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Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing

Experts are warning that the risk of a human bird flu pandemic remains just as real and is in fact probably growing.

8 May 2008

Urgent action needed to address HIV/AIDS among U.S. minority communities as cases 'skyrocket,' expert says

HIV/AIDS rates among blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. have reached alarming levels, and the U.S. urgently needs to establish new initiatives to address the spread of the disease among the groups, Beny Primm, executive director of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Addiction Research and Treatment, said at an event in Connecticut on Sunday, the Hartford Courant reports.

7 May 2008

Government, businesses should cooperate to mitigate effects of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea, conference delegate says

The government and businesses in Papua New Guinea should work together to alleviate the effects of HIV/AIDS and avoid a "catastrophic health burden," Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Duncan Kerr said Monday at the start of the 24th Papua New Guinea-Australia Business Forum, Papua New Guinea's Post-Courier reports.

7 May 2008

Utah law requiring HIV tests for convicted sex workers, solicitors fails to slow spread of HIV because it is not enforced, editorial says

A Utah state law that requires convicted commercial sex workers and solicitors of commercial sex to be tested for HIV and makes sex work and solicitation a "felony offense for repeat offenders who were aware they had tested positive for HIV" could "deter" sex work, but it is "not happening" because the law is not enforced, a Salt Lake Tribune editorial says (Salt Lake Tribune, 5/5).

7 May 2008

Gordon Brown holds conference on role of businesses in efforts to meet MDGs

Multinational companies need to increase their efforts to address development issues worldwide, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday ahead of a conference on global businesses and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, AFP/Google.com reports.

7 May 2008

U.N. launches workplace HIV program

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday launched U.N. Cares, a new workplace HIV program that will provide such services as training, counseling and testing for U.N. staff and their families, Xinhua/China View reports.

7 May 2008

Experts review influenza pandemic preparedness guidance

With the onging threat of a global influenza pandemic demanding continued vigilance, 120 influenza and planning experts from WHO Member States, research institutions and UN agencies around the globe are meeting in Geneva this week to review the current WHO pandemic preparedness guidance. Key scientific and situational developments make the review particularly important. WHO will release the revised guidance later this year.

7 May 2008

The design of a vaccine against Leishmaniasis

The parasitology team at the "Severo Ochoa" Molecular biology centre (CSIC-UAM) has focused its research efforts on the search for a vaccine capable of activating immunity against the parasite that causes leishmaniasis.

7 May 2008

Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing

Experts are warning that the risk of a human bird flu pandemic remains just as real and is in fact probably growing.

7 May 2008

Group B streptococcus has decreased among newborns, increased among adults

Group B streptococcus, a major cause of serious infections, declined about 25 percent among infants younger than 7 days from 1999 to 2005, but increased nearly 50 percent among persons 15 to 64 years old, according to a study in the May 7 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

6 May 2008

Russia should increase HIV prevention efforts targeted at IDUs, UNAIDS Executive Director Piot says

Russia should increase efforts to address HIV/AIDS among injection drug users to slow the spread of the disease, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said on Saturday during a conference on HIV/AIDS in the former Soviet Union, Reuters reports. According to Reuters, the former Soviet Union has the third-highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

6 May 2008

PEPFAR reauthorization bills should address increased risk of HIV among women in Africa, editorial says

When reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Congress should address the "cultural tragedy" that married women in Africa are at an increased risk of HIV, a Kansas City Star editorial says.

6 May 2008

60 Minutes profiles Partners in Health co-founder Paul Farmer

CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday profiled Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, which provides no-cost medical care for people with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other conditions in Haiti and eight other countries worldwide

6 May 2008

Group launches program to expand role of people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance recently launched a three-year program in Uganda to expand the role of networks of HIV-positive people in an effort to improve the delivery of services and reduce stigma, Uganda's Monitor reports.

6 May 2008

Relief in sight for arthritis triggered by viral infections such as Ross River fever

Australian scientists believe they may have discovered the possibility of relief for those suffering with the debilitating arthritis triggered by viral infections such as Ross River fever.

6 May 2008

Computer keyboard five times filthier than the toilet seat!

According to scientists in Britain your computer keyboard could contain a virus which threatens more than just what is on the screen - they say it poses a considerable health risk which equates to those presented by a toilet seat.

6 May 2008

Better understanding of immune response to HIV infection

The "exhaustion" of immune cells that target HIV appears to result from chronic exposure to the virus, specifically exposure to the particular protein segments targeted by the pathogen-killing HIV-specific CD8 T cells.

6 May 2008

Impact of round-the-clock, rapid oral fluid HIV testing of women in labor

Can HIV transmission in pregnancy in low income settings be prevented with round the clock rapid testing in labor?

6 May 2008

New saliva-based HIV test gives results in 20 minutes!

The usual waiting period for the results of a HIV test can seem like an eternity, especially in emergency situations where results are needed immediately. Also it requires a blood sample, which is invasive and often painful. Recognizing the urgent need for a faster and less invasive diagnostic method, Dr. Nitika Pant Pai, from Marina Klein's research team at the MUHC has just finished testing a new saliva-based test that gives results in approximately 20 minutes! She describes her findings in an article that will appear in the May 6th, 2008 issue of PLoS Medicine.

6 May 2008

HIV/AIDS cases decline in Malawi; testing, counseling sites increase, health official says

HIV prevalence among people ages 15 to 49 in Malawi declined to 12% in 2007, and there are now 410 sites offering HIV testing and counseling, National AIDS Commission Board Chair Nicholas Chitimba said recently, Malawi's National News reports.

6 May 2008