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U.S. unveils 5-year PEPFAR strategy

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby on Tuesday "unveiled a five-year strategy for fighting AIDS worldwide, shifting the focus from emergency response to sustainable programs in countries worldwide," Agence France-Presse reports.

3 Dec 2009

Respiratory syncytial virus, the most common cause of pneumonia in children

RSV is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages. While most healthy people recover from RSV infection, it can be severe in infants. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia in children under 1 year of age in the nation.

3 Dec 2009

Children vaccinated against chickenpox at much lower risk of developing shingles

Vaccination to prevent chickenpox (varicella) appears to have an added benefit for children—a reduced risk of shingles (herpes zoster). That's the finding of a study in the November issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 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.

3 Dec 2009

Sepsis, a serious infection, remains a major threat to 'late preterm' infants

Sepsis is a serious infection that is a major cause of death in very premature infants. But sepsis is also a threat in "late preterm" infants born just a few weeks prematurely, according to a study in the December issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is 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.

3 Dec 2009

The Hill examines push to get more U.S. funding for malaria medicines

The Hill examines Medicines for Malaria Venture's (MMV) efforts to get more U.S. funding for its work. According to the newspaper, the group is "asking USAID and Congress to redirect more money beginning next year to drug research and development from a pot of funds used to cover the range of efforts to treat and prevent malaria, such as providing mosquito nets."

3 Dec 2009

U.S. H1N1 cases decreasing, CDC says; HHS to review approach to health-threat preparedness

The number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in the U.S. appears to be decreasing, the CDC said Tuesday, CQ HealthBeat reports. "Flu was widespread in 32 states by the end of the week of Nov. 21, a decrease from 43 states in the prior week and 46 states earlier this fall, according to the CDC," the news service writes. "

3 Dec 2009

Guidelines to diagnose and manage complicated skin and soft tissue infections published

New evidence-based recommendations developed by the Surgical Infection Society to guide physicians in the diagnosis and management of complicated skin and soft tissue infections have been published in Surgical Infections, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com).

3 Dec 2009

Leaders respond to World AIDS Day; South Africa to expand HIV treatment program

Marking World AIDS Day on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon "warned ... that new infections are outpacing the gains from treating people with the HIV virus" and that discrimination against HIV-positive people remains "widespread," the Associated Press reports.

2 Dec 2009

Officials to review U.S. health-threat response systems

The Washington Post: "Citing the balky swine flu vaccination campaign and other shortcomings in the nation's medical defenses, a top Obama administration official has announced a major review of the government's efforts to develop new protections against pandemics, bioterrorism and other health threats."

2 Dec 2009

World AIDS Day observed, activists decry budget cuts

A new study on HIV anti-retroviral regimens was released Dec. 1 and events were held to mark World AIDS Day. Meanwhile, advocates in New York and California expressed concern about budget cuts and tight funding for AIDS programs.

2 Dec 2009

Favorable initial results from Novavax' 2009 H1N1 VLP pandemic influenza vaccine Phase II study

Novavax, Inc. today reported favorable initial results from the first stage of a two-stage pivotal Phase II study evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of the company's 2009 H1N1 virus-like particle (VLP) pandemic influenza vaccine. Novavax is conducting this study in collaboration with Avimex Laboratories of Mexico to support registration of the vaccine in Mexico and potentially other countries.

2 Dec 2009

TARIS Biomedical completes Phase 1 study of its intravesical drug-device convergence system

TARIS Biomedical, a specialty pharmaceutical company pioneering the field of drug-device convergence for targeted therapies, announced today the successful completion of a Phase 1 clinical study of its intravesical drug-device convergence system designed to provide sustained-release of drug directly to the bladder.

2 Dec 2009

Positive results from DermaGen's Phase I/IIa AMP study of atopic dermatitis

DermaGen AB - part of the Karolinska Development dermatology and wound healing company "Pergamum" - announced that Dermagen AB has received promising results from a clinical Phase I/IIa study. DermaGen AB is developing a novel antimicrobial peptide (AMP) treatment for atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease where dry skin and the skin's weakened barrier function make patients susceptible to colonization by microorganisms, a triggering or exacerbating factor of the disease.

2 Dec 2009

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative calls for redoubled efforts in vaccine development

As we approach World AIDS Day, observed globally December 1, we are reminded that while progress has been made in expanding access to treatment and prevention and that progress has been made toward the development of new prevention tools, the world is still falling short of established targets for providing universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010. Nearly 5.5 million of the estimated 9.5 million people in need of antiretroviral therapy are still not receiving it.

2 Dec 2009

BC's Ministry of Health cuts funds for HIV and AIDS service organizations

Today, as local and national governments around the world reaffirm their commitment to continue the fight against HIV and AIDS, BC's government is doing the opposite.

2 Dec 2009

Statistics of HIV/AIDS cases in the U.S. population

On December 31, 2008, a reported 20,606 state prisoners and 1,538 federal prisoners were HIV positive or had confirmed AIDS, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, announced today.

2 Dec 2009

FDA approves additional intended use of Roche's cobas TaqScreen MPX Test

Roche announced today that the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved an additional intended use for its licensed nucleic acid test, to screen source plasma in pools comprised of up to 96 individual donations. The test, called the cobas® TaqScreen MPX Test for use on the cobas s 201 system, is a qualitative, in-vitro test for the simultaneous, direct detection of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1 Group M RNA, HIV-1 Group O RNA , HIV-2 RNA), hepatitis C virus RNA and hepatitis B virus DNA in human plasma.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 2 Dec 2009

Leicester student wins Global Health Essay Prize 2009

A third-year medical student at the University of Leicester has won the Global Health Essay Prize 2009, part of the assessment of the 'Health and Development Special Study Module' that Skillshare International has delivered in partnership with Leicester Medical School since 2002

2 Dec 2009

NAF and Bristol-Myers Squibb take initiative to launch 'Positive Charge'

The National AIDS Fund (NAF) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today their intention to launch “Positive Charge,” a new multiyear initiative aimed at helping to break down the barriers that prevent people living with HIV from receiving HIV care, treatment and necessary support.

2 Dec 2009

Infections remain a common problem in ICU patients

An international study that examined the extent of infections in nearly 1,300 intensive care units (ICUs) in 75 countries found that about 50 percent of the patients were considered infected, with infection associated with an increased risk of death in the hospital, according to a study in the December 2 issue of JAMA.

2 Dec 2009