Disease/Infection News

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Opinions: U.S. food aid; MDGs; Contraceptive access, technology; U.S. AIDS funding; Foreign assistance reform

"The best way to help the millions of hungry people in countries that receive food aid get rid of their corrupt and incompetent rulers - and to ensure that their children will never go hungry in future — is to starve them now. That will turn them into raging, unstoppable anti-government regime changers," writes Nation Media Group Executive Editor Charles Onyango-Obbo in an East African opinion piece.

28 Sep 2010

MDG summit: Funding the Global Fund; Arab world's 'own challenges'

BusinessDay reports that following last week's Millennium Development Goal summit at the U.N. in New York, advocates "have called on rich nations to double their pledges to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, saying it desperately needs more money if the world is to meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015."

28 Sep 2010

AASLD, TFAH report calls for action to help identify Americans living with HBV, HCV

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the Trust for America's Health issued a new report today calling for action to be taken to transform how the country deals with viral hepatitis – to help identify millions of Americans who know they are living with chronic forms of hepatitis B and C and to assure access to treatment for all who need it, to prevent even more Americans from becoming infected.

28 Sep 2010

IAVI investigators awarded grant to examine antibodies that neutralize HIV virus

A team of investigators headed by International AIDS Vaccine Initiative Investigator Pascal Poignard has been awarded a major grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the US National Institutes of Health to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the generation of broadly neutralizing antibodies by HIV positive individuals.

28 Sep 2010

Novel therapies for HCV treatment can precipitate several changes: Report

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the launch of novel therapies for the treatment of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), including Vertex/Johnson & Johnson/Mitsubishi Tanabe's telaprevir and Merck's boceprevir, will precipitate several changes in HCV treatment.

28 Sep 2010

BMC physicians receive $3M NIH grant to identify TB biomarkers

Boston Medical Center has been chosen to lead an investigation aimed at developing novel approaches to prevent tuberculosis. Jerrold J. Ellner, MD, chief of the section of infectious diseases at BMC and professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, a renowned expert in the field, will serve as principal investigator on the five-year, $3 million grant funded by the National Institutes of Health.

28 Sep 2010

BMC physicians to lead international research collaboration to curb infectious diseases

Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been chosen to lead an investigation aimed at developing novel approaches to prevent tuberculosis (TB). Jerrold J. Ellner, MD, chief of the section of infectious diseases at BMC and professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), a renowned expert in the field, will serve as principal investigator (PI) on the five-year, $3 million grant funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

27 Sep 2010

Condoms can prevent transmission of herpes simplex virus 2: Study

Condom use is associated with a reduced risk of contracting herpes simplex virus 2, according to a report based on pooled analysis of data from previous studies in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

27 Sep 2010

GBS pathogen suppresses immune cell function in newborn infants: Research

Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a bacterial pathogen that causes sepsis and meningitis in newborn infants, is able to shut down immune cell function in order to promote its own survival, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

27 Sep 2010

HHS Secretary announces $30M to expand HIV prevention efforts under President's NHAS

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that CDC has allocated $30 million of the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund to expand HIV prevention efforts under the President's National HIV/AIDS Strategy. This includes $21.6 million in grants to state and local health departments.

27 Sep 2010

Researchers find daycare increases chronic lung disease in children

Exposure to common viruses in daycare puts children with a chronic lung condition caused by premature birth at risk for serious respiratory infections, according to a study from Johns Hopkins Children's Center published in the October issue of Pediatrics.

27 Sep 2010

HHS announces grants to support public health programs

Six months after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius highlighted another important facet of the law today with the announcement of nearly $100 million in grants made possible primarily by the new law's Prevention and Public Health Fund.

27 Sep 2010

ARTES acquires ANAVAX virus-like particle technology from Select Vaccines

ARTES Biotechnology announces today the acquirement of the ANAVAX virus-like particle (VLP) technology from Select Vaccines Ltd. ANAVAX is a patent-protected VLP technology that can be applied to the prevention of several infectious diseases.

27 Sep 2010

Entellus Medical announces Clinic versus OR study results for chronic sinusitis

Entellus Medical, a Minnesota based medical technology company, shared the results of a 12-month study entitled "Clinic versus OR A Comparative Analysis of Ostial Dilation for CRS," presented on September 25th during the 56th annual meeting of the American Rhinologic Society in Boston, Mass.

27 Sep 2010

Media outlets examine reaction to MDGS summit

Reuters AlertNet examines reactions by development experts and advocates to the U.N. Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which wrapped up Wednesday, after world leaders adopted a declaration that promised intensified efforts by the 192 U.N. member states to achieve the eight goals by 2015.

27 Sep 2010

CDC: One in five gay men HIV-positive

One in five sexually active gay and bisexual men has the [HIV] virus, and nearly half of those don't know they are infected, a federal study of 21 U.S. cities shows.

27 Sep 2010

Many gay American men unaware of HIV status: CDC report

According to recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 sexually active gay and bisexual men in America are HIV-positive and 44% of them are unaware of it.

27 Sep 2010

Study finds inconsistent surveillance method for CA-BSI infections

A new study looking at how hospitals account for the number of pediatric patients who develop catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CA-BSIs) found substantial inconsistencies in the methods used to report the number of patients who develop these infections.

27 Sep 2010

U.S. Department of State joins 'Together for Girls' to end sexual violence

The U.S. Department of State became an official partner of Together for Girls the global partnership to end sexual violence against girls announced last year by President William J. Clinton at the Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 27 Sep 2010

AHF issues call for action against cuts in AIDS funding

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today issued a call for action after AIDS activists heckled President Barack Obama during a New York City fundraiser last night.

27 Sep 2010