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IFST Advisory Statement cautions against food-borne Campylobacter infection

Campylobacter is one of the major causes of food poisoning, and the theme of this year's Food Safety Week is how to prevent illness caused by it. Campylobacter is a germ that occurs widely in the intestines of many warm-blooded animals and birds, particularly chickens and turkeys, and can be carried in animals that are used for food production and in domestic pets. In addition, it can occur in untreated water and raw milk.

5 Jun 2010

CSTE 2010 Annual Conference to focus on public health challenges

The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists 2010 Annual Conference will be held June 6-10 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. An array of experts representing federal, state, and local health departments will discuss issues ranging from last year's flu pandemic, obesity, food safety, health care reform, information technology, and the global response to disasters such as the Haiti earthquake.

5 Jun 2010

BMJ report questions WHO advisors' ties to pharmaceutical industry

"Key scientists behind World Health Organization advice on stockpiling of pandemic flu drugs had financial ties with companies which stood to profit," according to a joint investigation by BMJ in collaboration with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, BBC News reports (6/4).

5 Jun 2010

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to join with JFC to celebrate Children's Day

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation will join with Jewelers for Children and other charities on Sunday to celebrate JFC's Children's Day, which commemorates the jewelry industry's charitable efforts on behalf of children throughout the year. This second annual Children's Day concludes with JFC's 12th annual Facets of Hope dinner held in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the theme It's All About the Kids.

5 Jun 2010

AHF applauds Gilead for offering pricing, access concessions to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) lauded Gilead Sciences, maker of several key AIDS drugs, for its announcement earlier today that it will offer significant pricing and access concessions for the nation's beleaguered AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), the federally funded, state run programs that supply lifesaving AIDS drugs to low-income Americans in need.

5 Jun 2010

Roche's new dual-PCR target HIV-1 viral load test receives FDA approval

Roche Molecular Diagnostics announced today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its new dual-PCR target HIV-1 viral load test to quantify the amount of virus in a patient's blood. The COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan® HIV-1 Test, v2.0 is the first quantitative viral load test to amplify and detect two separate regions of a target genome and offers a fully automated and reliable solution for physicians to make informed treatment decisions for HIV-1 patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy.

4 Jun 2010

Researchers develop biosensors to monitor concentration of c-di-GMP within single living bacteria cells

Some species of bacteria perform an amazing reproductive feat. When the single-celled organism splits in two, the daughter cell - the swarmer - inherits a propeller to swim freely. The mother cell builds a stalk to cling to surfaces.

4 Jun 2010

DEET-based repellents effective against insect and tick borne diseases

As summer nears, health experts are recommending insect repellents to help prevent mosquito and tick bites and the diseases that these bites sometimes transmit.

4 Jun 2010

Caltech biologists pinpoint molecular changes that help allow global spread of resistance to Tamiflu

Biologists at the California Institute of Technology have pinpointed molecular changes that helped allow the global spread of resistance to the antiviral medication Tamiflu (oseltamivir) among strains of the seasonal H1N1 flu virus.

4 Jun 2010

Researchers discover svRNA component that may help develop universal anti-viral treatment

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a novel component of the influenza virus that may be the key to disabling the virus's ability to replicate itself and to developing a universal anti-viral treatment. The findings were published June 1 online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

4 Jun 2010

Lovastatin protects animals against plague

An experimental study has revealed that lovastatin, a drug prescribed for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, protects animals against the deadly effects of plague. This infectious disease is on the upsurge in parts of the world. These results obtained by scientists at the Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (CNRS/Université Aix-Marseille 2) have been published in the journal PLoS ONE.

4 Jun 2010

Researchers look for effective programs to curb smoking among people with HIV/AIDS

While researchers have done a good job documenting health problems associated with the high prevalence of smoking among Americans who have HIV/AIDS, it's now time to focus on how to get these smokers to kick the habit, Saint Louis University School of Public Health research finds.

4 Jun 2010

ASGE issues guidelines on ethnicity, gastrointestinal diseases and endoscopic procedures

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has issued guidelines addressing ethnicity, gastrointestinal diseases and endoscopic procedures. The guideline suggests that colorectal cancer screening should begin at age 45 for average risk African-American men and women, and that it is recommended that colorectal cancer screening be emphasized for other minority ethnic groups that have lower screening utilization rates.

4 Jun 2010

McMaster University researchers discover chemical clue directing Staphylococcus aureus

McMaster University researchers have discovered a central controller or processing unit of a superbug's weaponry. An article on the breakthrough appears in the high-impact journal Science today.

4 Jun 2010

WHO says H1N1 remains pandemic

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan on Thursday announced the WHO still considers H1N1 (swine) flu a pandemic, despite the fact "its most intense activity has passed in many parts of the world," Reuters reports (Lynn, 6/3).

4 Jun 2010

Legionnaires' disease kills a 66 year old

There has been a death with Legionnaire’s disease in Doncaster. This disease is caused by bacteria that infects people when they breathe in infested water droplets, such as spray drifts from cooling towers.

3 Jun 2010

Computer keyboards in non-treatment areas are more contaminated with bacteria

Keyboards located in triage and registration areas were found to be more contaminated with bacteria than those in other areas of the Emergency Department at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, according to a new study conducted by the hospital.

3 Jun 2010

Miners' living, working environments fuel spread of TB in sub-Saharan Africa, study says

A study, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Public Health, found that poor living and working environments for miners of diamonds and precious metals is significantly fueling the spread of tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa, Reuters reports.

3 Jun 2010

Scientists awarded $3.9M grant to study how XDR-TB transmitted in rural South Africa

The National Institutes of Health has awarded scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a five-year, $3.9 million grant to study how extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is transmitted in rural South Africa. The findings could alter public health approaches for controlling the XDR-TB epidemic in the developing world.

3 Jun 2010

U.N. Secretary-General calls for African nations to invest 15% of national budgets to fight HIV/AIDS

During a tour of the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Kampala, Uganda, on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for countries in Africa to invest 15 percent of their national budgets in HIV/AIDS programs, the Daily Monitor reports.

3 Jun 2010

Disease/Infection News

IFST Advisory Statement cautions against food-borne Campylobacter infection

CSTE 2010 Annual Conference to focus on public health challenges

BMJ report questions WHO advisors' ties to pharmaceutical industry

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to join with JFC to celebrate Children's Day

AHF applauds Gilead for offering pricing, access concessions to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs

Roche's new dual-PCR target HIV-1 viral load test receives FDA approval

Researchers develop biosensors to monitor concentration of c-di-GMP within single living bacteria cells

DEET-based repellents effective against insect and tick borne diseases

Caltech biologists pinpoint molecular changes that help allow global spread of resistance to Tamiflu

Researchers discover svRNA component that may help develop universal anti-viral treatment

Lovastatin protects animals against plague

Researchers look for effective programs to curb smoking among people with HIV/AIDS

ASGE issues guidelines on ethnicity, gastrointestinal diseases and endoscopic procedures

McMaster University researchers discover chemical clue directing Staphylococcus aureus

WHO says H1N1 remains pandemic

Legionnaires' disease kills a 66 year old

Computer keyboards in non-treatment areas are more contaminated with bacteria

Miners' living, working environments fuel spread of TB in sub-Saharan Africa, study says

Scientists awarded $3.9M grant to study how XDR-TB transmitted in rural South Africa

U.N. Secretary-General calls for African nations to invest 15% of national budgets to fight HIV/AIDS

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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