Disease/Infection News

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U.S. seeks to constrain global AIDS program costs

The Boston Globe: "US officials have asked some AIDS clinics overseas to stop enrolling new patients in a US-sponsored program that provides lifesaving antiretroviral drugs" in an effort to stem the rising costs of this assistance program. This step has triggered concern among some AIDS advocates "that the Obama administration is curtailing its commitment to a program that provides lifesaving drugs for 2.4 million people and that many view as President Bush's most successful foreign policy legacy.

13 Apr 2010

San Diego Union-Tribune examines pharma's growing interest in neglected diseases

The San Diego Union-Tribune examines the pharmaceutical industry's growing interest in developing new treatments for what are known as "neglected diseases."

13 Apr 2010

Common drug used to treat Burkitt lymphoma can activate EBV: Study

Important advances in the fight against cancer have come as researchers proved that viruses and cancers interact in ways that were previously unknown to scientists.

13 Apr 2010

AP examines micro-insurance in Africa

The Associated Press examines the growth of micro-insurance in Africa, "a product accessible to those earning less than $2 a day, who pay tiny weekly premiums of sometimes less than a cent."

13 Apr 2010

IDF awarded NIH grant for advancing knowledge in PIDD through continuance of USIDNET program

The Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the grant "Resources to Assist Investigations in Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases" from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant will allow IDF to continue to advance the detection, understanding, diagnosis and treatment of primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD) through their program, the United States Immunodeficiency Network (USIDNET).

13 Apr 2010

Stem cell scientists receive stimulus grants to study lung and blood disorders

Stem cell scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) were awarded stimulus grants totaling almost $2 million to research experimental treatments for blood disorders and inherited lung diseases affecting children.

13 Apr 2010

Checklist to stay healthy and active during summer season

There are millions of vacation destinations to visit this summer and thousands of sights to see, but there is one surefire way to ruin your trip -- getting sick. Although you may not be thinking about viruses and bacterial infections when you plan your trip, there are a few nasty bugs you should be aware of as you pack your bags.

13 Apr 2010

Gilead Sciences doses first patient in Quad Phase III clinical program

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that it has dosed the first patient in the Phase III clinical program evaluating its investigational fixed-dose, single-tablet "Quad" regimen of elvitegravir, cobicistat (formerly GS 9350), emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate.

13 Apr 2010

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals to present delafloxacin Phase 2 study data at 20th ECCMID

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development-stage antibiotics company with a broad product pipeline based on its innovative discovery platform, today announced that an oral presentation of data for delafloxacin, its lead antibiotic candidate, will be given at the 20th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), April 10-14, in Vienna, Austria by Paul G. Ambrose, Pharm.D, FIDSA, Director, Institute for Clinical Pharmacodynamics, Ordway Research Institute.

12 Apr 2010

Automated UV radiation helps decontaminate healthcare-associated pathogens

Attendees of the Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infection were offered a record 37 presentations on the critical role of contaminated environmental surfaces in the transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings.

12 Apr 2010

Clinical and preclinical malaria vaccine data presented at Keystone Symposium

GenVec, Inc. announced that encouraging clinical and preclinical malaria vaccine data were presented at the Keystone Symposium -- Malaria: New Approaches to Understanding Host-Parasite Interactions taking place April 11-16, 2010 in Copper Mountain, Colorado.

12 Apr 2010

Liver biopsy with hepatic copper quantification every 3 years needs to be considered for WD patients

As a result of the rarity of Wilson disease (WD) and the fact that liver biopsy is not performed routinely during follow-up, unless clinically indicated, the progression and timing of the liver pathology and its correlation with different anti-copper treatments or aminotransferase levels are poorly characterized. Previous studies have demonstrated the possibility of improvement of steatosis and inflammation grade, and of fibrosis stage during long-term follow-up.

12 Apr 2010

Inbuilt sensor in cell phones for detecting deadly chemicals

Do you carry a cell phone? Today, chances are it's called a "smartphone" and it came with a three-to-five megapixel lens built-in-not to mention an MP3 player, GPS or even a bar code scanner. This 'Swiss-Army-knife' trend represents the natural progression of technology-as chips become smaller/more advanced, cell phones absorb new functions.

12 Apr 2010

Phase I study of Affinium Pharmaceuticals' AFN-1252 for MRSA initiated

Affinium Pharmaceuticals announced today the commencement of a Phase I study in the United States for its novel molecular entity, AFN-1252, a first in class antibiotic candidate focused on the oral and IV treatment of susceptible and highly resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

12 Apr 2010

Persisting red, itchy, watery eyes in children may be signs of serious conditions

When a child develops red, watery eyes, it could be just allergies - or it may be the sign of a more serious eye condition, according to a leading pediatric ophthalmologist.

12 Apr 2010

Asthma-like symptoms in infants and toddlers is often RAD

Your child is wheezing. Your child must have asthma, right? Not always, says Julie Koehler, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice in Butler University's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and clinical pharmacy specialist in family medicine at Clarian Health.

12 Apr 2010

Scientists identify specific mechanism that triggers resistance to vancomycin

A new study led by the scientific director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research has uncovered for the first time how bacteria recognize and develop resistance to a powerful antibiotic used to treat superbug infections.

12 Apr 2010

Optimer Pharmaceuticals announces results from second Phase 3 clinical study of fidaxomicin

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the top-line results from its second fidaxomicin Phase 3 clinical study in patients with Clostridium difficile infection were presented today at the 20th Annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Vienna, Austria.

12 Apr 2010

Replikin Counts of H5N1 and H1N1 strains on the rise

The most recent BioRadar analysis of the virus genomes of both H5N1, known for high lethality, and H1N1, known for high infectivity, indicates that the Replikin Counts of both strains are rising. Such Count increases in a specific strain have been invariably associated with clinical outbreaks of that strain.

12 Apr 2010

A*STAR announces fifth major collaboration with Italian research centres and universities

Two research units under Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) and Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), are collaborating with Italy's Siena Biotech S.p.A. to develop new drugs and targeted antibodies respectively, which will potentially help millions of cancer and bone loss patients across the world. This is the fifth major collaboration A*STAR has with research centres and universities in Italy .

9 Apr 2010