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NCCID to host consultation with national and international experts to discuss ways to fight superbugs

The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID) is hosting a consultation with national and international experts in Winnipeg on February 10th and 11th, 2010 to discuss ways to fight the threat posed by "superbugs," or bacteria that are increasingly resistant to conventional treatment with antibiotics.

11 Feb 2010

UC experts recommend binational prevention efforts for TB and HIV infections

The results of an innovative study to understand what factors may influence who contracts tuberculosis (TB)/HIV co-infection in San Diego show a significant shift in the ethnic makeup of the disease, with the majority of cases now coming from the Hispanic community.

11 Feb 2010

Survey shows one quarter of Ontario hospitals have no influenza pandemic plan

One quarter of Ontario hospitals surveyed in a Queen's University-led study do not have an influenza pandemic plan and few plans that do exist have been tested. In addition, key players were not involved in developing the plans, and funding for pandemic preparedness was inadequate.

11 Feb 2010

Eczema can lead to behavioral and psychological problems in children

Eczema in early childhood may influence behavior and mental health later in life. This is a key finding of a prospective birth cohort study to which scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum M-nchen contributed.

11 Feb 2010

PLAN C Agency launches Hepatitis B awareness campaign in the West Coast

PLAN C Agency, in collaboration with biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, launched a Hepatitis B awareness campaign titled "B HERE" at three college campuses in the West Coast. The goal was to raise the much needed awareness regarding the rising epidemic of Hepatitis B among Asian Americans and educate the youth on the importance of getting tested.

11 Feb 2010

Drug used to treat parasites in animals may offer new treatment for river blindness, study finds

"Closantel, an older drug used to treat a parasitic liver disease in animals, may prove effective at combating river blindness in humans, a major cause of infection-related blindness, U.S. researchers said on Monday," Reuters reports (Steenhuysen, 2/8).

10 Feb 2010

Catalysis Foundation for Health to discover new TB biomarkers with $5M Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant

The Catalysis Foundation for Health (Catalysis), a 501 (c) (3) non-profit entity dedicated to developing sustainable diagnostics for the developing world, announced today that it has received a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant money will be used to discover new tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers that can be used to improve diagnostic tests and potentially develop more effective TB treatments.

10 Feb 2010

AHF schedules safer sex awareness events to mark International Condom Day on Feb 13th

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization which currently provides medical care and services to more than 127,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide, will mark International Condom Day—an informal holiday observed in conjunction with Valentine’s Day, February 14th—with innovative and educational free condom distribution and safer sex awareness events as well as media campaigns held in 32 cities in 13 countries around the world that will be taking place over the days and nights around the weekend holiday.

10 Feb 2010

Majority of parents worry about safety of H1N1 vaccine

Ask any health professional who cares for children and they will tell you: When H1N1 flu hits, it can be very severe. In the last four months of 2009, nearly 240 children died in the United States from H1N1 flu—more than three times as many child deaths as in a typical non-H1N1 flu season.

10 Feb 2010

STDUniversity.org launches interactive, personalized STD test recommendation

STDUniversity.org is the first website to provide an interactive, personalized STD test recommendation developed by academic and medical experts. This expert-based tool incorporates screening guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF).

10 Feb 2010

New method may help assess impact and cost-effectiveness of flu vaccination campaigns

A new study (doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.01.002), published by Elsevier this month in Vaccine (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/vaccine) describes a new method that assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of a range of vaccination options.

10 Feb 2010

Study explores link between HBV genotype C and liver cirrhosis

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes have distinct geographical distributions, and have been shown to differ with regard to clinical outcome and prognosis. However, the relationship between HBV genotypes and liver cirrhosis remains controversial and no study on exploring the association between HBV genotypes and subclinical cirrhosis in community-based population has been reported.

10 Feb 2010

Eating reptile meat can cause varying degrees of illness

Reptiles are bred in captivity primarily for their skins, but some restaurants and population groups also want them for their meat. A study shows that eating these animals can have side effects that call into question the wisdom of eating this 'delicacy.'

10 Feb 2010

VSV has potential to be genetically modified to serve as anti-cancer agent

Vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, has long been a model system for studying and understanding the life cycle of negative-strand RNA viruses, which include viruses that cause influenza, measles and rabies.

10 Feb 2010

Antimalarial medicines in African countries are substandard, says QAMSA study

The first results from a large-scale study of key antimalarial medicines in ten Sub-Saharan African countries reveal that a high percentage of medicines circulating on national markets are of substandard quality and thus may contribute to the growth of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent form of malaria.

10 Feb 2010

Measles vaccine does not increase risk of autism in children, reveals Polish study

As a pivotal paper linking childhood vaccinations to autism is discredited, a new study finds no evidence that the measles vaccine—given alone or as part of a combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine—increases the risk of autism in children. The study appears in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (www.pidj.com), published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

10 Feb 2010

Study shows lactobacillus is effective in improving H. pylori-infected diseases

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are considered to be the most important etiological agents of chronic gastritis. The eradication of H. pyloridepends on the combination of antibiotics and acid suppression drugs.

10 Feb 2010

TBTC to receive more than $90 million to develop effective tuberculosis treatments

The Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC) strives to conduct research about the diagnosis, medical treatment, and prevention of tuberculosis (TB) infection and disease. The network is composed of a partnership of clinical investigators from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), public health departments from different countries, as well as medical and pharmaceutical institutions.

10 Feb 2010

Mutations that enable Pseudomonas to thrive in cystic fibrosis lung secretions may also guard them against antibiotics

People with cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that clogs airways with thick mucous, frequently have lung infections that defy treatment. While the life expectancy for children with cystic fibrosis has increased over the past few decades, many lives are still shortened in young adulthood by the ravages of lung infections.

10 Feb 2010

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute sign license agreement with Genentech, Roche

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have signed a license agreement with Genentech, a wholly owned member of the Roche group, and Roche, that grants the companies exclusive rights to manufacture, develop and market human monoclonal antibodies to treat and protect against group 1 influenza viruses.

10 Feb 2010

Disease/Infection News

NCCID to host consultation with national and international experts to discuss ways to fight superbugs

UC experts recommend binational prevention efforts for TB and HIV infections

Survey shows one quarter of Ontario hospitals have no influenza pandemic plan

Eczema can lead to behavioral and psychological problems in children

PLAN C Agency launches Hepatitis B awareness campaign in the West Coast

Drug used to treat parasites in animals may offer new treatment for river blindness, study finds

Catalysis Foundation for Health to discover new TB biomarkers with $5M Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant

AHF schedules safer sex awareness events to mark International Condom Day on Feb 13th

Majority of parents worry about safety of H1N1 vaccine

STDUniversity.org launches interactive, personalized STD test recommendation

New method may help assess impact and cost-effectiveness of flu vaccination campaigns

Study explores link between HBV genotype C and liver cirrhosis

Eating reptile meat can cause varying degrees of illness

VSV has potential to be genetically modified to serve as anti-cancer agent

Antimalarial medicines in African countries are substandard, says QAMSA study

Measles vaccine does not increase risk of autism in children, reveals Polish study

Study shows lactobacillus is effective in improving H. pylori-infected diseases

TBTC to receive more than $90 million to develop effective tuberculosis treatments

Mutations that enable Pseudomonas to thrive in cystic fibrosis lung secretions may also guard them against antibiotics

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute sign license agreement with Genentech, Roche

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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