Disease/Infection News

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SBS explores ‘superbugs’ on Insight Tuesday 10th May

Since the discovery of penicillin in the early twentieth century, antibiotics have fought infections and diseases that were once life threatening. But over time, many bacteria have become resistant to these drugs and patients are increasingly at risk.

3 May 2011

Merial, GenVec extend deal to develop and commercialize foot-and-mouth disease vaccine

GenVec, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a second agreement with Merial, the animal health division of sanofi-aventis.

3 May 2011

NanoViricides' FluCide drug candidate greatly reduces lung viral load in animals

NanoViricides, Inc. reports that post-infection treatment with its optimized FluCide drug candidates achieved 1,000-fold reduction in the levels of infectious virus in the lungs of animals with a lethal level of influenza virus infection.

3 May 2011

Lopinavir can combat HPV-related cervical cancer

A widely used HIV drug could be used to prevent cervical cancer caused by infection with the human papilloma virus, say scientists.

3 May 2011

Germ Genie is also effective against C.difficile infection

Scientists at the University of Hertfordshire, who proved the effectiveness of Germ Genie, a tool to prevent infections from keyboards, have now found that it can kill C.difficile.

3 May 2011

Leeds hospitals fined over levels of superbug related cases

According to latest figures the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) superbug cases are again above allowed levels at Leeds hospitals and the hospitals are now facing a fine of £500,000 over failure to tackle the bug. As reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post earlier this year, every month that the number of MRSA cases exceeds a target agreed by health bosses, a fine of £100,000 is levied. Between April last year and the end of January, the target was breached four times.

3 May 2011

South Australian man succumbs to Murray Valley Encephalitis

A 27-year-old South Australian Riverland man has succumbed to Murray Valley Encephalitis (MVE) – a viral disease that is carried by mosquitoes. According to SA Health's chief medical officer Paddy Phillips, the man had been receiving hospital care for MVE since March.

3 May 2011

Affinium announces AFN-1252 Phase I study results in staphylococcal infections

Affinium Pharmaceuticals announced today the results of a new multiple ascending dose Phase I study of its novel, selective-spectrum, anti-staphylococcal agent, AFN-1252 in a novel oral formulation.

3 May 2011

HIV drugs may also combat parasitic diseases: Study

Scientists have discovered that drugs used to treat HIV may also one day become lifesaving drugs targeted at parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis and malaria.

3 May 2011

More HIV infections linked to injection drug use in East Africa, report finds

Smoking-related illnesses could kill up to 1b people this century, U.N. official says

As many as one billion people could die of smoking-related illnesses this century if efforts to curb the practice are not implemented, a senior U.N. health official warned on Friday, the U.N. News Centre reports.

3 May 2011

Washing hands with contaminated soap can increase bacterial infection

People who wash their hands with contaminated soap from bulk-soap-refillable dispensers can increase the number of disease-causing microbes on their hands and may play a role in transmission of bacteria in public settings according to research published in the May issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

3 May 2011

Opinions: Population growth; global HIV response; global malaria fight; child brides

International population dynamics are a "ticking time bomb, which we cannot afford to neglect any longer," George Tsereteli, president of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, writes in a New Europe opinion piece.

3 May 2011

Secondhand smoke is hazardous for children hospitalized with flu

Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to need intensive care and intubation when hospitalized with influenza, according to new research by the University of Rochester Medical Center presented today at the Pediatric Academic Society meeting in Denver. The children also had longer hospital stays.

3 May 2011

FDA clears ITI's FilmArray RP assay for respiratory virus detection

Idaho Technology, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a 510(k) clearance for the FilmArray instrument and the FilmArray Respiratory Panel.

3 May 2011

Pregnant women with H1N1 more likely to have low birth weight baby

In 2009, the United States was gripped by concern for a new winter threat: the H1N1 strain of influenza. According to research conducted through that winter, pregnant women were right to be concerned.

3 May 2011

Hospitals can implement preventive measures to reduce measles outbreak

The U.S. measles vaccination program has been successful in eliminating endemic measles in the United States; yet this success has provided challenges that require ongoing vigilance for the rapid identification and response to measles cases in health care settings.

2 May 2011