Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Also in Global Health news: News outlets explore AIDS vaccine research; chloroquine resistance unraveled; authorities contest maternal mortality report

The Associated Press examines the role of the Thai participants in the recent clinical trial of an experimental HIV vaccine which showed modest potential for preventing infection. "Nearly 16,000 Thais ignored the false rumors that they were being infected by the AIDS virus, and overcame their fears of becoming social outcasts to participate in trials of the first vaccine found to prevent infection with the deadly virus," the news service writes (Ahuja/Casey, 9/27).

29 Sep 2009

Fourth annual Food Safety Symposium to be sponsored by Ecolab

Ecolab Inc. continued its commitment to proactively help improve global food safety by co-sponsoring the fourth annual Nation's Restaurant News' Food Safety Symposium.

29 Sep 2009

Hygafem's hand sanitizing program launched at Morehouse College

Hygafem, Inc., the Georgia-based premier provider of touch-free workplace wellness technologies and services, has successfully launched its hand sanitizing program at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. Hygafem’s touch-free hand sanitizing program decreases the risk of spreading disease, ensures safe and healthy facilities, and boosts satisfaction for students and employees at Morehouse College.

29 Sep 2009

New measles vaccination methods to reduce costs and improve safety

Worldwide, there are estimated to be 10 million cases of measles and 197,000 deaths from the disease each year. While vaccines exist to protect children against measles, the vaccines are often difficult to store, costly to transport and may be prone to contamination when shipped to developing countries.

29 Sep 2009

Flu shots available at Concentra Urgent Care locations

The flu season is in full swing, and health officials predict this year’s outbreak of seasonal influenza to be stronger than usual. To help protect against this highly contagious illness, Concentra is offering seasonal flu vaccines at more than 300 medical centers across the country.

29 Sep 2009

Additional countries to join in donating H1N1 vaccines to developing countries, U.N official says

Additional countries are expected to soon announce they will follow in the footsteps of nine developed countries who recently said they would donate H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine supplies to poorer nations, David Nabarro, of the U.N. said Friday, Reuters reports.

29 Sep 2009

MarkMonitor Brandjacking Index reveals growth in pharmaceutical brandjacking for popular drug brands

MarkMonitor®, the global leader in enterprise brand protection, today released the company’s latest Brandjacking Index®, which finds a parallel online system of pharmaceutical supply and demand fueled by continued growth in listings for pharmaceuticals on business-to-business (B2B) exchange sites as well as increased traffic to illicit pharmacies. The report also reveals a growth in pharmaceutical brandjacking for popular drug brands.

28 Sep 2009

Merck to distribute Afluria in the U.S. for CSL Biotherapies

CSL Biotherapies and its parent company, CSL Limited, one of the world's leading manufacturers of influenza vaccine, have reached an agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. on rights to market and distribute Afluria® in the United States under an exclusive, six-year agreement effective September 3, 2009.

28 Sep 2009

European Commission grants conditional marketing authorization for Gilead's Cayston

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today that the European Commission has granted conditional marketing authorization for Cayston® 75 mg powder and solvent for nebuliser solution (aztreonam lysine) for the suppressive therapy of chronic pulmonary infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) aged 18 years and older.

28 Sep 2009

WellPoint covers administration costs for H1N1 vaccines

Each year, influenza causes illness, hospitalizations and deaths, and severely strains the health care delivery system. This year, seasonal flu is complicated by the emergence and rapid spread of the H1N1 virus. In an effort to ensure that individuals and their families can take the appropriate actions to help protect themselves against the H1N1 virus, WellPoint's affiliated health plans will cover the administration of the H1N1 vaccine without co-pay or deductible for all health plan members. Plans also are encouraging self-insured employers to cover the cost of the vaccination for their employees.

28 Sep 2009

American Lung Association in Indiana holds flu panel discussion

In an effort to educate Indianapolis area residents about the importance of annual seasonal influenza vaccination, the American Lung Association in Indiana is kicking off the 2009-2010 influenza season by holding a flu panel discussion at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School on September 24 at 6:30 p.m. to educate the community about the dangers of influenza.

28 Sep 2009

H1N1 vaccine for limited supply only to people at highest risk

The novel H1N1 virus (Swine Flu Virus) is expected to complicate the 2009/2010 flu season. The H1N1 vaccine has been approved for release but availability and access is still unknown. Seasonal influenza vaccine (flu shot) is available and the CDC recommends vaccination over the next few months.

