Effort Launched To Strengthen African Medical Labs
The U.S., WHO and representatives from 13 African countries on Monday launched an effort to boost the standards for quality medical labs on the continent, VOA News reports.
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H1N1 Could Infect Up To 2B People Within Next Two Years, WHO Says
The WHO on Friday said the “H1N1 swine-flu virus could infect up to two billion people over the next two years – about one of every three people in the world,” VOA News reports.
IAS Conference: Low-Cost CD4 Tests; HIV Prevalence Among Pregnant Zimbabweans; Treating HIV-TB With ARVs; Vaccine Trials
The following are stories from this week’s 5th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention meeting in Cape Town, South Africa: SciDev.Net: Steven Reid of the Imperial College London spoke of three prototype tests he and his colleagues have been working on that would help to increase access to CD4…
Global Health Officials Working To Prevent H1N1 Spread
“Global health officials are scrambling to try to prevent the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus, with U.S. officials moving Thursday with a recommendation that the Food and Drug Administration approve or license a [new H1N1] vaccine,” without waiting on the results from “clinical trials to test its safety and efficacy,” Wall Street Journal reports (Dooren/Winning, 7/24).
Zuma, Branson Collaborate To Establish Disease Control Center In South Africa
South African President Jacob Zuma and Virgin Group founder and chair Richard Branson “intend [on] establishing a disease control centre in South Africa as soon as next year,” SAPA/The Times reports.
Camera-Phone Uses Blood, Saliva Samples To Diagnose Disease
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a “prototype camera-phone mounted with a microscope” that can “magnify and photograph blood or saliva samples” for diagnosing diseases, the Canadian Press/Google.com reports.
MSM HIV Infection Rates In Some African Countries Significantly Higher Than General Population Rates, Study Says
HIV infection rates among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in “some African countries are 10 times that of the general male population, and stigma, poor access to treatment or testing are to blame,” according to a Lancet study published online on Monday, AFP/China Post reports.
IRIN Examines Efforts To Improve Sleeping Sickness Dectection
IRIN examines the efforts of the Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) to develop less costly surveillance equipment to improve the ability to detect the parasitic disease trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in endemic countries.
Recent Releases: Polio Eradication; Chagas Disease Discovery Anniversary; River Blindness; Malaria Tools; Childhood Malnutrition
MMWR Examines Polio Eradication In India The latest edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report includes an article about polio eradication in India, which is the “most populous of the four remaining countries (including Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan) where transmission of wild poliovirus (WPV) has never been interrupted.” According to…
U.S. Moves Forward With Preparations For H1N1 Vaccination Campaign
The Obama administration on Thursday said a nationwide vaccination program could begin as early as mid-October to protect Americans from the H1N1 (swine flu) virus and pledged $350 million to help prepare communities across the country for this effort, the Washington Times reports.