Recent News

By Region: North America

Integrated neglected tropical disease control and elimination programs: A global health ‘best buy’

(EurekaAlert) A recently released report, entitled “Social and Economic Impact Review on Neglected Tropical Diseases,” highlights links between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and socio-economic prosperity. Published by Hudson Institute’s Center for Science in Public Policy, in partnership with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, an initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the paper found Read More »

January 17, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Major step toward an Alzheimer’s vaccine

(ScienceDaily) A team of researchers from Université Laval, CHU de Québec, and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has discovered a way to stimulate the brain’s natural defense mechanisms in people with Alzheimer’s disease. This major breakthrough, details of which are presented January 15 in an early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Read More »

January 16, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Public Health, and Research
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CDC: 11 lab workers infected from 2004 to 2010

(USA Today) At least 11 workers at U.S. biological laboratories were infected with dangerous pathogens from 2004 to 2010, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a report on security measures stemming from the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. None of the infected workers died. The Atlanta-based agency said the infection rate Read More »

January 16, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Designer bacteria may lead to better vaccines

(EurekAlert) Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a menu of 61 new strains of genetically engineered bacteria that may improve the efficacy of vaccines for diseases such as flu, pertussis, cholera and HPV. The strains of E. coli, which were described in a paper published this month in the journal PNAS, Read More »

January 16, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Public Health, and Research
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What science should we fund? Questioning new policy on H5N1 gain-of-function research

(Scientific American) Science can be risky business, but it is important to know what those risks are. It is established wisdom that we need to experiment on viruses, for example, to better defend against emerging infectious diseases. But there is a fine line between creating a new strain of avian influenza to better understand how Read More »