The Change Mariner: Category: Area

May 27, 2004

Breakthrough in Superbug Battle

HealthandAge: A new way of applying antibiotic treatment helps to keep superbugs away from critically ill patients. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a greatly feared bacterial infection, because it is resistant to most known antibiotics - including vancomycin. Researchers in...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 3:00 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 13, 2004

Vietnam's Bird Flu Battle

Asia Times: Mere months after the successful containment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the last thing the Vietnamese government wanted was another dramatic public-health crisis. Unfortunately, as the world now knows, another crisis is exactly what it got. Vietnam's...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 5:46 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 10, 2004

A Breakthrough in Artificial Blood

The Herald (UK): Scientists may have solved the problem of creating artificial blood, a potential breakthrough that could relieve shortages and prevent patients from being infected by contaminated supplies. It could also stop the potential spread of the human form...

Posted by Bob King at 7:51 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

March 8, 2004

Bird Flu Is Found on Two More U.S. Farms

New York Times: Hundreds of thousands of chickens on two commercial farms in Maryland are being slaughtered after a case of avian influenza was found there, officials said Sunday. A total of 328,000 birds were ordered slaughtered, nearly four times...

Posted by Bob King at 9:09 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 24, 2004

Genetic Map Of Bird Flu Complete

China Daily: Chinese experts have completed the genetic map of the killer H5N1 bird flu virus and their next step will be looking at how the virus mutates. The mapping result was achieved by an avian disease research lab at...

Posted by Bob King at 2:08 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 17, 2004

Research in Italy Turns Up a New Form of Mad Cow Disease

New York Times: A new form of mad cow disease has been found in Italy, according to a study released yesterday, and scientists believe that it may be the cause of some cases of human brain-wasting disease. While the strain...

Posted by Bob King at 1:00 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 12, 2004

WHO probes viral deaths in Bangladesh

Washington Times: World Health Organization officials said Thursday they were investigating an outbreak of a Nipah-like virus in Bangladesh that has led to 14 deaths. Nipah virus, first identified in Malaysia in 1999, is thought to be carried by an...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 11:35 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

February 11, 2004

Bird Flu Found At Second Delaware Site

Mercury News: Officials responded to a new discovery of bird flu Tuesday by ordering a quarantine of 80 farms and the slaughter of 72,000 more chickens. The swift action was aimed at averting more bans on U.S. exports. The second...

Posted by Bob King at 8:35 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

January 28, 2004

Blood Transfusion Suspected in New Mad Cow Case

New York Times: A new blood transfusion is suspected in a new mad cow case in Britain. A Food and Drug Administration policy announced on Monday banning the feeding of cattle blood to calves was partly based on a new...

Posted by Bob King at 12:36 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

January 26, 2004

Asia Bird Flu Spreads, Claims 7th Victim

Yahoo! News: A 6-year-old Thai boy became Asia's seventh confirmed bird flu fatality, and the government said Monday it was awaiting lab results to determine whether the disease killed four other people in a northern province. The World Health Organization...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:36 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

January 24, 2004

Experts: Bird Flu Could Become Epidemic

Yahoo! News: With luck, the world will escape the latest outbreak of bird flu with no more than the six human deaths already blamed on it and the loss of millions of chickens. But public health experts worry of a...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:10 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

December 27, 2003

U.S.: 'Mad Cow' Came From Canada

Reuters: The U.S. Agriculture Department says it believes a dairy cow infected with mad cow disease was imported from Canada in 2001. Ron DeHaven, the USDA's chief veterinarian, told reporters on Saturday the cow was one of 74 cattle imported...

Posted by Bob King at 9:19 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

December 24, 2003

Import Bans Turn Tables on U.S. Industry

San Francisco Chronicle: The apparent discovery of mad cow disease in a lone cow from Washington state poses no immediate health concerns, but it could deliver a body blow to the entire nation's beef industry. It remains to be seen...

