http://gh.websedgemedia.com Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:11:06 +0000 en-uk /webmedia/logo.jpg http://gh.websedgemedia.com http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/judge_issues_deadline_for_hepatitis_death_answers/
Eileen O'Hara and Rev David Black both contracted the disease from contaminated blood products while being cared for by the NHS before their deaths in 2003.

Last year, a judge found in favour of the two families before the Scottish Government said an inquiry would be held, which has yet to come about.

Scottish ministers have been given a month to decide who should chair the inquiry into the deaths, following the withdrawal of previous appointee Lady Cogrove.

A spokesman for the government said: "We have received and are considering Lord MacKay's opinion.

"We are keen that the public inquiry should begin as soon as possible. However the withdrawal of the original chairman, inevitably, resulted in some delay.

"Ministers do not want any further delay and we expect to announce the new chairman imminently."]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:48:39 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/hiv_figures_distorted_by_varying_susceptibility/
According to an article published in the latest issue of the AIDS journal, those more vulnerable to HIV contract it during the early stages of an epidemic.

This situation then leads to a 'dying off' of the most susceptible, which can lead to a decline in the perceived level of the virus' spread without changes in sexual behaviour.

The report concluded that "a substantial heterogeneity in susceptibility to HIV infection may lead to an epidemic that peaks and then declines due to a depletion of the most susceptible individuals, even without changes in sexual behaviour".

"This effect was most notable in high-risk groups such as female sex workers and was consistent with empirical data," it added.

The study incorporated a mathematical model based on the rates of infection among Kenyan sex workers.]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:46:31 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/gp_body_launches_flu_guidance/
Included in the guidance document, jointly produced with the British Medical Association (BMA), are suggestions that "command and control arrangements" be put in place to deal with the exceptional circumstances.

The document also recommends that practices "buddy up" with neighbouring facilities to pool resources and work to greater efficiency to deal with the strain of higher demand for their services.

Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's GP Committee, said: "We've seen over Christmas how seasonal winter pressures put strain on the health service but this is in a situation where the system is still operating on a normal basis.

"During a pandemic the NHS would have to work differently - it's a major health emergency and as such requires a totally different way of helping patients. Family doctors need to be prepared for this and this guidance has been produced to help them with their planning."

The research behind the document suggests that during the peak of a pandemic the average GP surgery could see an additional 186 cases of influenza each week.]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:44:52 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/us_authority_green_lights_new_aids_screening_method/
The cobas TaqScreen MPX test is the first nucleic acid method to check for two types of divergent forms of HIV.

Jesse L. Goodman, director of the FDA's centre for biologics evaluation and research, said: "With the MPX test, blood donor testing laboratories will be able to use nucleic acid technology to screen for additional HIV strains, further assuring that donated blood and tissue are free from infection and providing better protection for patients."

The new method will check for the signs of HIV-2 and from HIV-1 Group O, infection of which are predominately found on the African continent but have also been located in the US.

It is intended for use for donated blood plasma and tissues specimens from still-beating hearts.]]> Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:59:11 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/nhs_set_for_"rollercoaster"_flu_season/
A leading health professional has claimed that the annual rise in cases of a number of infectious diseases, including influenza, will be unpredictable in the first few months of 2009.

John Oxford, a virology specialist at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, told the Daily Mail: "We have to hold our breath, grip on to our chairs and see what happens. It will be a rollercoaster ride for the NHS. We often see a rush of cases in the first week of January, with people going back to work and to school.

"The figures before Christmas show things are not as calm as they have been for the last few years. It's a warning signal that there will be many more cases."

Experts have blamed the rising levels of flu on below-average temperature in December and the influx of an Australian strain of the virus, which Britons' immune systems are unaccustomed to.]]> Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:25:46 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/europe-wide_surge_in_measles_cases/
According to new research published in the Lancet, 12,132 cases of the disease were found across 32 European countries in 2006-07, with Romania, Germany, the UK, Switzerland and Italy recording the highest incidence with about 15 per cent of all cases.

