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Kenya considers how PEPFAR technical guidance on MSM squares with laws against homosexuality

PEPFAR's recent release of its "Technical Guidance on Combination HIV Prevention" (.pdf) for men who have sex with men (MSM) "could force countries like Kenya who are strongly opposed to men having sex with men to backtrack," Nairobi Star/allAfrica.com reports. Because homosexual acts are illegal in some countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, "there are no policies or services targeting HIV interventions towards them," according to the publication.

27 May 2011

Nature special issue focuses on vaccines

The May 26 issue of Nature explores vaccines, which the journal says "are responsible for some of the world's greatest public health triumphs." Though new vaccines for deadly diseases have been developed in the past 10 years, and more are in development, "funding is tight, and unfounded doubts about the safety of vaccines persist." The issue features stories on polio, measles, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as issues surrounding vaccine rejection and hysteria about risk.

27 May 2011

Two new hepatitis C drugs effectively improve cure rates of African Americans

Two new drugs just approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat hepatitis C genotype 1 significantly improved the cure rates of patients. One of the drugs was extremely effective in treating African Americans.

27 May 2011

Los Angeles Times reports on case of Libyan children infected with HIV

The Los Angeles Times examines the case of more than 400 Libyan youth who were infected with HIV in a Benghazi hospital between 1997 and 1998, some say deliberately.

27 May 2011

Two national campaigns aim to reduce spread of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases

Greater Than AIDS and GYT: Get Yourself Tested, two leading national campaigns committed to reducing the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, are teaming up for a second year to encourage Americans to get tested and know their status.

27 May 2011

Positive results from CEL-SCI's LEAPS H1N1-activated dendritic cells trial in mice

CEL-SCI Corporation today announced the positive results of efficacy studies in mice of L.E.A.P.S.TM H1N1 activated dendritic cells to treat the H1N1 virus.

27 May 2011

Germany increases funding for GAVI Alliance to €30 million

Germany said on Wednesday it will contribute €30 million to the GAVI Alliance in 2012, up from €20 million in 2011, to support childhood immunisation in developing countries.

26 May 2011

Cattle plague – rinderpest, eradicated for good

As welcome news, world farm monitors on Wednesday declared a cattle-killing virus that has been a curse through the ages as eradicated. This is the first time an animal disease has been eradicated in human history. The global watchdog for farm-animal trade approved a report certifying that the last 14 countries of the world were free of rinderpest, also called cattle plague.

26 May 2011

Specific influenza immunization strategies for RA patients may be required for future flu pandemics

A Brazilian hospital-based study assessed responses to flu vaccines in 340 RA patients in regular follow-up compared to 234 healthy patients.

26 May 2011

Medicago, USAMRIID enter research collaboration for Ebola vaccine candidate

Medicago Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) for the development of a plant-based VLP vaccine candidate for the prevention of Ebola. Ebola is a very serious hemorrhagic fever virus for which no licensed treatment or vaccine exists.

26 May 2011

iBioLaunch Platform successfully expresses hookworm-derived molecule for potential vaccine

iBio, Inc. today announced that its proprietary iBioLaunch Platform successfully expressed the hookworm-derived molecule known as NaAPR1M-74, which will be evaluated as a potential vaccine candidate for human hookworm disease.

26 May 2011

HPV vaccination does not affect rate of disease flares in patients with SLE, study finds

Results of a Chinese study showed that the HPV vaccine did not have significant effects on the number of disease flares or antibody measures in patients with inactive SLE receiving stable doses of medications after administration, and therefore was determined safe to use to prevent HPV in this group of patients.

