Disease/Infection News

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World poverty gains reduced, countries unlikely to achieve most MDGs, U.N. report says

The global economic downturn has "reversed a 20-year decline in world poverty" and could "add up to 90 million to the ranks of the hungry in 2009, an increase of six percent over current totals," according to a U.N. report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched in Geneva on Monday, Reuters reports (Evans, 7/6).

7 Jul 2009

IRIN examines government officials, advocates reaction to global fund restructuring in Zimbabwe

IRIN examines how government officials and HIV/AIDS advocates in Zimbabwe are responding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's decision to channel funds through the UNDP rather than the government-operated National AIDS Council (NAC).

7 Jul 2009

Pakistani refugees continue to be at high risk for disease, U.N. says

The 2 million Pakistani refugees forced from their homes due to a military offensive against Taliban militants in the northwestern Swat Valley continue to be at high risk for diseases "as they cope with damaged water and sewage systems in towns and villages," according to the U.N., Bloomberg reports.

7 Jul 2009

Global Fund faces $3 billion funding shortfall

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is facing a budget shortfall of about $3 billion, Marcela Rojo, a Global Fund spokesperson, said on Friday, Reuters reports.

7 Jul 2009

Vets learn how to track disease

Fourteen veterinarians from Indonesia are learning how to track and stop the spread of animal borne diseases in a three-week training program hosted by the University of Sydney.

7 Jul 2009

Whooping cough epidemic on North Coast of New South Wales

Health officials on the North Coast of New South Wales say there is now an epidemic of whooping cough in the region and they are advising young children and those who have close contact with them to be vaccinated.

5 Jul 2009

Swine flu different from ordinary flu in a number of ways

Scientists say new research has shown that the new H1N1 influenza strain (swine flu) is somewhat less contagious than seasonal flu, but appears to be more able to cause stomach upsets.

5 Jul 2009

Concern over case of drug resistant swine flu

The influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak has now spread to almost all corners of the world - the last update, # 56, from the World Health Organisation (WHO) says there are now a grand total of 77,201 confirmed cases including 311 deaths.

2 Jul 2009

Moxidectin being tested for onchocerciasis

A clinical trial is being launched in three African countries of a drug that could eliminate onchocerciasis, or river blindness, one of the leading infectious causes of blindness across Africa. The drug, moxidectin, is being investigated for its potential to kill or sterilize the adult worms of Onchocerca volvulus, which cause onchocerciasis.

1 Jul 2009

Lifespan of HIV-infected cells might be shorter than previously anticipated

Dutch-sponsored researcher Christian Althaus has used mathematical models to demonstrate that cells infected with HIV could live even shorter than was thought until now. If infected cells have a shorter lifespan then this increases the chances of the virus escaping the attention of the immune system.

30 Jun 2009

Research examines history of H1N1 and provides cautionary tale about the use of extinct viruses

The current H1N1 swine flu strain has genetic roots in an illness that sickened pigs at the 1918 Cedar Rapids Swine Show in Iowa, report infectious disease experts at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in the New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Jun 2009

Sinovac receives revised Chinese approvals for Panflu

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. has announced that it has received a revised Drug Supplementary Application Approval for Panflu, Sinovac's pandemic influenza vaccine from the China State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), based on the Phase IIb clinical trial, Under the revised approval, the age group eligible for use of the whole viron inactivated pandemic influenza vaccine was expanded to 18 years old and over, whereas it was previously 18 to 60 years of age, enabling Sinovac to reach a much broader percentage of the population.

30 Jun 2009

MedImmune funds study on RSV disease among premature infants

MedImmune continues to advance its commitment to pediatric research with today's announcement of the first observational prospective study designed to assess the burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among preterm infants 32-to-35 weeks gestational age (GA) in outpatient settings during their first year of life.

30 Jun 2009

U.S. Vaccine Advisory Committee considers response to H1N1 spread

The CDC convened a national vaccine advisory committee Friday to discuss the best response to the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) with an estimated 6,000 new cases in the U.S. last week alone, Reuters reports.

30 Jun 2009

Newsweek, Boston Globe examine ways to combat mosquito-borne illness

Newsweek examines the genetic modification of mosquitoes in an effort to stem the spread of dengue fever and malaria. Dengue fever, which is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, "is spreading fast," according to the magazine, with more than 100 million people afflicted yearly. "There is no vaccine, no cure and no solution," it reports.

30 Jun 2009

Battle is on to keep swine flu out of hospitals and prisons

According to the latest update, #55, from the World Health Organisation (WHO), worldwide there have been 70,893 cases including 311 deaths from the influenza A H1N1 (swine flu).

29 Jun 2009

Black gay men may be at increased HIV risk

Preferences in the race of sexual partners influenced by subtle racism may perpetuate HIV-related health disparities. Black gay men have less choice when it comes to sexual partners than other groups and, as a result, their sexual networks are closely knit.

29 Jun 2009

U.S. swine flu cases reach one million

The Associated Press/Washington Post reported that U.S. health officials on Thursday said they believe as many as 1 million Americans have been infected with H1N1 and "6 percent or more of some urban populations are infected." The estimates were based upon survey data collected by health officials and mathematical modeling.

29 Jun 2009

VOA News examines malaria in southern Sudan

VOA News examines malaria in southern Sudan. In the region, malaria is "widespread" and accounts for "up to 30 percent of all diseases treated by health facilities." It is the "number one killer of children in southern Sudan," though there are "no reliable statistics on the number in southern Sudan who suffer, or die from, malaria," VOA News reports.

29 Jun 2009

Vitamin A supplements can reduce malaria cases in children by one-third, study finds

In malaria-endemic areas, vitamin A supplements - which cost about 2 U.S. cents each - can help reduce infections in children by one-third, according to a study published in the Malaria Journal, IRIN reports.

29 Jun 2009