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New therapy proven to be effective in the treatment of MRS

Cosmetic considerations and a perceived lack of patent opportunities could be stopping the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries from investing in the development of a new therapy proven to be effective in the treatment of MRSA.

6 Apr 2006

Brits find first case of bird flu in a dead swan

Government officials in Britain say a dead swan found in Cellardyke, Scotland, has a strain of the H5 bird flu virus.

5 Apr 2006

Johns Hopkins launches program to improve public health education in Africa

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will lead a five-year initiative to strengthen the capacity of public health schools in East Africa.

5 Apr 2006

Expert says cats may spread bird flu to humans

The rapid spread of H5N1 bird flu across Europe and the Middle East in the last month and the re-emergence of the virus in Asia, has further ignited fears that the deadly virus will mutate and cause the pandemic everyone fears.

5 Apr 2006

China asked to spread the word about bird flu

David Nabarro the United Nation's top official on bird flu has urged China to share its experience with other countries on how to tackle the disease threatening to become a pandemic.

5 Apr 2006

Bush's AIDS prevention policy doing more harm than good

According to a new report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. approach to AIDS prevention is essentially unworkable.

5 Apr 2006

Bird flu pandemic supercomputer simulation model

Using supercomputers to respond to a potential national health emergency, scientists have developed a simulation model that makes stark predictions about the possible future course of an avian influenza pandemic, given today's environment of worldwide connectivity.

4 Apr 2006

Scientists discover structure of malaria defense process

Scientists from two universities in Italy and Virginia Tech in the United States have determined the structure of a protein that is responsible for the production xanthurenic acid (XA) in Anopheles gambiae, the malaria carrying mosquitoes.

4 Apr 2006

Multi-site vaccinations could protect against all four dengue viruses

An innovative new study explains, for the first time, the failure of previous attempts to vaccinate against the four known Dengue viruses, and it suggests a very simple solution - injecting the four vaccines simultaneously at different locations on the body.

4 Apr 2006

Responding to AIDS, TB, Malaria and emerging infectious diseases in Burma

Government policies in Burma that restrict public health and humanitarian aid have created an environment where AIDS, drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria and bird flu (H5N1) are spreading unchecked, according to a report by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

4 Apr 2006

British boy dies from measles

The death of a 13 year old boy in Britain from measles is the first fatality from the infection in 14 years and has ignited concern that the once common killer is back.

3 Apr 2006

Bird flu continues to sweep across the globe

An Egyptian health ministry official says the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that four Egyptians have caught bird flu, including two who died from the virus.

3 Apr 2006

Jordan's first case of bird flu, courtesy of Egypt

The Egyptian Government says a failure to comply with instructions is the probable cause of the recurrence of avian influenza among humans there.

3 Apr 2006

High prevalence of mumps in Iowa

The Department of Public Health in Iowa says 245 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of mumps have been reported there since mid-January.

3 Apr 2006

Sweetgum tree may help fight bird flu

The sweetgum tree grows widely throughout the country and is known for its mace-like green fruit, which are sometimes called "gumballs." Now, this spiny fruit may become an important source of a chemical needed to make a lifesaving drug against bird flu - a drug that is currently in short supply worldwide, researchers say.

3 Apr 2006

HIV infection rates down one-third in south India

A University of Toronto Indo-Canadian study reports a remarkable one-third decline in new HIV infections in the worst hit regions of India, indicating that with condom use and awareness programs, the country's AIDS epidemic is far from hopeless.

3 Apr 2006

HPV vaccines provide hope for major international programmes of primary prevention

Parents of young girls may soon be offered the opportunity to have their daughters immunised against a sexually transmitted virus that is the major cause of cervical cancer, the 4th International Conference on Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Medicine.

3 Apr 2006

Malaria, mosquitoes and man - breaking a deadly cycle

Malaria kills a child every thirty seconds in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to recent estimates. It is a huge problem currently threatening over 40% of the world’s population and still on the increase.

31 Mar 2006

China free of lymphatic filariasis

China is slated to be officially declared free of the debilitating disease lymphatic filariasis, 15 years ahead of the global elimination target of 2020.

31 Mar 2006

Health experts meet in Asia to discuss preventing deadly childhood diseases

The deadly diseases pneumonia and meningitis kill an estimated 1.8 million children under the age of 5 years across the globe every year. Of these, more than 700,000 occur in the countries in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions of the World Health Organization (WHO).

30 Mar 2006