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Potential malaria transmission-blocking vaccine

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have for the first time produced a malarial protein (Pfs48/45) in the proper conformation and quantity to generate a significant immune response in mice and non-human primates for use in a potential transmission-blocking vaccine.

26 Jul 2009

Zuma, Branson collaborate to establish disease control center in South Africa

South African President Jacob Zuma and Virgin Group founder and chair Richard Branson "intend [on] establishing a disease control centre in South Africa as soon as next year," SAPA/The Times reports.

24 Jul 2009

Global health officials working to prevent H1N1 spread

"Global health officials are scrambling to try to prevent the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus, with U.S. officials moving Thursday with a recommendation that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve or license a [new H1N1] vaccine," without waiting on the results from "clinical trials to test its safety and efficacy," Wall Street Journal reports (Dooren/Winning, 7/24).

24 Jul 2009

UNDP to help fund HIV/AIDS program in Philippines

The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) will help fund a three-year program in response to the increase in HIV/AIDS cases in the Philippines, the Manila Bulletin reports.

24 Jul 2009

1 in 6 public health workers would not report to work during a pandemic flu emergency

The findings are a significant improvement over a 2005 study conducted by the same research team, in which more than 40 percent of public health employees said they were unlikely to report to work during a pandemic emergency. The new study suggests ways for improving the response of the public health workforce. The results are published in the July 24 edition of the journal PLoS ONE.

24 Jul 2009

FDA authorizes emergency use of another test for H1N1 flu virus

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a another diagnostic test for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, whose spread has caused the virus to be characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

24 Jul 2009

Swine flu pandemic could overwhelm critical care beds in England, especially children’s units

Experts in intensive care and anaesthesia have predicted that the current swine flu pandemic could overwhelm critical care beds and ventilators in England, with hospitals on the South East Coast, and in the South West, East of England and East Midlands, being worst hit.

24 Jul 2009

Johns Hopkins-designed animal tuberculosis "tracker" to speed drug and vaccine studies

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a novel way to monitor in real time the behavior of the TB bacterium in mouse lungs noninvasively pinpointing the exact location of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The new monitoring system is expected to speed up what is currently a slow and cumbersome process to test the safety and efficacy of various TB drug regimens and vaccines in animals. Plans are already under way for developing a similar system to monitor TB disease in humans.

23 Jul 2009

Copper could be used to inhibit swine flu

A leading microbiologist from the University of Southampton has told a conference that his research has found copper is effective in inhibiting the influenza A H1N1 virus.

23 Jul 2009

Brits get direct access to a pandemic flu service

Brits will soon have direct access to a pandemic flu service which will make drugs for swine flu available without needing to consult a doctor.

22 Jul 2009

Prevention, vaccines addressed at IAS conference

During the 5th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, scientists "renewed the call for more immediate and urgent effort to be directed towards HIV prevention amid the dominance of treatment interventions and the world-wide search for a quick fix vaccine, which many agree, is years away," Health-e/allAfrica.com reports (Thom, 7/22).

22 Jul 2009

Increased fighting makes humanitarian work, health situation more difficult in Somalia, U.N. says

Despite increasing danger posed by "al Qaeda-linked militants," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said Tuesday U.N. aid workers "were not backing away" from the country, Reuters reports.

22 Jul 2009

H1N1 death toll doubles over last month; first vaccine trial begins

The worldwide death toll from the H1N1 (swine flu) virus has doubled in the past month, reaching over 700, the WHO announced Tuesday, the AP/Google.com reports.

22 Jul 2009

Swine flu vaccine trials begin in Australia as death toll tops 700

As Australian scientists embark on the first trials of a swine flu vaccine the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that the H1N1 virus (swine flu) has now killed more than 700 people around the world since the outbreak began four months ago.

22 Jul 2009

Schering Plough’s CMO ‘very concerned’ about Obama’s healthcare reform agenda

Robert Spiegel, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP), the global science-based healthcare company, says he is "very concerned" that changes to the healthcare system by the Obama administration could affect public health.

22 Jul 2009

NIAID to launch 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine trials

Scientists in a network of medical research institutions across the United States are set to begin a series of clinical trials to gather critical data about influenza vaccines, including two candidate H1N1 flu vaccines. The research will be under the direction of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

22 Jul 2009

Onchocerciasis elimination feasible with ivermectin treatment

The first evidence that onchocerciasis elimination is feasible with ivermectin treatment was published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Onchocerciasis is also called river blindness because the blackfly which transmits the disease breeds in rivers; it often blinds people, as well as causing debilitating skin disease. Over 37 million people are infected, often living in poor, rural African communities.

21 Jul 2009

Clinton says U.S. will work with India to address health challenges, hunger

The U.S. will work to address the health challenges facing India among other countries and will aim to improve maternal and child health care services through comprehensive dialogue, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday after visiting a Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) trade outlet in Mumbai, India, PTI/Yahoo! News reports.

20 Jul 2009

South Africa launches HIV/AIDS vaccine trial

"The first clinical trial of an HIV/AIDS vaccine designed and developed in South Africa was launched in Cape Town" Monday, the SAPA/The Times reports.

20 Jul 2009

MSM HIV infection rates in some African countries significantly higher than general population rates, study says

HIV infection rates among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in "some African countries are 10 times that of the general male population, and stigma, poor access to treatment or testing are to blame," according to a Lancet study published online on Monday, AFP/China Post reports.

20 Jul 2009