The published report concludes that the situation illustrated by these findings "raises serious doubts that the goal of elimination by 2010 can be attained".

Mark Muscat, an epidemiologist at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen who conducted the research, told Reuters: "Measles is erroneously thought of to be a mild disease but it can cause complications, including fatal ones."

The report suggests that the problem lies in the "suboptimum" level of measles vaccination. In August, the Department of Health launched a catch-up programme of MMR vaccinations.]]> Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:23:58 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/gel_doesn't_protect_against_hiv/
Results from a South African trial showed that there was no significant reduction in the rate of infection between a number of women using the gel and those who were not.

In the trial, 6,202 sexually-active women were divided into two groups. Half were given the gel and instructed to use it along with a condom for vaginal intercourse.

After two years it was found that, of the women who were given the gel, 134 had become infected with HIV, while 151 without it had also been infected.

The study report, published in the Lancet medical journal, said: "This study did not show Carraguard's efficacy in prevention of male-to-female transmission of HIV, although no safety concerns were reported.

"Although the results from this and other completed microbicides efficacy trials have been disappointing, the search for female-controlled HIV-prevention methods must continue."]]> Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:20:52 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/new_bird_flu_cases_after_six_year_absence/
For the first time in six years Hong Kong has reported new cases, while four cases in humans were found in December in Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia, according to the LA Times.

The news comes following two years of falling infection rates for the virus, leading some experts to claim that the possibly of a dramatic rise in infections among the human population might not be fully prepared for.

Michael T. Osterholm, director of the centre for infectious disease research and policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told the paper: "What alarms me is that we have developed a sense of pandemic-preparedness fatigue."

Mr Osterholm said that the rate of infections had continued to "at the very least smoulder and many times flare up" since the initial outbreaks in 2003.]]> Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:18:31 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/special_bacteria_engineered_to_cut_mosquito_lifespans/
Australian researchers have found that a specially-engineered bacterial strain – called Wolbachia – can reduce the length of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes by up to half, according to the Science journal.

As a result, this could cut the rate of infections of disease the insects carry, such as dengue fever, into humans.

Scott O'Neill, head of the University of Queensland's School of Biological Science, told Reuters: "Dengue virus and the disease it causes is only transmitted to humans by the older female Aedes aegypti mosquito.

"If we can introduce this into populations it should move the management of dengue fever from an outbreak management paradigm to a prevention paradigm."

The research was attempted in light of the fact that, as the report states, "most pathogens require a relatively long period of development in their mosquito vector before they can be transmitted to a new human host".]]> Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:18:12 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/'levelling'_the_spread_of_malaria/
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have used computer modelling to analyse methods to limit the impact of the disease on global health.

They found that agricultural efforts, including getting rid of depressions in the landscape and using plant-derived pesticides, could help prevent the spread of malaria.

Filling low spots can help eliminate pools of standing water in less than seven to ten days - equal to the length of time it takes for mosquitoes to mature.

MIT professor Elfatih Eltair said: "For the first time, we have a detailed computer model.

"By using local tools and local labour, our approach relies less on high-technology equipment from outside the region, which tends to make the local people more dependent."

Researchers also claim that this approach has a more permanent impact than preventative measures such as vaccinations or mosquito nets.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world

]]> Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:01:05 +0000 MALARIA HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/mosquito_bacteria_could_'limit'_dengue_impact/
Researchers at the University of Queensland believe this can be achieved by exposing mosquitos carrying the virus to the Wolbachia bacterium.

The bacteria is harmless to humans, but could limit the spread of the dengue virus, which is only transmitted by older mosquito.

So far tests have only been carried out in laboratories, where the bacteria was found to reduce the lifespan of the dengue carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitos and can be passed on to offspring.

"If that proves successful we hope to deploy this new dengue control measure in other parts of Australia, as well as Thailand and Vietnam," explained professor Scott O'Neil.

