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U.N. agencies issue warning, appeal for funds to tackle measles outbreak in West, Central Africa

"Sixteen countries in West and Central Africa are in the throes of a measles outbreak, at a time when there is a shortfall in funding for vaccination campaigns against the disease, two U.N. agencies said in a joint statement on Thursday," Reuters AlertNet reports (Fominyen, 4/22).

24 Apr 2010

Canadians join hands in virtual community to raise awareness of meningitis and septicaemia

Canadians can join hands in a virtual community with the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada and others around the globe to raise awareness of meningitis and septicaemia by visiting the Confederation of Meningitis Organizations web site - http://www.comoonline.org/JoiningHands.aspx.

24 Apr 2010

Senate Budget Committee approves FY 2011 budget resolution with cuts to foreign aid

The Senate Budget Committee has approved a budget resolution that adheres to President Barack Obama's "proposal to freeze non-defense spending, then goes a bit further" with cuts to "the State Department and other international programs," the Washington Post reports (Montgomery, 4/23).

24 Apr 2010

Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Numerate conclude collaboration to discover new compounds targeting HCV

Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Numerate, Inc., today announced that they have concluded their two-year collaboration to discover new compounds that target hepatitis C virus (HCV).

24 Apr 2010

New Actellic- 300CS demonstrates effective control of pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes

The Innovative Vector Control Consortium and Syngenta announced today that the latest field trials of the new Actellic- 300CS micro-encapsulated formulation demonstrate effective control of pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes on treated construction materials for more than eight months.

24 Apr 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

"What is still needed [to fight malaria] is the only tool that has ever truly conquered any infectious disease: an effective and affordable vaccine. And here, the global malaria community has been too complacent," a Lancet editorial asserts in an article highlighting achievements and drawbacks in attempting to provide universal access to malaria prevention and treatment.

24 Apr 2010

PMI releases 6-year malaria strategy

The U.S. government Thursday released a six-year strategy to address malaria globally, Reuters reports (Fox, 4/22). The plan was issued through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) in conjunction with World Malaria Day, April 25, and is a "core component of President [Barack] Obama's Global Health Initiative," according to a USAID press release (4/22).

24 Apr 2010

Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria

A new evaluation of malaria rapid diagnostic tests will help health workers quickly identify which patients have the disease and need immediate treatment, putting into action recent World Health Organization recommendations to confirm diagnosis of malaria before treatment.

24 Apr 2010

News outlets examine H1N1's impact on U.S. vaccine development plans, Mexico's handling of outbreak

"A year after the emergence of swine flu [H1N1], U.S. health authorities and laboratories say the pandemic illustrated the need for new vaccine production techniques that are faster and more reliable," Agence France-Presse writes in an article that examines the challenges associated with current vaccine development practices and plans for future development.

24 Apr 2010

ICTP to participate in QWeCl project to help fight malaria and other vector-borne illnesses

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics is taking part in a newly-launched, major international, European Union-funded project to help fight malaria and other vector-borne illnesses by developing and deploying an early warning system for disease outbreaks in Africa.

24 Apr 2010

Team liberates cellular hostages by silencing Toxoplasma gondii's back-seat driving

Scientists studying a cunning parasite that has commandeered the cells of almost half the world's human population have begun to zero in on the molecular signals that must be severed to free the organism's cellular hostages.

23 Apr 2010

MMV supports Pfizer's AZCQ clinical trial for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnant women

Pfizer Inc. and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) entered into an agreement for the development, access and delivery of a fixed-dose combination treatment consisting of azithromycin dihydrate (AZ) and chloroquine phosphate (CQ) for the Intermittent Preventive Treatment of P. falciparum malaria in pregnancy (IPTp). There is currently an unmet need for new treatment options and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that some 30 million pregnant women are at risk for malaria in endemic areas in Africa each year.

