

Improper tinted contact lense use could cause severe eye damage

Decorative tinted contact lenses will be popular accessories this Halloween, but a Loyola University Medical Center optometrist is warning that improper use without a prescription could cause severe eye damage.

23 Oct 2012

KIF3A protein ferries HIV to the plasma membrane

A study in The Journal of Cell Biology identifies a motor protein that ferries HIV to the plasma membrane, helping the virus escape from macrophages.

23 Oct 2012

Examining ethics surrounding Taliban's ban on polio vaccination in Pakistan

Writing in the Global Bioethics Blog, Stuart Rennie, a bioethics researcher and professor, notes another polio worker was killed in Pakistan last week and describes Taliban opposition to U.S.-supported polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan.

23 Oct 2012

Sierra Leone kicks off four-day polio vaccination drive targeting 1.3M children under 5

"Over 70,000 health workers and community volunteers were combing the streets and jungle paths in Sierra Leone Friday at the start of a vaccination program targeting young children in the West African country," Agence France-Presse reports.

23 Oct 2012

Researchers discover how HIV-infected people develop very powerful antibody responses

Wits researchers have played a pivotal role in an AIDS study published today in the journal, Nature Medicine, which describes how a unique change in the outer covering of the virus found in two HIV infected South African women enabled them to make potent antibodies which are able to kill up to 88% of HIV types from around the world.

23 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 23, 2012

Today's headlines include various reports from the campaign trail as well as the latest news about current meningitis outbreak.

23 Oct 2012

C. diff infections on the rise among children, elderly

Clostridium difficile infections are becoming more common and more severe in hospitalized children and the elderly, in large part due to greater use of antibiotics, Mayo Clinic researchers report in studies being presented at the American College of Gastroenterology annual meeting.

23 Oct 2012

Sanofi presents overview of Phase II and III trials for quadrivalent influenza vaccine

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, presented today an overview of Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for its investigational quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV).

23 Oct 2012

Researchers continue hunt for AIDS vaccine

"Finding a safe, effective AIDS vaccine has, thus far, proved elusive even after some $8 billion invested from 2001-2011 into vaccine research and development," PlusNews reports in an article examining ongoing HIV vaccine research efforts. "Scientists point to HIV's Houdini-like ability to escape immune system attack, and less-than-strategic use of funds over the past decade, as reasons for the continued hunt," the news service writes.

22 Oct 2012

Blog reports on ID Week in San Diego

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog on Friday published two posts reporting on ID Week, which concluded in San Diego on Sunday.

22 Oct 2012

PLoS ONE publishes review of AntiViral-HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics clinical trial

ViroStatics, a private Italian/American biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for viral and other chronic diseases, announced that a review of the first human clinical trial to test a new class of anti-HIV medications known as AntiViral-HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics (AV-HALTs) has been published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

22 Oct 2012

Disease/Infection News

New method of testing for West Nile virus

Meningitis outbreak linked to pharmaceutical compounding has long history

Blueprint for AIDS-free generation must allow HIV funds to be used for family planning

Large hospitals not following CAUTI preventive guidelines in their ICUs

Fewer families refusing polio vaccination in Pakistan, but many still not immunized, officials say

International community must ensure political will, financial support necessary to eradicate polio

NEJM report on best options for safe, effective patient treatment against fungal meningitis

Probiotic supplementation improves health-related quality of life during common cold

Researchers increase potency of a compound that reactivates antibiotics against MRSA

Improper tinted contact lense use could cause severe eye damage

KIF3A protein ferries HIV to the plasma membrane

Examining ethics surrounding Taliban's ban on polio vaccination in Pakistan

Sierra Leone kicks off four-day polio vaccination drive targeting 1.3M children under 5

Researchers discover how HIV-infected people develop very powerful antibody responses

First Edition: October 23, 2012

C. diff infections on the rise among children, elderly

Sanofi presents overview of Phase II and III trials for quadrivalent influenza vaccine

Researchers continue hunt for AIDS vaccine

Blog reports on ID Week in San Diego

PLoS ONE publishes review of AntiViral-HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics clinical trial

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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