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MIT to host community-wide Caregiver Kit Build Event

Boston AIDS Africa, a Boston-based initiative to respond to the AIDS pandemic in Africa by providing vital supplies to care for those suffering with HIV/AIDS in Africa, announced today that it has partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, who will host a community-wide Caregiver Kit Build Event on April 3, 2010 at the MIT Johnson Ice Rink.

17 Dec 2009

Risk of H1N1 exposure alters U.S. holiday plans

Forty percent of U.S. adults intend to change their holiday plans due to the risk of being exposed to the H1N1 flu virus, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by JohnsonDiversey, a global leader in the commercial cleaning and sanitizing industry.

17 Dec 2009

Sanofi Pasteur uses PHT’s LogPad System and StudyWorks online portal for its Phase II trial

PHT Corporation announced that Sanofi Pasteur is using PHT’s LogPad® System and StudyWorksTM online portal for a Phase II trial to develop a vaccine against the Clostridium difficile bacterium.

17 Dec 2009

Cannabis for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease treatment

Chemicals found in cannabis could prove an effective treatment for the inflammatory bowel diseases Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, say scientists.

17 Dec 2009

Scientists analyze more than 21 million calls to determine the spread of malaria

University of Florida researchers at work on a malaria elimination study in Africa have become the first to predict the spread of the disease using cell phone records.

17 Dec 2009

Wood pallet: A source of food poisoning bacteria

In a random sampling of wood pallets used to ship food in Portland, ME, and Philadelphia, PA, numerous pallets tested positive for Listeria and abnormally high counts of bacteria that could potentially create health hazards for consumers.

17 Dec 2009

Portable bladder volume ultrasound now included in 2009 CDC guidelines for the prevention CA-UTIs

Verathon®, maker of BladderScan® bladder volume instruments is pleased to announce that portable bladder volume ultrasound is now included in the new 2009 CDC guidelines for the Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CA-UTIs).

17 Dec 2009

Diagnostic Nano Technology to use Instant Detect Technology to detect H1N1 virus

Diagnostic Nano Technology Corporation (DNA), a subsidiary of Avisio, Inc., announced today that with the early laboratory success of its Instant Detect Technology in the detection of certain viruses that cause Dengue Fever, it plans to begin testing the technology on the detection of the H1N1 virus.

17 Dec 2009

Majority of Canadians confuse sinusitis with H1N1 symptoms

It's winter, that great Canadian season of snow, ice, grey skies...and colds and the flu. In a year when H1N1 is high on everyone's radar, it is more important than ever for Canadians to know what their symptoms mean and when they should see their doctor.

17 Dec 2009

Infection control program protects immunocompromised cancer patients from H1N1 infection

Despite a 100-fold increase in H1N1 influenza cases in the Seattle area during spring 2009, an aggressive infection control program to protect immunocompromised cancer patients and thorough screening measures resulted in no corresponding increase in H1N1 cases among the total patient population at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, according to a new study by researchers and physicians at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the SCCA.

17 Dec 2009

GSK and NanoBio sign license agreement for nanoemulsion technology

GlaxoSmithKline and Ann Arbor-based NanoBio Corporation announced today that they have signed an exclusive over-the-counter licensing agreement for NanoBio's unique nanoemulsion treatment for cold sores in the United States and Canada.

17 Dec 2009

New licensing agreement to develop and commercialize prophylactic vaccine against MRSA signed

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive, world-wide licensing agreement with Syntiron to develop and commercialize its prophylactic vaccine against Staphylococcus, including Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA.

17 Dec 2009

Survey examines disease R&D investment in 2008

According to an annual survey released Tuesday by the George Institute for International Health that looks at research and development (R&D) funding of diseases that affect the developing world, the U.S. government in 2008 "remained the single biggest contributor as it again provided almost half of the total funding but the report notes developing countries like Brazil [and] India ... were becoming a growing force," AAP/Sydney Morning Herald reports (Rose, 12/15).

17 Dec 2009

Also in global health news: Kenya HIV/AIDS; Uganda bill; water project in Philippines; U.N. appeal for Yemen

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger on Wednesday announced the U.S. would provide $26.5 million (2.7 billion Kenyan shillings) between 2009 and 2013 to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya, the Daily Nation reports (Sinundu, 12/16). In related news, the Standard reports the Kenyan government will be begin the gradual phase out of the antiretroviral drug, Stavudine, which is known to cause adverse side effects (Mwai, 12/15).