There is no known cure for dengue fever, which harms up to 100 million people per year and kills around 20,000.

It is particularly prevalent in tropical areas where there is limited access to treatment for infections diseases.

The paper appears in the journal Science and the research project has been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world
]]> Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:36:44 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/giving_hiv_'the_shoe'/
The new ActionAid campaign will aim to put women at "the centre of the global Aids response".

Women are being urged to donate their shoes as part of the "put your foot down!" campaign, with the charity hoping to collect 2,876 shoes from the public.

It is thought that more than 15 million women are living with HIV globally and the shoe target is equal to the number of women across the world who contract HIV everyday.

Fionnuala Murphy, ActionAid campaigner, told the Associated Press: "ActionAid wants the government to do something about violence against women - a major driver of HIV and Aids.

"Taking part in our campaign will help send a message to government that there are huge numbers of people out there who are willing to put their foot down to put an end to the spread of HIV."

The shoes will be presented to the Department for International Development (DFID) alongside a petition on International Women's Day on March 8th.

DFID recently pledged a £220 million fund for research into HIV prevention.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world
]]> Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:35:35 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/blood-screening_product_given_us_approval/
The cobas TaqScreen MPX Test, which is manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Roche, is able to screen blood for hepatitis B DNA, hepatitis C RNA and HIV-1 Group M RNA.

Designed to work with the real-time PCR cobas s 201 system, the qualitative in vitro test is intended to increase the safety of donated blood rather than act as a diagnostic tool.

Roche claims it is capable of identifying infections at a much earlier stage than many of the tests currently in use.

This could help to cut the number of transfusion-related infections, which usually originate from people who were unaware they were infected when they gave blood.

UNAids estimates that around 1.2 million people in the US are living with HIV, making it one of the countries with the biggest HIV problems.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.]]> Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:30:51 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/polygamy_spreads_hiv_in_papua_new_guinea/
Although polygamy is common in the country, so are extra-marital affairs, which increase the risk of infection, according to health workers in the country.

"Our women don't have much say as to how things are done. Once you get married you submit to your husband, and that extends to the bedroom," Agnes Mek who runs a health centre told IRIN News.

She revealed wives had little control over contraception or HIV testing.

HIV prevalence is expected to climb to five per cent of the six million population by 2012 in Papua New Guinea from two per cent at present, with the majority of cases in rural areas.

An increasing number of children are becoming orphaned as their parents die from Aids.

Life expectancy is an average of 60 years for men and 64 years for women in the country, according to the World Health Organization.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.
]]> Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:01:56 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/ebola_kills_11_in_congo/
A total of 35 people are infected with the haemorrhagic fever in the village of Kaluemba, where there was an outbreak last November, August Mopipi said.

Ebola is transmitted when a person comes into contact with the blood or secretions of someone with the virus.

It results in diahorrea and vomiting blood and in 50 to 90 per cent of cases it is fatal.

There is no vaccine or approved treatment for the fever, which killed 187 people in the region last year.

Laboratory tests conducted by Congo's National Institute of Biomedical Research confirmed Ebola in 11 cases, but only two have been reported to the World Health Organization, reported AP.

Neighbouring villages were also at risk and people were being warned to avoid all contact with human fluid.

This is the latest blow for the authorities in DR Congo, which are currently dealing with attacks from rebel forces, with the BBC reporting 400 deaths in a "Christmas massacre".

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.
]]> Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:58:46 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/iran_urged_to_free_doctors/
Drs Arash and Kamiar Alaei, who are brothers, have been detained in a prison in Tehran since June 2008.

They were indicted this month with charges of communicating with an "enemy government", their attorney Masoud Shafie told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Mr Shafie claimed that the brothers had already been detained for two months longer than the Iranian penal code allows.

More than 3,000 people have signed a petition calling for their release and prominent global health figures have signed a letter of appeal.

