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By Category: Public Health

Key difference discovered between our bodies’ fight against viruses and bacteria

(Medical News Today) Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a key difference in the biological mechanisms by which the immune system responds to viral and bacterial pathogens. The study, published in the journal Nature Immunology and led by Professor Uwe Vinkemeier in the University’s School of Life Sciences, centred on STAT1, a protein Read More »

January 15, 2014
| Filed under Europe, International, Public Health, and Research
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Seven recommendations to enhance preparedness for public health emergencies in the U.S.

(Medical News Today) The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York City prompted large increases in government funding to help communities respond and recover after man-made and natural disasters. But, this funding has fallen considerably since the economic crisis in 2008. Furthermore, disaster funding distribution is deeply inefficient: huge cash infusions are disbursed right after Read More »

January 15, 2014
| Filed under Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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National lab to study virus isolated from fatal H5N1 case in Alberta

(CTVNews) Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory has isolated live H5N1 virus from respiratory specimens taken from an Alberta woman who died recently from infection with that bird flu virus. The Winnipeg-based lab is working in collaboration with Alberta’s provincial laboratory to sequence the entire genome of the virus, which the woman is believed to have contracted Read More »

January 15, 2014
| Filed under North America, International, Public Health, and Research
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First Study of Promising Ebola Vaccine Undertaken In West Africa

The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) this week announced they have begun a clinical trial in health care workers in West Africa to evaluate a promising experimental Ebola vaccine. The vaccine was developed by investigators at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Read More »

January 7, 2014
| Filed under Africa, North America, Agents & Toxins, Biotechnology, International, Public Health, and Research
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Scientists: Mosquito virus spreads to Americas

(BostonHerald) A nasty virus first detected in Africa that is spread to people by the bite of infected mosquitoes is being locally transmitted in the Americas for the first time on the tiny French Caribbean dependency of St. Martin, health officials said Tuesday.