Leptospirosis has been diagnosed clinically in two men recently returned from a fishing holiday at a resort in the Picardie region of north-east France. One case has since been serologically confirmed. Both patients were at the same resort at the same time (mid-September), and became unwell about one week after their return to the United Kingdom.
A drop in day temperatures has brought some relief from dengue in north India even as other parts of the country continued to be in the grip of the mosquito-borne viral fever with 199 fresh cases being reported. Across the country, the total number of dengue patients since early September stood at 7,687.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of Omnaris (ciclesonide) nasal spray, a new drug for the treatment of nasal symptoms associated with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, in adults and children 12 years of age and older.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval of a new 300 mg single capsule formulation of REYATAZ? (atazanavir sulfate) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults as part of combination therapy. Taken once daily along with ritonavir and food as part of a anti-HIV drug regimen, the REYATAZ 300 mg single capsule formulation can replace two REYATAZ 150 mg capsules for: patients who have previously received anti-HIV medicines, patients who will be receiving tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, and patients who have never taken anti-HIV medicines that require SUSTIVA? (efavirenz) as part of their anti-HIV drug regimen. The REYATAZ single capsule formulation will be available in the United States within seven business days.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Taxotere (docetaxel) Injection Concentrate for use in combination with cisplatin and fluorouracil prior to radiotherapy for the treatment of patients with inoperable, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). This disease represents approximately 3 percent of all new cancer cases in the United States.
Researchers in the Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Caribbean Primate Research Center have discovered a key mechanism by which the Filoviruses, Ebola and Marburg, cause disease. The identification of an amino acid sequence in Filoviruses that results in the rapid depression of immunological response is described in the December 2006 issue of The FASEB Journal. Using this information, researchers can begin to develop new drugs to stop these devastating diseases.
Mass vaccination would not be necessary in the event of a large-scale smallpox bioterrorist attack in the United States, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that appears online in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
A fast, sensitive and inexpensive diagnostic tool called MassTag PCR has been developed that can identify the specific pathogen that causes a particular case of respiratory infection, according to a new study funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The research team ? headed by scientists in the Jerome L. and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and their colleagues at the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health ? used MassTag PCR to identify previously undiagnosed pathogens that caused influenza-like illnesses in New York State during the winter of 2004.
The drug misoprostol provides a safe, convenient, and inexpensive means to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, a major killer of women in developing countries. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri, India?s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, the National Institutes of Health, and other institutions.
Yamoa powder is an asthma remedy from Ghana that remained a closely guarded secret until 1994, when a shaman revealed it to her grandson who had moved to London, and gave him permission to share it with the world. He brought the ground bark of the Yamoa gum tree (Funtumia elastica) back to England and asked 20 fellow post office workers who suffered from asthma or hay fever to try it. All reported improvement.