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Seattle Times looks at response to Haitian cholera outbreak on the ground

Though Haiti's cholera "epidemic continues to spread, infecting more than 125,000 people and killing more than 3,200," it seems to have "stabilized in" the town of Mirebalais, which is close to the "U.N. camp of Nepalese peacekeepers who are under investigation as a possible source" of the outbreak, the Seattle Times reports in a story outlining how aid groups and health workers are dealing with the situation.

5 Jan 2011

Get examined during Glaucoma Awareness Month

It happens slowly. Over time, a person's vision will get worse. Until one day, that person can no longer see. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States and worldwide. Unfortunately, there is no cure. Once a person's vision is lost, it cannot be regained. That is why Dr. Bizer's VisionWorld is encouraging people to get an examination during Glaucoma Awareness Month.

5 Jan 2011

FDA lifts clinical hold on Hemispherx's Alferon LDO Phase II study for influenza prevention

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. announced today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted a clinical hold on its Phase II, double-blind, adaptive-design, randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study of Alferon® LDO [oral interferon alfa-n3 (human leukocyte derived)] for the prevention and treatment of influenza.

5 Jan 2011

Anadys begins ANA598 Phase IIb study for hepatitis C

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has initiated the planned Phase IIb study of ANA598 in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The protocol for the study has been cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada.

4 Jan 2011

Flu outbreak peak yet to come: Experts

Parents of kids returning to school in the UK after Christmas holidays have been warned of a surge in flu cases. Professor John Oxford, a leading virologist at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital explained that children returning to school in the past prompted a rise in the number of flu cases. “You tend to get a surge,” the professor said. “I would anticipate a surge, but how long that will last is difficult to say.” He added, “This virus is not going to go away next week. Even if it’s already peaked, it’s still going to be around for the next couple of weeks and it’s still worthwhile being vaccinated at this stage.”

4 Jan 2011

Hepatitis A scare at Long Island church

Health officials have warned that parishioners who received Holy Communion during Christmas Mass at a church on Long Island may have been exposed to hepatitis A and may need vaccinated as soon as possible. Particularly those who received Communion at the 10.30am and 12pm (local time) masses on December 25, 2010, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park should get the shots.

4 Jan 2011

Trial to eliminate deadly Dengue begins

The 12 week programme costing $18 million named ‘Eliminate Dengue’ has commenced. Mosquitoes bearing a special bacteria would be released into the wild around Cairns as part of a trial to rid the area of the insects that carry Dengue fever.

4 Jan 2011

AHF to supply $1 million in free AIDS drugs to Florida's disenrolled and wait listed HIV/AIDS patients

As the State of Florida grapples with a budget shortfall that has crippled its AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and forced the state to potentially disenroll 350 Florida patients already on ADAP as well as place nearly 2,400 low-income Floridians on waiting lists to access lifesaving medications, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has proposed an innovative plan to help state health officials and displaced HIV/AIDS patients bridge the transition to private patient assistance programs run by the major pharmaceutical companies.

4 Jan 2011

ImmuVen to develop T cell receptor proteins for treating MRSA, cancer

Start-up company ImmuVen and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have entered into a license agreement under which ImmuVen will develop modified T cell receptor proteins for the purpose of treating cancer and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

4 Jan 2011

FDA clears first automated molecular tests to diagnose and differentiate HSV infection

BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD, announced today that it filed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for the first fully automated molecular tests to diagnose and differentiate HSV types 1 and 2.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 4 Jan 2011

The Scientist examines how nonprofit, for-profit pharma groups are working together to make drugs more affordable for developing countries

"With philanthropists funneling billions of dollars into biomedical research and traditional drug discovery efforts producing fewer and fewer therapies, the line between for-profit and nonprofit life science companies is beginning to blur as both sides of the divide look for new options," The Scientist magazine writes in an article that examines the rise in collaborations between nonprofit pharmaceutical companies and for-profit groups.

4 Jan 2011

Pandemic flu toolkit for nursing facilities

A complimentary planning tool is now available to help the nation's nursing homes prepare for an influenza pandemic. The new resource is courtesy of the New Jersey Hospital Association, with grant funding from Hoffman-LaRoche.

4 Jan 2011

New ATS guidelines for treating fungal infection in adult pulmonary and critical care patients

The American Thoracic Society has released a new official clinical policy statement on the treatment of fungal infections in adult pulmonary and critical care patients.

4 Jan 2011

Mothers can play a key role in convincing college-aged women to receive HPV vaccine

Even after young women reach adulthood, their mothers can play a key role in convincing them to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, new research suggests.

3 Jan 2011

C. difficile infection has become common among hospitalized children in the US

Hospitalized children in the United States are more frequently becoming infected with the bacteria Clostridium difficile, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 Jan 2011

Flu worries continue

The flu season continues to affect more people. Experts have warned the Britons are still at risk as the surge in flu cases has still not yet peaked. The cases would increase they warn, over the next two to four weeks. World Health Organization released figures that show the rate of influenza-like illnesses is still low across continental Europe but has risen dramatically in Britain since the flu season began in October.

3 Jan 2011

Bacteria from cat fleas: 1st Australian case

Australia’s fist case of a human infected with bacteria from cat fleas has been reported by a Newcastle doctor who says the disease may be more common than the GPs thought. The case study appeared in the Medical Journal of Australia that documents a Victorian family infected with Rickettsia felis after exposure to a kitten infested with fleas. Murdoch University scientists confirmed the presence of R. felis in cat fleas on cats and dogs in WA for the first time in 2006.

3 Jan 2011

FDA approves 200 mg formulation of INTELENCE for HIV-1

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a label update to include a 200 mg formulation of INTELENCE® (etravirine), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) indicated for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) in treatment-experienced adults with resistance to an NNRTI and other antiretroviral (ARV) agents.

3 Jan 2011

Quantum mechanics technique against flu

With the current outbreak of the flu season in Israel, hospitals are reporting overcrowding, and doctors are advising people who have not yet been vaccinated against flu to get their shots.

3 Jan 2011

Hydrocephalus in Ugandan children linked to farm animals, previous bacterial infection

Hydrocephalus in Ugandan children and other developing countries is seasonal, linked to farm animals and in part, caused by previous bacterial infection, according to an international team of researchers from Uganda and the United States, who believe that the best approach to this problem is prevention.

3 Jan 2011