28 Sep 2009

Investigational vaccine regimen 31% effective in preventing HIV infection

In an encouraging development, an investigational vaccine regimen has been shown to be well-tolerated and to have a modest effect in preventing HIV infection in a clinical trial involving more than 16,000 adult participants in Thailand. Following a final analysis of the trial data, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, the trial sponsor, announced today that the prime-boost investigational vaccine regimen was safe and 31 percent effective in preventing HIV infection.

27 Sep 2009

EMS provides free resources for protection against swine flu

Emergency Management & Safety Solutions (EMS), the crisis planner for many Fortune 100 companies, international government agencies and large non-profit organizations, is providing free resources to help people prepare for, prevent transmission of and take care of the ill to survive this wave of this year’s H1N1 flu pandemic. Today, over 180 countries have experienced the H1N1 virus outbreak and at least 3,486 people have died – including 1,000 Americans.

26 Sep 2009

GenVec to receive $2.3M from NIAID for HIV vaccine candidate production

GenVec, Inc. announced today that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has executed its third option period (year four) under a previously announced, five-year contract with GenVec valued at up to $52 million for the production of HIV vaccines.

26 Sep 2009

Virginia Tech student granted fellowship for research study on LaCrosse Virus disease

Camille Harris of Ridgeland, Mississippi, a graduate student in biological sciences at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Graduate Research Fellowship for her study of forest disturbance and its ecological impacts on LaCrosse Virus, a mosquito-borne disease that can cause seizures, coma, paralysis, and permanent brain damage in severe cases.

26 Sep 2009

New line of household disinfectant wipes and sprays launched

Seventh Generation, the nation's leading brand of non-toxic, environmentally safe household solutions, incorporates the latest breakthrough in green chemistry with the introduction of a new line of household disinfectant wipes and sprays.

25 Sep 2009

Associated Press/Washington Post examine contributions of military research to reducing global disease burden

In light of the U.S. Army's announcement yesterday that an experimental HIV vaccine trial it is sponsoring in Thailand showed modest potential for preventing infection, the Associated Press/Washington Post examines how military research is contributing to the fight against major diseases around the world.

25 Sep 2009

WHO lowers expectation of H1N1 vaccine output, appeals for donations to fight pandemic

International drug makers are expected to produce three billion doses of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine, "enough for just under half the world's population," a WHO official said Thursday, Canwest News Service/Ottawa Citizen reports. "The agency was hoping pharmaceutical companies would be able to make about five billion doses a year, but data collected over the summer led to the revised estimate," the news service writes (Fitzpatrick, 9/24).

25 Sep 2009

Non-AIDS-defining malignancies more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that non-AIDS-defining malignancies such as anal and lung cancer have become more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients since the introduction of anti-retroviral therapies in the mid-1990s.

25 Sep 2009

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Also in Global Health news: News outlets explore AIDS vaccine research; chloroquine resistance unraveled; authorities contest maternal mortality report

Fourth annual Food Safety Symposium to be sponsored by Ecolab

Hygafem's hand sanitizing program launched at Morehouse College

New measles vaccination methods to reduce costs and improve safety

Flu shots available at Concentra Urgent Care locations

Additional countries to join in donating H1N1 vaccines to developing countries, U.N official says

MarkMonitor Brandjacking Index reveals growth in pharmaceutical brandjacking for popular drug brands

Merck to distribute Afluria in the U.S. for CSL Biotherapies

European Commission grants conditional marketing authorization for Gilead's Cayston

WellPoint covers administration costs for H1N1 vaccines

American Lung Association in Indiana holds flu panel discussion

H1N1 vaccine for limited supply only to people at highest risk

Investigational vaccine regimen 31% effective in preventing HIV infection

EMS provides free resources for protection against swine flu

GenVec to receive $2.3M from NIAID for HIV vaccine candidate production

Virginia Tech student granted fellowship for research study on LaCrosse Virus disease

New line of household disinfectant wipes and sprays launched

Associated Press/Washington Post examine contributions of military research to reducing global disease burden

WHO lowers expectation of H1N1 vaccine output, appeals for donations to fight pandemic

Non-AIDS-defining malignancies more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

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