Disease/Infection News

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Two more Polio cases reported in Indonesia

Health Officials are still investigating other suspected cases which have been reported in the same area of a West Javanese province.

5 May 2005

Malaria still biggest killer of children in Africa

According to new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), progress has been made in preventing and treating malaria since 2000 and more countries are introducing the latest preventative measures to beat the disease.

4 May 2005

Polio threat originates in Nigeria 2 years after it was banished in most countries

Almost two years after radical Islamic preachers in Nigeria influenced parents against having their children vaccinated against polio for fear it was part of a U.S. plot against Muslims, a Nigerian strain of the virus that causes the crippling disease has occurred as far away as Indonesia.

4 May 2005

WHO’s goal to provide life-long antiretroviral therapy to 3 million people with HIV/AIDS at risk of failing

Lack of financial resources, staff, and commitment from key countries, may hamper WHO’s goal to provide life-long antiretroviral therapy to 3 million people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries by the end of 2005 (3 by 5), states an editorial in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

4 May 2005

Nephrogenic Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuresis - a new genetic disease

Two infant boys whose bodies were overloaded with excess fluid have led UCSF pediatricians to the discovery of a new genetic disease. In the process, they have discovered a rare type of mutation where different substitutions in a single amino acid cause two different, opposite genetic disorders.

4 May 2005

Study reveals new approach to Huntington's disease

Scientific theory holds that Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a mutant protein that arises within brain cells and kills them, triggering the genetic neurological disorder. Now a new UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute study reveals the first strong evidence that the mutant protein also elicits toxic interactions from neighboring cells to provoke the fatal brain disorder. The May 5 edition of Neuron reports the findings.

4 May 2005

War on AIDS needs food

The five billion dollars earmarked by U.S. President George W. Bush to fight HIV/AIDS could be wasted if his administration does not increase food aid resources, asserted the head of a leading development organization.

4 May 2005

Second polio case reported in Indonesia

Another case of polio has been diagnosed in the Javanese village where little 18-month-old Fikri Ramdani lives. Fikri is the first polio case confirmed in Indonesia in the latest re-appearance of the disease which has been virtually wiped out in the majority of developed countries.

4 May 2005

Polio strikes Indonesia

One decade after recording the last case of polio in Indonesia, a 20 month-old girl from Sukabumi district in West Java has been paralysed by poliovirus type one (P1). She had never been immunized against polio. Several more suspected cases have been identified in the immediate area and are being investigated.

4 May 2005

Polio alert after Indonesian child is stricken

After an 18-month-old boy was diagnosed with polio, Australian parents planning holidays in Indonesia have been warned to ensure babies and toddlers have been vaccinated for polio.

3 May 2005

Too early to say if Roll Back Malaria initiative is working

Experts say it is too early to assess if an international initiative, Roll Back Malaria (RBM), has had any impact on combating malaria.

3 May 2005

Intriguing new data on the spread of the Lyme disease bacteria through the blood stream

The ability to find the Lyme spirochete--the tick-borne agent responsible--in the blood is itself an achievement because existing methods of culturing blood were not sensitive enough to detect its presence until College researchers developed a new technique, which they used in the study.

2 May 2005

Marburg virus - 275 confirmed cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) and health authorities in Angola have confirmed 275 cases including 255 deaths, in an outbreak of Marburg virus in north-western Angola since April 27 this year.

2 May 2005

Avian flu pandemic a very real threat

A new influenza pandemic is being seen by experts as the most significant global public health emergency caused by a naturally occurring pathogen.

2 May 2005

More repellents recommended in the fight against West Nile Virus

In an attempt to fight the West Nile virus U.S. health officials have recommended two more mosquito repellent ingredients, one of them a plant oil.

1 May 2005

19 primary schoolchildren on HIV drugs after prank with needle

After an 8-year-old girl pricked her schoolmates with her mother's diabetes-testing needle nineteen primary school students have had to be been placed on drugs to fight HIV because one child in a group of nineteen was discovered to be HIV positive.

1 May 2005

Schistosomiasis has a greater effect than previosly thought

Schistosomiasis, an infection caused by a parasitic worm, affects more than 200 million worldwide, most of them in Africa and many health workers believe the disabling effects of schistosomiasis have never been adequately quantified.

1 May 2005

School nurses are having to treat pupils of 14 who are HIV positive

Nurses at the Royal College of Nursing conference in the UK, say that school nurses are having to deal with children as young as 14 who are HIV positive, involved in prostitution and addicted to drugs.

27 Apr 2005

Clues about the causes of dementia in Huntington's disease

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have uncovered a clue about the causes of dementia in Huntington's disease, one of the disease's symptoms, by showing that mice susceptible to Huntington's disease have problems with learning and memory before the diseases' typical movement problems appear.

27 Apr 2005

Respiratory syncytial virus affects the elderly and high-risk adults as much as influenza

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), primarily seen as a cause of illness in infants and children, often affects the elderly and high-risk adults as much as influenza, a study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers demonstrates.

27 Apr 2005