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Washington Post examines reaction to study tracking HIV's arrival in U.S. from Haiti

The Washington Post on Monday examined reaction to a recent study that found that HIV likely arrived in the U.S. from Haiti about a decade earlier than previously believed (Stein, Washington Post, 11/5).

5 Nov 2007

Global Fund, World Bank provide Malawi with $48.5 million to expand HIV/AIDS services, commission says

Malawi's National AIDS Commission in a statement issued Thursday announced that it has received $48.5 million from the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Bank to expand HIV/AIDS services in the country up to December, Xinhua News Agency reports.

5 Nov 2007

TB vaccine can be a killer for babies with HIV

Experts in South Africa say a vaccine which was meant to protect children in developing countries from tuberculosis (TB)may in fact be killing them.

4 Nov 2007

Latest US food scare - 3.3 million pounds of frozen meat pizza products!

The latest food recall in the United States involves approximately 3.3 million pounds of frozen meat pizza products which are suspected of being contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

4 Nov 2007

Tuberculosis breaches borders, but not public health

Immigrants from countries with high rates of tuberculosis who move to countries of low TB incidence do not pose a public health threat to native citizens, according to researchers in Norway, who analyzed the incidence and genetic origins of all known cases of TB in the country between 1993 and 2005.

2 Nov 2007

MRSA bloodstream infections showing steady decrease

Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) has published the Annual Report on Healthcare Associated Infection 2007, as well as the latest quarterly report on the MRSA blood poisoning and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection figures.

2 Nov 2007

Barack Obama pledges to increase spending on global HIV/AIDS to $50 billion

Barack Obama today stepped ahead of all other candidates for President in one of the most critical areas of foreign policy, the effort to eradicate extreme poverty.

1 Nov 2007

Infectious diseases experts applaud STAAR Act

With methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, and other "bad bugs" routinely making headlines, infectious diseases physicians are applauding Sens.

1 Nov 2007

World Food Programme aims to raise $103M for program in Malawi to help people affected by HIV/AIDS, natural disasters

The World Food Programme over the next three years hopes to raise $103 million for a relief program in Malawi aimed at people affected by HIV/AIDS and natural disasters, WFP officials said on Monday, Reuters Africa reports.

31 Oct 2007

HIV arrived in U.S. from Haiti 10 years earlier than previously believed

The most widespread HIV subtype outside Africa likely emerged in Haiti in the 1960s and arrived in the U.S. a few years later -- about 10 years earlier than previously believed -- according to a study published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Los Angeles Times reports.

31 Oct 2007

POZ examines HIV/AIDS in U.S. south

POZ in its November issue examined HIV/AIDS in the U.S. South. The South -- which includes 14 states and Washington, D.C. -- accounts for 45% of new U.S. HIV cases and 50% of all AIDS-related deaths, according to CDC. Seven of the 10 states with the highest AIDS rates also are located in the South, and an increasing number of people living with the disease reside in the region.

31 Oct 2007

Novel strategy to inactivate encephalitis virus

A collaborative team of scientists from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed a novel strategy to inactivate highly virulent Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) that can infect and kill both animals and humans.

31 Oct 2007

Somalia experiencing huge increase in cases of visceral leishmaniasis

The international humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontières has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of patients with the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis ("kala azar") admitted to its treatment center in Somalia.

31 Oct 2007

Mass drug treatment for elephantiasis is affordable compared with other public health programs

Once-yearly administration of two anti-parasitic drugs to control lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) costs just $0.06 to $2.23 per person treated, making it comparatively inexpensive, according to a major new international study of treatment costs.

31 Oct 2007

Cause of leptospirosis outbreak in Thailand discovered

A single disease-causing clone of the bacterium Leptospira interrogans was behind the recent sustained outbreak of leptospirosis in Thailand, according to a new collaborative investigation by researchers in Thailand, Australia, and the UK.

31 Oct 2007

New tool to combat MRSA infections in hospitals

Cardinal Health, a global provider of products and services that improve the safety and productivity of health care, today announced a new service to help hospitals combat methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections that are responsible for an estimated 94,000 life-threatening conditions and 18,650 deaths annually in the U.S.

31 Oct 2007

Some HIV-positive people taking longer to initiate treatment

Some HIV-positive people in key demographic groups do not seek treatment any sooner than they did in the past, and some people now take longer to initiate treatment, according to a study published in the Nov. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, United Press International reports (United Press International, 10/27).

30 Oct 2007

Clinton signs pledge to commit to fight against HIV/AIDS

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, recently signed a pledge to commit to investing $50 billion by 2013 to fight HIV/AIDS domestically and worldwide, the New York Times reports. Clinton also plans to issue a formal policy on the disease, according to the Times (Seelye, "The Caucus," New York Times, 10/26).

30 Oct 2007

Zimbabwe shifts from voluntary HIV testing to provider-initiated testing in response to epidemic

Zimbabwe has shifted from a voluntary HIV testing system to a provider-initiated system in which medical professionals incorporate HIV testing into routine medical exams with the permission of their patients, Zimbabwe's The Herald reports.

30 Oct 2007

Guyana launches project aimed at reducing spread of HIV, improving treatment, prevention among prison inmates

Guyana's Ministry of Home Affairs recently launched a new project aimed at decreasing the spread of HIV among prison inmates and reintegrating HIV-positive inmates into society at the end of their sentences, the Stabroek News reports.

30 Oct 2007