Posted by Bob King at 10:07 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

December 1, 2003

WHO sets out strategy for getting treatment to three million in the developing world

Guardian: The World Health Organisation yesterday predicted that Aids drug prices will drop to levels once thought impossibly low, as it rolled out its new strategy to get treatment to three million in the developing world by 2005. The cost...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 8:16 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 30, 2003

24m Africans HIV Positive, Says Akinkugbe

AllAfrica.com: Some 24 million Africans are currently known to have tested positive to the deadly HIV virus which is responsible for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Chairman, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Professor Oladipupo...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 2:01 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 27, 2003

Condoms appear on Chinese TV to Address Potentially Huge Aids Problem

BBC Condoms have made a rare appearance on Chinese state television as part of an official campaign to highlight the dangers of Aids. The 30-second film, broadcast across China, showed a young couple, with a voiceover explaining the importance of...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 11:16 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 22, 2003

Asian health workers train at Thai university after nation cuts HIV rate by 83 percent.

CSMonitor.com: In the global fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, there are few happy stories to tell. Thailand may be one. Its nationwide prevention campaign, launched in the early 1990s, has dramatically cut the spread of the disease. As a...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 12:21 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 21, 2003

Syphilis increase sparks AIDS concerns

UPI: Syphilis rates rose dramatically for the second straight year in the United States, particularly among gay and bisexual men, a finding that has health officials worried about an increase in HIV/AIDS cases in the coming years. Overall, the U.S....

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 5:00 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 12, 2003

Botswana's Brain Drain Cripples War on AIDS

New York Times: As the Bush administration shapes its plan to combat AIDS in Africa, Botswana's president, Festus G. Mogae, said Wednesday that one of the biggest obstacles to a rapid expansion of treatment for people with AIDS in his...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 10:32 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

November 7, 2003

Canada National infectious disease agency needed

The Star: Canada needs to dramatically improve its ability to deal with a "rising threat" of infectious disease, says a Senate committee report released today. The Senate social affairs committee urges immediate preparation for a return of SARS this winter...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 9:30 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

October 31, 2003

Brazil launches free nation-wide HIV testing

Channel News Asia Brazil has launched a free HIV testing campaign in a nation-wide effort to save the hundreds of thousands of people who are not aware that they have been infected. Free tests will be done in public hospitals...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 12:29 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

October 20, 2003

Making Safe Sex Cool

AllAfrica.com: A trendy new youth centre is aiming to grab the imagination of Angolan teenagers, and help them steer clear of HIV infection. Educating the young about the risks of unprotected sex is vital in any HIV/AIDS prevention programme, but...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 7:21 PM | See the full story | TrackBack

October 15, 2003

AIDS: A few, scattered rays of sunshine

UPI A litany of death and despair marks nearly three decades of AIDS history. The disease has carved the productive heart out of country after country, especially in Africa, leaving them virtually without farmers and depositing millions of orphans across...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 9:55 PM | See the full story

September 19, 2003

Cases of West Nile Soaring

Washington Post: The United States is headed for another record number of West Nile virus cases this year, with the total rising by more than a third in the past week alone, officials said today. Nationwide, 4,137 human cases had...

Posted by Jennifer King at 3:50 PM | See the full story

September 16, 2003

Toronto: A City of Hand Washers

Tornoto Star: You may have noticed someone in the airport washroom, grooming with one eye on the mirror, another on you. When you leave, they jot down a note: Did you wash your hands? Researchers for the American Society of...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 7:16 PM | See the full story

September 10, 2003

Bull Market For Beef

NEPA News: Voracious consumer demand, supply shortages and a ban on Canadian beef prompted by the discovery of a single case of mad cow disease in Alberta in May have combined to propel beef prices into record territory....

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 1:51 PM | See the full story

August 13, 2003

WHO Says No to Farm Antibiotics

Wired Farmers worldwide should reduce the use of antibiotics in their livestock to help curb the growth of drug-resistant bacteria in humans, the World Health Organization reported. High-profile scares over the transmission of resistant forms of bacteria have become increasingly...

Posted by Norm M. Wada at 2:34 PM | See the full story

June 5, 2003

SARS epidemic 'has peaked'

BBC NEWS: The Sars outbreak has peaked in countries around the world - including China, the worst hit by the pneumonia-like disease, a World Health Organization official has said. "It's fair to say that the Sars epidemic is over its...

Posted by Timothy Fredel at 9:43 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

June 1, 2003

Rare Day for China: No SARS Deaths

Rapid City Journal: Trade ministers of Asia-Pacific countries are set to endorse an emergency SARS recovery plan, while China reported no deaths for the first time in seven weeks. The plan to revive Asia's tourism industry and other businesses comes...

Posted by Bob King at 8:54 AM | See the full story | TrackBack

The Change Mariner Area - Infectious Disease