Disease/Infection News

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China legislates to curb discrimination against HIV/AIDS

China, where discrimination against those suffering from the AIDS virus is rife, now has a new law which aims to protect people infected with the virus.

13 Jun 2005

When in Russia, drink vodka

Drinking the local beer has landed some 461 Russians in hospital with Hepatitis A and Tver Governor Dmitry Zelenin fully expects that number to rise over the next few days.

13 Jun 2005

Second possible case of mad cow in the U.S.

A second possible case of mad cow disease is making cattle producers in the United States fear for their livelihood as it could mean that U.S. beef could be again shunned by other countries.

13 Jun 2005

Mad cow disease found in animal in the U.S.

In disturbing news this week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said a U.S. animal has tested positive for mad cow disease.

12 Jun 2005

Hospital patients to be checked for MRSA infection before admission

According to a survey of hospital chief executives, released by the NHS Confederation, even though surgery is statistically more risky, patients are now more scared of catching an infection than of going under the knife.

12 Jun 2005

South Africa still debating how to tackle HIV/AIDS when 5 million are infected

A national conference in South Africa was dominated this week by the continuing debate over HIV/AIDS drugs.

10 Jun 2005

AIDS expert says global strategy needed to combat feminization of HIV/AIDS

Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., a Johns Hopkins physician and scientist, who has spent the best part of the last 25 years leading major efforts to combat HIV and AIDS throughout the world, is calling for global strategies and resources to confront the rapid "feminization" of the AIDS pandemic.

10 Jun 2005

Trade agreements 'bad medicine' for AIDS, says AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care serving thousands of patients in the U.S., Africa, Central America and Asia, today hailed Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) for his release of a new report detailing how the pending Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and other trade agreements like NAFTA derail access to affordable generic medications in Latin and Central America and other developing world countries, including access to life-saving anti-retroviral therapies (ARVs) for HIV/AIDS treatment.

10 Jun 2005

Urgent call for global strategies and resources to confront the rapid "feminization" of the AIDS pandemic

In an article appearing in the journal Science online June 10, Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at Hopkins and a senior investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, reports that women have in the last 20 years moved from those least affected by HIV to those in whom the disease is spreading fastest.

10 Jun 2005

Australia aims to combat zoonotic diseases

Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bruce Billson, announced this week in Jakarta, a further $6 million to help combat avian influenza in the region through increased sharing of Australian expertise and support for World Health Organisation detection and response capabilities.

9 Jun 2005

International efforts to build a prosperous Africa are doomed unless malaria is tackled

In advance of the G8 Ministerial meetings, the first report of the All-Party Parliamentary Malaria Group concludes that unless malaria is tackled as a global crisis with increased and sustained resources, UK’s plans for Africa will fail.

9 Jun 2005

Risk factors for tuberculosis in the United States overlap with many of the risk factors associated with persistent homelessness

...including being male or having a history of incarceration or substance abuse, according to a report in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on tuberculosis.

8 Jun 2005

Superbug possibly the same as US killer strain

Microbiologists at the Health Protection Agency suspect that the superbug which has already caused 12 deaths at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Buckinghamshire, may be the same strain that has spread in many American hospitals since 2001, and killed more than 100 patients in Quebec, Canada, last year.

8 Jun 2005

Mosquitoes carrying St. Louis encephalitis and West Nile virus found in Harris County

For the first time since 2003, Harris County's Mosquito Control Division has found mosquitoes carrying St. Louis encephalitis in Houston.

8 Jun 2005

Hospital with superbug was given lowest infection-control rating last year

The NHS Trust Stoke Mandeville Hospital, which is presently at the centre of a superbug scandal, was given the lowest infection-control rating in a recent set of NHS performance indicators.

8 Jun 2005

Tuberculosis now a worldwide threat

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says that Tuberculosis (TB) is on the rise throughout the world and new cases among immigrant populations demands increased attention and funding.

7 Jun 2005

12 deaths creates new infection scare in UK hospitals

There have been some 300 cases of Clostridium difficile in 18 months at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Aylesbury, Bucks, a national centre for spinal injury, and it is thought that the infection was an "actual or probable" factor in 12 deaths in that time.

6 Jun 2005