26 May 2011

Pharmasset, Bristol-Myers Squibb initiate PSI-7977 plus BMS-790052 combination Phase 2a trial in HCV

Pharmasset, Inc. announced today the initiation of a Phase 2a trial investigating the combination of Pharmasset's PSI-7977, a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, and BMS-790052, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company's NS5A replication complex inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

26 May 2011

PBS' NewHour examines health insurance for 'urban poor' in Pakistan

PBS' NewsHour special correspondent Saima Mohsin on Monday reported from Pakistan on "an innovative health insurance plan for the urban poor." In Pakistan, 99 percent of the country's low-income population does not have health insurance, and this plan, called Naya Jeevan, "hopes to change that.

26 May 2011

Vatican newspaper article addresses condom use among married couples

Three days before the start of a Vatican conference focusing on "the centrality of care" in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, on Tuesday printed a piece by Spanish theologian Juan Jose Perez-Soba arguing that married couples with one HIV-positive partner "should abstain from sex, because intercourse performed with a condom is, 'from the moral point of view, not a fully conjugal act,'" RNS/Beliefnet News reports.

26 May 2011

Lytix Biopharma completes two LTX-109 Phase I/IIa studies in MRSA, Gram+ skin infections

The Norwegian pharmaceutical company Lytix Biopharma today announces the successful completion of two Phase I/IIa studies with the topical antimicrobial drug Lytixar - one for nasal decolonisation of MRSA / MSSA bacteria and one for treatment of Gram+ skin infections.

26 May 2011

CDC reports 118 measles cases in 23 states, issues travel alert highlighting vaccination recommendations

CDC officials on Tuesday released a report stating that 118 measles cases in 23 states have been identified in the U.S. so far this year, more than double the average number of cases reported annually, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports. While no one has died so far, 40 percent of cases required hospitalization, USA Today notes.

26 May 2011

Recent advances in vaccine development for malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS

Collectively, malaria, TB & HIV/AIDS cause more than five million deaths per year - nearly the entire population of the state of Washington - and represent one of the world's major public health challenges as we move into the second decade of the 21st century.

26 May 2011

Scarcity of resources calls for equitable distribution system for novel HCV treatment

For many patients with the hepatitis C virus, direct antiviral agents (DAA) offer a potential cure for the disease. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved two new DAAs, telaprevir and boceprevir, and with that clinicians must now decide who should be the first to receive this treatment.

25 May 2011

PolyMedix presents new pre-clinical data on antimicrobial compounds at two scientific meetings

PolyMedix, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat life-threatening infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, announced today that new pre-clinical data for its novel, defensin-mimetic antimicrobial compounds was recently presented at two prestigious scientific meetings, including the American Society of Microbiology.

25 May 2011

Disease/Infection News

Kenya considers how PEPFAR technical guidance on MSM squares with laws against homosexuality

Nature special issue focuses on vaccines

Two new hepatitis C drugs effectively improve cure rates of African Americans

Los Angeles Times reports on case of Libyan children infected with HIV

Two national campaigns aim to reduce spread of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases

Positive results from CEL-SCI's LEAPS H1N1-activated dendritic cells trial in mice

Germany increases funding for GAVI Alliance to €30 million

Cattle plague – rinderpest, eradicated for good

Specific influenza immunization strategies for RA patients may be required for future flu pandemics

Medicago, USAMRIID enter research collaboration for Ebola vaccine candidate

iBioLaunch Platform successfully expresses hookworm-derived molecule for potential vaccine

HPV vaccination does not affect rate of disease flares in patients with SLE, study finds

Pharmasset, Bristol-Myers Squibb initiate PSI-7977 plus BMS-790052 combination Phase 2a trial in HCV

PBS' NewHour examines health insurance for 'urban poor' in Pakistan

Vatican newspaper article addresses condom use among married couples

Lytix Biopharma completes two LTX-109 Phase I/IIa studies in MRSA, Gram+ skin infections

CDC reports 118 measles cases in 23 states, issues travel alert highlighting vaccination recommendations

Recent advances in vaccine development for malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS

Scarcity of resources calls for equitable distribution system for novel HCV treatment

PolyMedix presents new pre-clinical data on antimicrobial compounds at two scientific meetings

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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