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Therapeutic equivalent to replace penicillin

Antibiotics are among the greatest achievements of medical science. But lately the former multi-purpose weapon fails in the battle against infectious diseases. Bacteria are increasingly developing resistance to antibiotics. Researchers have now found a therapeutic equivalent which could replace penicillin and related phamaceuticals.

8 Jun 2011

Intercell, Merck terminate V710 Phase II/III trial against S. aureus infection

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Intercell AG (VSE: ICLL) today announced that following a detailed analysis of the data from the Phase II/III clinical trial evaluating V710, an investigational vaccine for the prevention of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection, the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has unanimously recommended termination of the study.

8 Jun 2011

Stop TB partnership releases 5 TB prevention steps

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, the Stop TB Partnership released five guidelines aimed at preventing tuberculosis, which results in one in four AIDS-related deaths, the U.N. News Centre writes.

8 Jun 2011

IAS calls on leaders to ensure inclusion of HIV cure research into international AIDS agenda

As world leaders meet this week to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS in New York, the International AIDS Society (IAS) calls on leaders to ensure the inclusion of HIV cure research and its global strategy into the international HIV agenda and in all discussions, political decisions and funding strategies.

8 Jun 2011

Global Fund's transparency is essential and saves lives

In the Huffington Post, Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, discusses the Global Fund's latest report on its investigation of its grants in Mali.

8 Jun 2011

GSK, Crucell to test second-generation malaria vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline and drug company Crucell, a division of Johnson & Johnson, will collaborate with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative to test a second-generation malaria vaccine "within the next couple of months," Reuters reports.

8 Jun 2011

Pharmasset expands PSI-7977 clinical trial for treatment of chronic hepatitis C

Pharmasset, Inc. announced today the addition of three treatment cohorts to the ELECTRON trial of PSI-7977, a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV).

8 Jun 2011

South African researchers examine cash incentive HIV prevention program

In South Africa, where 17 percent of the world's HIV-positive population lives, researchers from the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) in Durban are examining whether providing cash payments as a reward for good grades and undergoing annual HIV testing, along with teaching life skills, might help change young men's and women's risky sexual behavior, Nature News reports.

8 Jun 2011

Lethal malaria parasite has biochemical weakness

Every year, 10,000 pregnant women and up to 200,000 newborn babies are killed by the malaria parasite. Doctors all around the globe have for years been looking in vain for a medical protection, and now researchers from the University of Copenhagen have found the biochemically weakness of the lethal malaria parasite, and will now start developing a vaccine to combat pregnancy related malaria.

8 Jun 2011

Vaccine candidate produces immune response to antigen in all strains of influenza A

A universal influenza vaccine targeting a protein common to all strains of influenza A has safely produced an immune response in humans. If proven effective, the vaccine could eliminate the practice of creating a new flu vaccine annually to match predicted strains, with major implications for global health.

8 Jun 2011

Health officials rule out sprouts as source of German E. coli outbreak

Health officials in Germany are continuing to search for the source of an E. coli outbreak after tests on suspected sprouts from a farm in the north of the country came back negative, Deutsche Welle reports. The outbreak has killed 22 people and sickened more than 2,000 (Hallam/Penfold, 6/6).

8 Jun 2011

BGI releases third version of assembled E. coli O104 genome

Scientists worldwide have been working on the publicly available genomic sequences of the deadly E. coli O104 strain, which is causing the current health crisis in Germany and now spreading throughout Europe. To continue to speed the ongoing international efforts of researchers to assess and halt this growing epidemic, BGI and their collaborators at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf have now released their third version of the assembled genome, which includes new data from this E. coli O104.

8 Jun 2011

NGOs support harm reduction declaration

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, more than 200 international non-governmental organizations have pledged their support for the Beirut Declaration on HIV and Injecting Drug Use.

8 Jun 2011

HP partners with nonprofit to help detect malaria outbreaks, improve health monitoring in Botswana

Hewlett-Packard on Monday announced it will provide "smartphones and cloud computing technology to nonprofit group Positive Innovation for the Next Generation (PING)" to help improve health monitoring and malaria detection in Botswana, Venture Beat reports.

8 Jun 2011

'Designer' probiotic bacterium neutralises E. coli toxin

A potential life-saving treatment for severe E. coli food poisoning outbreaks - developed more than a decade ago - hasn't gone forward into clinical trials because of lack of commercial interest.

8 Jun 2011

AHF criticizes HHS Secretary announcement on 'expanded' AIDS funds

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today criticized an announcement by Health and Human services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday regarding so-called "expanded" funding for cash-strapped state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs).

8 Jun 2011

International coalition launches common platform to end AIDS epidemic

An international coalition of scientists and activists today launched a common platform for ending the AIDS epidemic. Thirty years into the epidemic, as world leaders come together at the United Nations to recommit to a global AIDS response, the broad-based international coalition issued a statement calling for world leaders to support a rational, evidence-based approach to responding to AIDS.

8 Jun 2011

Hepatitis C patients with chronic liver disease may benefit from drinking coffee during treatment

Advanced hepatitis C patients with chronic liver disease may benefit from drinking coffee during treatment, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

8 Jun 2011

The NY Times: A community hospital closes

A railroad bridge separates Huron Hospital, one of the last remaining institutions in the impoverished neighborhood of East Cleveland, from the city's downtown and its two major hospitals.

8 Jun 2011

FDA accepts Topaz's ivermectin NDA for treatment for head lice infestations

Topaz Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for filing the New Drug Application (NDA) for the use of ivermectin topical cream as a treatment for head lice infestations in children and adults.

7 Jun 2011