Disease/Infection News

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Immune system uses zinc to destroy tuberculosis bacillus, E. coli

A new natural defense mechanism against infections has been evidenced by an international team led by researchers from CNRS, Inserm, the Institut Pasteur and the Université Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III.

20 Sep 2011

Scientists discover how liver destroys immune T-cells

Scientists at the Centenary Institute in Sydney have seen for the first time (in mice) how the liver goes independent, engulfing and destroying the body's defence troops-T-cells.

20 Sep 2011

Autopsy study reveals earliest 1918 pandemic influenza cases

Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall.

20 Sep 2011

New York Times examines possible entry into global market of generic drugs for NCDs

The New York Times describes how, as the U.N. begins its meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Chinese and Indian generic drug makers "say they are on the verge of selling cheaper copies" of costly biotech medications used to treat cancers, diabetes, arthritis and other chronic illnesses.

20 Sep 2011

Independent panel calls for stronger financial safeguards for Global Fund

After a six-month review of the financial systems at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a seven-member independent panel "recommended a substantial overhaul Monday in the grant organization's practices," the Wall Street Journal reports.

20 Sep 2011

World Bank report examines gender equality, highlights mortality disparity between men and women

The World Bank's annual World Development Report, which was released on Sunday and this year "focuses on gender equality around the world, offers some stark facts about how women and girls fare in developing countries despite decades of progress," the Wall Street Journal reports (Reddy, 9/18). "The most glaring disparity is the rate at which girls and women die relative to men in developing countries, according to" the report, Reuters/AlertNet reports.

20 Sep 2011

'ScienceSpeaks' interviews director of technical leadership at OGAC

The Center for Global Health Policy's "ScienceSpeaks" blog features an interview with Caroline Ryan, director of technical leadership at the Office of U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), where she has worked for seven years. Ryan discusses PEPFAR program implementation, circumcision as an HIV prevention tool and balancing efficiency with the realization of new, but potentially costly, prevention tools.

20 Sep 2011

NCD draft declaration lacks specific targets, calls for nations to adopt recommendations for reducing chronic disease deaths

"World leaders at a meeting of the United Nations on Monday will agree to a deal to try to curb the spread of preventable 'lifestyle' diseases," including heart disease, cancers and diabetes, also known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs), "amid concern that progress is already being hampered by powerful lobbyists from the food, alcohol and tobacco industries," the Guardian reports.

20 Sep 2011

Major donors should consider funding for potential malaria vaccine

When the results of a large clinical trial testing the effectiveness of the RTS,S malaria vaccine among children in Africa are made available later this year, "it will be time to start discussing what to do with the vaccine," Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece.

20 Sep 2011

Powerful new antibiotic treatment for MRSA and C. difficile bugs

MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company which has licensed technology from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, is developing a powerful new antibiotic treatment for resistant infections including the deadly MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) bugs.

20 Sep 2011

Positive data from NovaDigm's NDV-3 vaccine preclinical study on VVC

NovaDigm Therapeutics, a company developing innovative vaccines for fungal and bacterial infections, today announced the presentation of positive data from a preclinical study evaluating the efficacy its NDV-3 vaccine in a model of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), which is primarily caused by Candida albicans.

20 Sep 2011

Online gamers decipher 3D molecular structure that may help AIDS research

Online gamers have deciphered the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus that had thwarted scientists for a decade. The exploit was published in the journal, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, where - exceptionally in scientific publishing - both gamers and researchers are honored as co-authors.

19 Sep 2011

Chronic diseases could cost $47 trillion over the next 20 years: Report

A latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggests that the global economic impact of the five leading chronic diseases -- cancer, diabetes, mental illness, heart disease, and respiratory disease - could reach $47 trillion over the next 20 years.

19 Sep 2011

California schools bar children without whooping cough shots

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19 Sep 2011

MUHC orders GlobalMed TotalExam 2 Examination Cameras for Québec telemedicine program

McGill University Hospital Centre in Montréal, Canada, has ordered 95 TotalExam2 Examination Cameras from Scottsdale, Arizona-based GlobalMed for its telemedicine program in the province of Québec. GlobalMed, the industry leader in telemedicine design, manufacturing and marketing, developed TotalExam to deliver crystal clear digital close-ups of the skin, eyes and throat.

19 Sep 2011

Umeå University´s Centre for Global Health Research hosts meeting on Dengue fever

On September 21-23, researchers and specialists from 11 countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and several European countries, will meet in Umeå to begin a four-year collaboration set to enable the surveillance and control of Dengue fever.

19 Sep 2011

Positive Phase 1 data for NovaDigm NDV-3 vaccine presented at 51st ICAAC

NovaDigm Therapeutics, a company developing innovative vaccines for fungal and bacterial infections, today announced the presentation of positive Phase 1 data for its NDV-3 vaccine program at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC).

19 Sep 2011

Inhibitex initiates INX-189 combination Phase 2 trial in HCV-infected genotype 2/3 patients

Inhibitex, Inc., announced today that it has recently commenced dosing in a 90-patient randomized, placebo controlled, treatment guided, Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and antiviral activity of INX-189 in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in chronic HCV-infected genotype 2 and 3 treatment naïve patients.

19 Sep 2011

UMF sponsors second annual Hygiene Specialist Excellence award

Environmental Services Managers are encouraged to nominate the housekeeper of their choice for the second annual Hygiene Specialist Excellence award, which is sponsored by UMF Corporation, developer of the PerfectCLEAN Infection Prevention System.

19 Sep 2011

Meda, Moberg Derma enter license agreement for Nalox to treat onychomycosis

Moberg Derma AB and Meda AB have entered into a license agreement covering rights for Nalox - Moberg Derma's patented product for the treatment of discolored and damaged nails caused by nail fungus or nail psoriasis.

19 Sep 2011