23 Apr 2010

Compugen announces development of PPI Blockers Discovery Platform

Compugen Ltd. announced today the development of its Protein-Protein Interaction Blockers (PPI Blockers) Discovery Platform, designed for the prediction of peptides to block disease associated protein-protein interactions. In a pilot validation run, predicted peptides showed positive results for drug targets in two cancer related pathways of interest to the industry.

23 Apr 2010

QF-CMV test helps predict transplant recipients at increased risk of CMV disease after surgery

New international guidelines published in the journal Transplantation reinforce the use of a new type of blood test to assess cytomegalovirus (CMV) risk in solid organ transplant recipients (i.e. transplant recipients). This blood test, QuantiFERON®-CMV (QF-CMV), is the first commercially-available blood test to allow physicians to monitor a person's risk of CMV disease. Most commonly used in the transplant setting, QF-CMV may predict which transplant recipients are at increased risk of CMV disease after transplant surgery.

23 Apr 2010

Funding levels need to be increased in fight against malaria

"To realize the real impact of investments in our fight against malaria, we must not only maintain current funding levels but actually increase them. If we don't, then the achievements we have made in providing malaria protection will be short lived," said Sunil Mehra, Executive Director of the UK-based Malaria Consortium.

23 Apr 2010

New USG strategy to combat malaria globally

In conjunction with World Malaria Day, and in accordance with the requirements of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Lantos-Hyde), the U.S. Government, through the President's Malaria Initiative, today released a comprehensive strategy to combat malaria globally.

23 Apr 2010

Deadly fungus on the move

Researchers revealed this Thursday that a deadly fungus that is usually found only in the tropics is making its way to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia and south into Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

23 Apr 2010

IAVI, Lentigen to design preventive AIDS vaccine

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Lentigen today announced a collaboration to design a preventive AIDS vaccine based on Lentigen's technology. The candidate AIDS vaccine will be devised to safely mimic biological aspects of HIV infection and tested first in pre-clinical studies as part of an initial 18-month agreement.

23 Apr 2010

Seasonal flu vaccine causing serious side effects in under-fives: Ban on flu vaccination program

The seasonal flu vaccine has caused serious side effects in dozens of children in Western Australia (WA) and following this the Health Department has suspended further free flu vaccinations for under-fives. There has been as rise in admissions to Princess Margaret Hospital. The side effects to the flu vaccine include fever, vomiting and often seizures related to high fever, also known as febrile convulsions. One of the children is seriously ill at present.

22 Apr 2010

AB SCIEX to collaborate in disease studies with Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced that it is collaborating with the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, one of the world's leading centers for biomedical research, to improve disease studies. The project is focused on better understanding cancer, diabetes and heart disease by advancing the study of proteins through the use of an emerging mass spectrometry platform currently under development by AB SCIEX.

22 Apr 2010

Disease/Infection News

U.N. agencies issue warning, appeal for funds to tackle measles outbreak in West, Central Africa

Canadians join hands in virtual community to raise awareness of meningitis and septicaemia

Senate Budget Committee approves FY 2011 budget resolution with cuts to foreign aid

Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Numerate conclude collaboration to discover new compounds targeting HCV

New Actellic- 300CS demonstrates effective control of pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes

Recent releases in Global Health

PMI releases 6-year malaria strategy

Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria

News outlets examine H1N1's impact on U.S. vaccine development plans, Mexico's handling of outbreak

ICTP to participate in QWeCl project to help fight malaria and other vector-borne illnesses

Team liberates cellular hostages by silencing Toxoplasma gondii's back-seat driving

MMV supports Pfizer's AZCQ clinical trial for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnant women

Compugen announces development of PPI Blockers Discovery Platform

QF-CMV test helps predict transplant recipients at increased risk of CMV disease after surgery

Funding levels need to be increased in fight against malaria

New USG strategy to combat malaria globally

Deadly fungus on the move

IAVI, Lentigen to design preventive AIDS vaccine

Seasonal flu vaccine causing serious side effects in under-fives: Ban on flu vaccination program

AB SCIEX to collaborate in disease studies with Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital

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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