Disease/Infection News

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FDA follows up on Salmonella outbreak

As a follow-up to the recent Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting an extensive inspection of ConAgra's Sylvester, Georgia processing plant.

1 Mar 2007

Health-care workers should undergo preventive drug treatment if exposed to HIV on the job

Doctors, nurses and other health-care providers have worried about HIV exposure since the AIDS epidemic first began in the early 1980s. Since the virus that causes AIDS is transmitted through blood, a simple needle stick could infect anyone treating a patient.

1 Mar 2007

New York reverses HIV/AIDS housing rent increase

The recently appointed New York state commissioner of temporary and disability assistance, David Hansall, on Tuesday reversed a state-ordered rent increase for HIV-positive people living in subsidized housing in New York City, the New York Times reports (Chan, New York Times, 2/28).

1 Mar 2007

Zambian Government announces results of trials of HIV/AIDS herbal remedies

The Zambian government on Friday announced that clinical trials of three herbal HIV/AIDS remedies found that the treatments are not effective cures for the disease, AFP/Yahoo! News reports.

1 Mar 2007

Final attack on the poliovirus

Today, governments, donors and international agencies leading the drive to eradicate polio fully supported the planned final attack on the poliovirus.

1 Mar 2007

Further study of past flu pandemics key to future preparedness

Scientists and public health officials, wary that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could trigger an influenza pandemic, have looked to past pandemics, including the 1918 "Spanish Flu," for insight into pandemic planning.

28 Feb 2007

90 year old corpse may hold the answer to bird flu

Scientists in Britain believe a 90 year old corpse may hold the answer to the fight against bird flu.

28 Feb 2007

Bird flu vaccine offers limited protection but 'better than nothing'

Despite evidence it will not protect most people, a panel of health advisers have recommended that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States approve the first vaccine against bird flu.

28 Feb 2007

U.N. representative ordered to leave Gambia after questioning President's claims of HIV/AIDS cure

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has ordered United Nations representative Fadzai Gwaradzimba to leave the country after she questioned Jammeh's claim that he can cure HIV/AIDS with an herbal remedy, VOA News reports.

28 Feb 2007

Researchers conducting clinical trials of diaphragm as HIV prevention method

Researchers at the Women's Global Health Imperative program at the University of California-San Francisco's Medical Center are conducting a large-scale clinical trial among 4,500 women in Zimbabwe and South Africa to test the effectiveness of diaphragms in preventing the spread of HIV, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

28 Feb 2007

Benefits of breast-feeding might outweigh risk of vertical HIV transmission in developing countries

A series of studies presented Monday at the 14th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles suggest that the benefits of breast-feeding in developing countries might outweigh the risk of vertical HIV transmission, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

28 Feb 2007

Lao People's Democratic Republic reports first human case of H5N1

The Ministry of Health in Lao People's Democratic Republic has today reported the first human case of infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

27 Feb 2007

Majority of South Africans with HIV have drug resistant TB

Researchers at a conference in Los Angeles have said that as many as 85% of HIV-positive South Africans are also infected with an extensively drug-resistant form of tuberculosis (TB), Extensive Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB).

27 Feb 2007

Bird flu in Kuwait

Health officials in Kuwait have confirmed 20 cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in the small oil-rich state.

27 Feb 2007

Update on investigation of workers involved in the Holton avian flu outbreak

Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) has now completed the first stage of the public health follow up in relation to the outbreak of avian flu on a poultry farm in Holton, Suffolk.

27 Feb 2007

Georgia House Committee approves bill that would require doctors to offer pregnant women HIV tests

The Georgia House Health and Human Services Committee recently voted unanimously to approve a bill (HB 429) that would require doctors in the state to offer pregnant women an HIV test, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

27 Feb 2007

Arkansas House Panel endorses bill requiring inmates to receive HIV test before release

The Arkansas House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Thursday endorsed an amended version of a bill (HB 1444) that would require inmates in the state's prisons to receive an HIV test before their release, the Arkansas News Bureau reports.

27 Feb 2007

Russia launches five-year, $2.9 billion plan to combat diseases

The Russian government has approved a five-year, $2.9 billion draft program to combat diseases, including HIV/AIDS, in an effort to improve the country's life expectancy, a spokesperson announced on Thursday, the AP/Guardian reports (AP/Guardian, 2/23).

27 Feb 2007

GAVI Alliance contributes US$139 million to UN Foundation to tackle measles

The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) announced today that it has received a US$139 million contribution from the GAVI Alliance to support the worldwide effort by the Measles Initiative to reduce measles deaths by 90 percent by 2010.

26 Feb 2007

New bird flu vaccine not such a sure bet

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., in clinical trials the nation's first bird flu vaccine is not as effective as was initially expected.

26 Feb 2007