Disease/Infection News

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Space-grown bacteria help explain Salmonella illness

Salmonella bacteria research from two recent NASA space missions discovered key elements of the bacteria's disease-causing potential that hold promise for improving ways to fight food-borne infections on Earth.

11 Mar 2009

Inadequacy of current guidelines for STIs

Adolescent girls reveal alarmingly high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which remain largely undetected by recommended screening guidelines.

11 Mar 2009

New Stanford list of HIV mutations vital to tracking AIDS epidemic

In a collaborative study with the World Health Organization and seven other laboratories, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have compiled a list of 93 common mutations of the AIDS virus associated with drug resistance that will be used to track future resistance trends throughout the world.

5 Mar 2009

Challenge of a cure for HIV infection

A group including leading academic and industry scientists has issued a challenge to researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS: find a way to effectively purge latent HIV infection and eliminate the need for chronic, suppressive therapy to control this disease.

5 Mar 2009

Hendra and Nipah viruses shown to be susceptible to chloroquine

Two highly lethal viruses that have emerged in recent outbreaks are susceptible to chloroquine, an established drug used to prevent and treat malaria, according to a new basic science study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Journal of Virology.

5 Mar 2009

Tanzania to introduce ACTs to prevent drug-resistant malaria

Tanzania's government plans to introduce artemisinin-based combination malaria treatments to prevent the development of drug resistance, the Guardian/IPP Media reports.

5 Mar 2009

Botswana to implement pilot HIV/TB program, redesign malaria program

Botswana's Health Minister Lesego Motsumi on Monday presented a pilot program to address HIV/tuberculosis coinfection and support health workers who are treating patients with HIV/TB coinfection, Mmegi reports.

5 Mar 2009

Texas bill to make HIV screening part of routine care would help efforts to curb virus

"More than two years after" CDC "recommended routine HIV screening, two state lawmakers" in Texas have proposed a bill to align the state with the federal recommendations, a Lubbock Avalanche-Journal editorial says.

5 Mar 2009

Antigua HIV/AIDS program manager announces plans for education campaign

Delcora Williams, Antigua's deputy program manager for the AIDS secretariat, on Tuesday announced that the secretariat is waiting for approval from the Board of Education to begin a new HIV/AIDS education and awareness campaign, the Antigua Sun reports.

5 Mar 2009

Video game aims to teach young people in Kenya about HIV/AIDS prevention

A video game in Kenya -- called Pamoja Mtaani and launched through a partnership between Warner Bros. Entertainment and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- is teaching young people in the capital of Nairobi about HIV/AIDS risks and prevention strategies, VOA News reports.

5 Mar 2009

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand urge government to maintain compulsory license program

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand plan to meet with officials to urge the government not to restrict its compulsory license program, which allows people in the country to access low-cost, generic versions of drugs such as antiretroviral medications, AFP/Google.com reports.

5 Mar 2009

New HIV cases reach record high in Hong Kong

Hong Kong in 2008 recorded 435 new HIV cases, the highest number of annual new cases since record-keeping began in 1984 and a 5% increase from the 414 cases reported in 2007, Hong Kong's The Standard reports.

5 Mar 2009

Experimental microbicide containing natural compound provides protection in monkeys against simian version of HIV

An experimental microbicide containing a naturally occurring compound provides protection in monkeys against the simian version of HIV by diminishing immune responses to the virus, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the Los Angeles Times reports.

5 Mar 2009

Three biomarkers found for Chikungunya fever

Three specific biomarkers provide an accurate indication of the severity of Chikungunya fever (CHIKF), which is emerging as a threat in South-East Asia, the Pacific and Europe, according to research conducted in Singapore.

4 Mar 2009

Southern African health officials develop cross-border initiative for malaria elimination

Health ministers from eight countries in the Southern African Development Community this week held a Malaria Elimination Ministerial Meeting in the Namibian capital of Windhoek to develop a cross-border approach for eliminating malaria in the region, New Era reports.

4 Mar 2009

Zambia launches effort to improve tuberculosis diagnosis

Zambia recently launched a four-year project to improve tuberculosis diagnosis and ensure early treatment for the disease, the Daily Mail reports.

4 Mar 2009

Advocates in Mexico call for greater effort against HIV/AIDS

AIDS-related mortality rates in Mexico have remained somewhat steady over the past 12 years, despite increased access to antiretroviral drugs in the country, officials at the National Institute of Public Health, or INSP, said recently, The News/Individual.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

World Food Program expands program for HIV-positive people in Rwanda

The World Food Programme recently expanded a project in Rwanda that provides food to HIV-positive people taking antiretroviral drugs, adding 10,000 participants and increasing the number of project sites from 61 to 138 across 18 districts in the country, the New Times/AllAfrica.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

Scientists create HIV strain that can infect monkeys

Scientists have created a strain of HIV that is able to infect and multiply in monkeys, leading to the possibility that researchers would be able to test HIV/AIDS drugs and vaccines in monkeys before testing them in humans, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009

Increasing risk of HIV among seniors

People ages 50 and older are more likely to have unprotected sex than younger groups, increasing their risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, according to a recently released World Health Organization study, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009