17 Dec 2009

Scientists draw on bacterial decision-making success to guide human choices on H1N1 vaccine

Bacteria inhabited our planet for more than 4 billion years before humans showed up, and they'll probably outlive us by as many eons more. That suggests they may have something to teach us.

17 Dec 2009

Opinions: HIV prevention; PEPFAR; H1N1 vaccine donation; developing country R&D; climate change

"For nearly 30 years scientists have been trying to break the back of the AIDS epidemic," but the recent microbicide gel study and an AIDS vaccine trial in Thailand "show just how difficult and how distant that goal is," according to a Washington Post editorial. "While scientists continue searching for a vaccine or a cure, prevention remains paramount," the Washington Post concludes (12/16).

16 Dec 2009

New study to evaluate the effectiveness of H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines in pregnant women conducted

Abt Associates will conduct a study for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate the effectiveness of the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines among pregnant women, one of the high risk populations identified by CDC.

16 Dec 2009

Syntiron grants sanofi pasteur exclusive world-wide license to its human vaccine against MRSA

Syntiron today announced that it has granted sanofi pasteur an exclusive world-wide license to its human vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus. The agreement includes an undisclosed initial licensing fee, milestone payments and royalty payments on future sales of the product. Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (pronounced Mer-sa) is an important hospital-acquired infection and is a major cause of illness and death resulting in excess of 18,000 US deaths a year and a half million hospitalizations, creating a significant economic burden of approximately $3.4 billion annually to the American health care system.

16 Dec 2009

More details emerge about UNITAID's plan for patent pool for HIV/AIDS drugs

News outlets continued to follow UNITAID's recent announcement to create a patent pool aimed at lowering the cost of HIV/AIDS drugs for low- and middle-income countries. Though UNITAID's board "voted Monday to create a board to run the new patent pool, and set a target of having five AIDS drugs in the pool by mid-2010," the group "punted on the thorny issue of which countries outside of Africa to include in the pool," Forbes reports.

16 Dec 2009

NanoBio, GSK partner to develop and commercialize novel cold sore treatment compound

GlaxoSmithKline plc and NanoBio Corporation today announced an exclusive licensing agreement in the United States and Canada for the over-the-counter (OTC) use of NB-001, a novel, patented compound representing the next advance in the treatment of cold sores. Developed by NanoBio, NB-001 provides significant antimicrobial activity against the virus that causes cold sores, herpes labialis.

16 Dec 2009

Disease/Infection News

MIT to host community-wide Caregiver Kit Build Event

Risk of H1N1 exposure alters U.S. holiday plans

Sanofi Pasteur uses PHT’s LogPad System and StudyWorks online portal for its Phase II trial

Cannabis for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease treatment

Scientists analyze more than 21 million calls to determine the spread of malaria

Wood pallet: A source of food poisoning bacteria

Portable bladder volume ultrasound now included in 2009 CDC guidelines for the prevention CA-UTIs

Diagnostic Nano Technology to use Instant Detect Technology to detect H1N1 virus

Majority of Canadians confuse sinusitis with H1N1 symptoms

Infection control program protects immunocompromised cancer patients from H1N1 infection

GSK and NanoBio sign license agreement for nanoemulsion technology

New licensing agreement to develop and commercialize prophylactic vaccine against MRSA signed

Survey examines disease R&D investment in 2008

Also in global health news: Kenya HIV/AIDS; Uganda bill; water project in Philippines; U.N. appeal for Yemen

Scientists draw on bacterial decision-making success to guide human choices on H1N1 vaccine

Opinions: HIV prevention; PEPFAR; H1N1 vaccine donation; developing country R&D; climate change

New study to evaluate the effectiveness of H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines in pregnant women conducted

Syntiron grants sanofi pasteur exclusive world-wide license to its human vaccine against MRSA

More details emerge about UNITAID's plan for patent pool for HIV/AIDS drugs

NanoBio, GSK partner to develop and commercialize novel cold sore treatment compound

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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