Dr Kamiar Alaei was expected to resume his studies at a public health school in the US this autumn after receiving a masters from Harvard while Dr Arash Alaei is a former Iranian leader in tuberculosis and lung disease.

The brothers have implemented several HIV/Aids programmes, focusing in particular on intravenous drug users.

Iran recently sent an aid convoy of doctors and medical supplies to the Gaza strip, the Independent reported.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.
]]> Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:26:30 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/coca-cola_as_contraception_ill-advised/
Although using this fizzy drink as a kind of birth control peaked in the 1950s and 60s before alternative methods were available, a report in the British Medical Journal claims the sugary substance is still used by couples today.

The acidity in Coca-Cola was rumoured to kill sperm, with the classic coke bottle considered a convenient 'shake and shoot' applicator, US Professor Deborah Anderson said.

An old study testing this myth, recently received the 2008 IgNobel prize in chemistry.

It tested the effect of Coca-Cola on human sperm and found they were immobilised within a minute, with limited effect as a spermicide.

Sperm were found to outrace a postcoital application of Coca-Cola, which was also found to damage human vaginal tissue.

This would, in fact, increase a woman's vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections, the study said.

IgNobel prizes are parodies of Nobel Prizes, awarded for real achievements in several fields of research.

Also awarded in 2008, were Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert and Michel Franc, who discovered fleas that live on dogs jump higher than those on cats.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.
]]> Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:17:18 +0000 HIV/AIDS CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/tb_risk_to_south_african_children_/
In a study of infants at a hospital in Western Cape province, Dr Anneke Hesseling found children with HIV were 24 times more likely to contract TB than those without HIV.

"This burden is not always accurately assessed because it can be difficult to confirm the diagnosis of TB in young children," she told Reuters.

TB is the major cause of death among people with HIV, according to the World Health Organization, with sub-Saharan Africa bearing the brunt of the HIV-fuelled TB epidemic.

Dr Hesseling suggested the causes may be increased exposure to TB, the suppression of the immune system associated with HIV or the reduced efficiency of the vaccine.

Better access to treatment, newer vaccines, routine testing and prophylactic treatment for TB could help tackle the problem, she said.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.
]]> Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:14:18 +0000 HIV/AIDS CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/unaids_may_get_overhaul/
A report in the Lancet revealed medical commentators views of the future of UNAids once head Peter Piot steps down at the end of 2008.

While the creation of a specific body to deal with HIV/Aids within the United Nations was welcomed, it failed to focus on high-risk groups, Medical News Today reported.

These included the decriminalisation of homosexuality and access to health services for sex workers and intravenous drug users.

However, UNAids had managed to achieve lower prices for antiretroviral drugs for HIV/Aids patients thanks to cooperation with non-governmental organisation and civil society groups.

Mr Piot was instrumental in raising the profile of the disease and gaining increased funding to $10 billion in 2007.

Politics fellow at Oxford University Devi Sridhar said: "The global health landscape of 2008 is radically different to back then, and in line with this change, UNAids needs to evolve to stay relevant."

Replacement executive director of UNAids has been named as Michel Sidibe.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.
]]> Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:18:10 +0000 HIV/AIDS CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/all_zimbabwean_provinces_infected/
The fatality rate in the country is almost six in every hundred cases overall, which much higher than average, reported the World Health Organization.

Although aid has arrived, the water-borne virus that thrives in unsanitary conditions, was proving hard to control, officials said.

On December 25th, 26,497 cases and 1,518 deaths had been reported to the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe.

Foreign countries bordering the nation had been urged to remain vigilant over the spread of the disease.

Oral rehydration salts have proved crucial to tackling the outbreak, however cholera vaccines were not been recommended due to the advanced stages of the epidemic.

The cholera outbreak is believed to have been a result of years of failed harvests, hyper-inflation and poor governance.

Hospitals have been suffering staff shortages after public health officials have been walking out on poor working conditions and wages.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.
]]> Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:15:47 +0000 HIV/AIDS OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH MALARIA