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HIV epidemic in Moscow needs urgent measures

U.S. researchers say that HIV infection rates in vulnerable groups in Moscow could be between 30-120 times higher than those found in the general population.

4 Jul 2005

Mass vaccination of poultry needed to prevent bird flu pandemic

At the start of a three-day UN conference in Kuala Lumpur on the bird flu virus, health and animal experts have called for mass vaccination of poultry to prevent bird flu from becoming a human pandemic

4 Jul 2005

After four years, Angola reports its first case of polio

After four years, Angola has reported its first case of polio. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday that the crippling disease polio has also spread within Indonesia to Sumatra island.

4 Jul 2005

New law will take away vital medications from AIDS sufferers in Mississippi

Medicaid beneficiaries living with HIV/AIDS in Mississippi are about to be denied access to medications they need to stay alive.

1 Jul 2005

Report highlights importance of research into diseases in developing countries

Better drugs and vaccines are needed to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria and other tropical diseases. Pharmaceutical research has typically focussed on developing drugs, vaccines and other interventions for diseases prevalent in developed countries, where people can afford to buy treatments; it has tended to overlook those disorders that predominantly affect developing countries.

30 Jun 2005

Threat from Avian Influenza remains

At the request of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) sent a team of international experts to Viet Nam last week to assess laboratory and epidemiological data on recent cases and determine whether the present level of pandemic alert should be increased.

30 Jun 2005

Bird flu pandemic no longer imminent

In the best news yet in the bird flu scenario, international scientists have now downgraded the risk of an imminent pandemic, saying the indications are that the virus has not mutated.

30 Jun 2005

California reports first case of West Nile virus this year

The first human case of West Nile virus infection in California this year has been reported in a 47-year-old Tulare County man.

30 Jun 2005

Conservatives and sexual abstinence groups battle with FDA over condoms - they offer little protection against STD's

Although condoms are an effective method of contraception and stop the spread of AIDS, evidence that they protect against other sexually transmitted diseases is scant.

30 Jun 2005

Another death takes Vietnam's bird flu toll to 39

The death of a 73-year-old Vietnamese from bird flu, has taken the country's death toll from the epidemic to 39.

30 Jun 2005

Another 10 children with polio in Indonesia

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says another ten children have contracted polio in Indonesia, which brings the number affected by the outbreak of the paralysing disease to 65.

30 Jun 2005

Routine immunization virtually eliminates major killer of young children in the Gambia

The Lancet has today published online new research from a team led by the UK Medical Research Council's Richard Adegbola showing that routinely vaccinating infants against H. influenzae type b (Hib) - a bacterium that causes deadly diseases including pneumonia and meningitis - has virtually eliminated Hib meningitis in The Gambia.

29 Jun 2005

If global efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS are to work long term, they must avoid suspicions of being unfair

Johns Hopkins infectious disease specialists who have spent more than two decades leading efforts to combat HIV and AIDS worldwide are warning that limited international relief supplies of antiretroviral therapies currently being distributed in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean will not get to those who can least afford to pay for them.

28 Jun 2005

MRC study finds vaccine eliminates HIB disease in the Gambia

A Medical Research Council (MRC) study results, announced online today in The Lancet, illustrate that a routine immunisation programme in The Gambia has been successful at eliminating the incidence of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease.

28 Jun 2005

Routine immunisation against meningitis and pneumonia should be introduced for children in developing countries

Routine immunisation against a bacterial microorganism that can cause meningitis and pneumonia should be introduced for children in developing countries, suggests a report published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

28 Jun 2005

Multi-million pound Grand Challenge grants to tackle TB and malaria in the developing world

UK scientists are to help tackle TB and malaria in the developing world through their leadership of two major international research projects.

28 Jun 2005

Vaccine against Lassa fever works in monkeys

Scientists say that a genetically engineered virus may possibly offer the first effective vaccine against Lassa fever.

28 Jun 2005

New candidate for a vaccine against Lassa fever

Among the family of viral hemorrhagic fevers (which includes those caused by the Ebola, Marburg, and Hanta viruses), Lassa fever is the biggest public health problem.

28 Jun 2005

Found! - mutant viruses that laid NSW low with gastro

New mutant viruses responsible for gastroenteritis outbreaks in New South Wales in recent times have been identified by research published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the US Centers for Disease Control.

27 Jun 2005

Half a million in U.S. could die in flu pandemic

A report from the Trust for America's Health, says the United States only has 965,256 staffed hospital beds, and in the event of a pandemic, half a million Americans could die and more than 2 million could end up in the hospital with serious complications.

27 Jun 2005