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m2m, HP collaborate to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa

Today at the Digital Life Design conference, HP and mothers2mothers (m2m), a South Africa-based nongovernmental organization, announced a new collaboration that will use the power of technology to help prevent the transmission of HIV from HIV-positive pregnant mothers in Africa to their children.

25 Jan 2011

Strong opposition to 'prescription-only' measures for OTC medicines with pseudoephedrine

More than 300 million Americans get the common cold, and up to 70 million get the flu annually. But for the 60 million people who also have asthma and allergies, a cold or flu can pose even greater risks. Together, these respiratory diseases take a devastating toll on public health, costing billions of dollars in direct medical expenses, reducing quality of life, lowering workplace and school performance, and can even be life-threatening to high-risk populations, such as asthma patients.

25 Jan 2011

RRD enters partnership with NIH Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program

RRD International, a strategy-driven biotech and pharmaceutical product development company, announced today that it has entered into a partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program as a regulatory support and development partner.

25 Jan 2011

New study finds disparities in chlamydia screening

A new study from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute has found that Black and especially Hispanic young women are screened for chlamydia at a significantly higher rate than young white women. This discrepancy in screening rates may contribute to nationwide reporting of higher rates of this sexually transmitted disease among minority young women.

25 Jan 2011

Vaccination campaigns to stop yellow fever spread get underway in E. Africa

Individuals traveling across East Africa on Friday were ordered to begin receiving mandatory yellow fever vaccines in an effort "to contain an outbreak of the disease in Uganda," which has sickened an estimated 190 people, resulting in 48 deaths as of Dec. 30, 2010, the Citizen reports (Ubwani, 1/22).

25 Jan 2011

Simple means of improving binding affinity of synbodies

Antibodies are watchdogs of human health, continuously prowling the body and registering minute changes associated with infection or disease with astonishing acuity. They also serve as biochemical memory banks, faithfully recording information about pathogens they encounter and efficiently storing this data for later use.

25 Jan 2011

Fixed Phage to develop products based on Strathclyde's technology for tackling infections

A new company has been launched to commercialise an award-winning technology, developed at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, for tackling bacterial infection and contamination, including superbugs such as MRSA.

25 Jan 2011

Researchers find White-Hispanic disparities in receiving immunization against flu, pneumonia

Seniors of Hispanic descent are far less likely to become immunized against the flu or pneumonia compared to similar White seniors, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

25 Jan 2011

NBC News examines drug-resistant malaria along Thai-Cambodian border

NBC News' "World Blog" reports on the emergence of drug-resistant malaria along the border between Thailand and Cambodia. "The Pailin area [in Cambodia] is now the epicenter of a fight to contain a growing resistance to Artemisinin, which is the world's main anti-malarial drug," the blog writes before noting the global health community's efforts to contain the spread of drug-resistant malaria.

24 Jan 2011

BMJ News examines ongoing investigation of WHO's handling of H1N1

BMJ News reports on the ongoing external investigation of the WHO's handling of the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, following recent statements to the WHO's executive board meeting by review committee chairman, Harvey Fineberg.

24 Jan 2011

Also in Global Health News: Cholera death in DR; TB vaccine study; Rising food prices

"Dominican Republic on Sunday confirmed that a 53-year-old Haitian man has become the country's first death from cholera and announced the immediate start of a broad disease control and monitoring operation" around the eastern town of Higuey where he was being treated and later died, Latin American Herald Tribune reports (1/24).

24 Jan 2011

FDA accepts Optimer's fidaxomicin NDA for filing

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for fidaxomicin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and for reducing the risk of recurrence when used for treatment of initial CDI.

24 Jan 2011

Positive interim data from ongoing V5 Phase IIb imm01 trial against tuberculosis

Immune Network, a company in the business of development and commercialization of immune therapies, announced today that its newly acquired business, Immunitor, has published interim data from the ongoing Phase IIb imm01 clinical trial of V5 in tuberculosis conducted at its second site in Ukraine.

24 Jan 2011

Research findings reveal HIV's hiding spot, new way to stop the virus

HIV adapts in a surprising way to survive and thrive in its hiding spot within the human immune system, scientists have learned. While the finding helps explain why HIV remains such a formidable foe after three decades of research - more than 30 million people worldwide are infected with HIV - it also offers scientists a new, unexpected way to try to stop the virus.

24 Jan 2011

Eliminating sugary drinks from diet can reduce tooth decay in American Indian children

A study conducted in four American Indian communities in the Pacific Northwest presents an effective strategy to convince mothers to switch young children from drinking sweetened soda to water and shows that eliminating these sugary drinks from the diets of the youngest members of the tribe significantly decreased tooth decay.

24 Jan 2011

Odontoblast cells are part of immune system, protect teeth from decay: New research

It is known that teeth can protect themselves, to some extent, from attack by bacteria but that inflammation within a tooth can be damaging and, in extreme cases, lead to abscess or death of the tooth. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Immunology shows that odontoblast cells are part of the immune system and fight to protect teeth from decay.

23 Jan 2011

Bird flu outbreak in Japan

After six birds were confirmed to have avian flu, the Miyazaki Prefectural Government has begun culling more than 10,000 chickens at a local poultry farm southwest Japan.

23 Jan 2011

AHF proposes funding solutions to current ADAP crisis

In anticipation of an additional round of cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) to be implemented in the next few months, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today proposed three possible funding solutions to the current ADAP crisis—which has left more than 5,000 people on waiting lists to receive lifesaving medications and thousands more scheduled to be disenrolled from the program altogether. Currently,

21 Jan 2011

Vibrio cholerae kills E. coli bacteria

Just over a year after the earthquake in Haiti killed 222,000 people there's a new problem that is killing Haitians. A cholera outbreak has doctors in the area scrambling and the water-borne illness has already claimed 3600 lives according to officials with M-dicin Sans Fronti-res (Doctors without Borders).

21 Jan 2011

WHO executive board meeting addresses agency's policy on counterfeit, substandard medications

According to the news service, WHO "members … raised strong concerns that a working group they mandated last May to address problems with WHO policy on counterfeit and substandard medicines has yet to be formed - with four months remaining before it must report back to members."

21 Jan 2011

Disease/Infection News

m2m, HP collaborate to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa

Strong opposition to 'prescription-only' measures for OTC medicines with pseudoephedrine

RRD enters partnership with NIH Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program

New study finds disparities in chlamydia screening

Vaccination campaigns to stop yellow fever spread get underway in E. Africa

Simple means of improving binding affinity of synbodies

Fixed Phage to develop products based on Strathclyde's technology for tackling infections

Researchers find White-Hispanic disparities in receiving immunization against flu, pneumonia

NBC News examines drug-resistant malaria along Thai-Cambodian border

BMJ News examines ongoing investigation of WHO's handling of H1N1

Also in Global Health News: Cholera death in DR; TB vaccine study; Rising food prices

FDA accepts Optimer's fidaxomicin NDA for filing

Positive interim data from ongoing V5 Phase IIb imm01 trial against tuberculosis

Research findings reveal HIV's hiding spot, new way to stop the virus

Eliminating sugary drinks from diet can reduce tooth decay in American Indian children

Odontoblast cells are part of immune system, protect teeth from decay: New research

Bird flu outbreak in Japan

AHF proposes funding solutions to current ADAP crisis

Vibrio cholerae kills E. coli bacteria

WHO executive board meeting addresses agency's policy on counterfeit, substandard medications

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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