and they are now looking for partners to lead a product development cycle to turn it into a medical device ready for market t
) This method poses substantial risks to the health care workers responsible for blood collection, transport, and testing,
In this study, the researchers compared the diagnostic accuracy of the new RDT against the benchmark RT-PCR test (altona Diagnostics) being used for clinical diagnosis in the field reference laboratory run by Public health England at Port
particularly those that store vaccines and other medical products. Published in The Lancet. This study was funded by a gift from the Abundance Foundation (Stephen Kahn.
#Toward A Universal Flu Vaccine Flu vaccines can be shot a in the dark-they must be given yearly
New research suggests it may be possible to harness a previously unknown mechanism within the immune system to create more effective and efficient vaccines against this ever-mutating virus. In a Cell paper,
"While the conventional flu vaccine protects only against specific strains, usually three of them, our experiments show that by including modified antibodies within the vaccine it may be possible to elicit broad protection against many strains simultaneously,
"says senior study author Jeffrey Ravetch, professor of Molecular genetics and Immunology at Rockefeller University.""We believe these results may represent a preliminary step toward a universal flu vaccine,
one that is effective against a broad range of the flu viruses."It was known already that chemical modifications to antibodies'Fc region altered their interactions with immune cells,
The virus makes for a difficult target for vaccines because its strains are so diverse,
most flu vaccines in the United states are formulated to target a total of three or four viral strains:
The strains are selected based on public health experts'predictions for the coming flu season. But sometimes they are wrong,
A universal flu vaccine has become something of a holy grail, and a number of strategies have been proposed to create it.
These regions go on form complexes with vaccine antigens, which then modulate the evolving vaccine response.
First, the researchers vaccinated healthy volunteers with a seasonal flu vaccine containing an inactivated strain of the H1n1 virus. They then tracked the volunteers'immune responses via blood samples,
keeping an eye out for chemical modifications to antibodies against the hemagglutinin protein. About seven days after the vaccination, they saw a spike in sialylated antibodies, meaning sialic acid,
an important signaling molecule, had been added at a specific spot on the Fc region. The greater the sialylation
the better a person's response to the vaccine. To tease apart how this chemical modification improves the immune response,
The result of the higher affinity was broad protection against H1 subtype influenza viruses. The researchers then used this knowledge to improve the vaccine itself.
They modified the H1n1 vaccine so it contained not only protein from the virus itself, but also sialylated antibodies against that protein."
which a vaccine containing sialylated antibodies elicits broadly protective antibodies, could potentially be harnessed to reduce the tremendous morbidity
"We are now looking into applying this strategy toward improving existing vaccines; ideally, this would result in a vaccine that provides life long immunity against flu infections. s
#Human Antibody Blocks Dengue virus In Mice Researchers have discovered that a human antibody specific to dengue virus serotype 2,
--and they suggest that the site where 2d22 binds to the virus could represent a potential vaccine target.
and there is currently no protective vaccine available. Recent phase 3 clinical trials of a potential vaccine candidate showed poor efficacy,
especially against dengue virus serotype 2. Guntur Fibriansah and colleagues found that 2d22 protects mice against dengue virus serotype 2,
The idea came to University of Guelph public health researcher Christopher Charles, during a trip to Cambodia six years ago,
and it become one of the biggest challenges facing public health today. But new findings suggest that old,
Vaccines and health clinics can be up and running earlier and any necessary travelling restrictions can be put in place before the situation worsens."
a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health in Maryland, told Linn.
#New Ebola vaccine is 100%successful in Guinea clinical trials A new single-dose vaccine has been shown to be 100 percent effective against Ebola after just one week.
Known as VSV-ZEBOV, the vaccine is now going through further trials in younger patients, and if all goes to plan could become the first licensed vaccine against Ebola.
As of right now around 28,000 people in Guinea, Sierra leone and Libera have been infected with Ebola,
A second study group of 3, 528 people were injected with the vaccine three weeks after they'd potentially been exposed to Ebola.
"Indeed, no vaccinee developed symptoms more than six days after vaccination, irrespective of whether vaccination was delayed immediate
the international team of researchers stopped waiting to vaccinate those at high-risk of infection.""The initial results of the study show that the vaccine can effectively contain the further spread of the Ebola virus,"the University of Bern in Switzerland,
which was involved in the research, wrote in a statement.""We believe that the world is on the verge of an efficacious Ebola vaccine,
"World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccine expert Marie Paule Kieny told reporters at a media briefing announcing the results on Friday.
The trial, which was supported by the drug firm Merck, THE WHO and the Canadian, Norwegian and Guinean governments, is now continuing in children between the ages of 13 and 17.
For the last century medical research including public health advances has been the primary source of and an essential contributor to improvement in the health and longevity of individuals and populations in developed countries.
and (in real terms) decreased in 3 of the last 5 years reaching $117 billion (4. 5 percent) of total health care expenditures.
From 1994 to 2004 the medical device biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries had annual growth rates greater than 6 percent per year with biotechnology demonstrating the largest increases.
Industry reduced early-stage research favoring medical devices bioengineered drugs and late-stage clinical trials particularly for cancer and rare diseases.
#WHO grants approval for safe effective meningitis A vaccine for infants The World health organization (WHO) has opened the door to routine immunization of infants in Sub-saharan africa by approving for use an innovative and affordable vaccine that has all but rid the meningitis belt of a major cause
The announcement was made today by the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP)--a partnership between the global health nonprofit PATH and WHO--and Serum institute of india Ltd (SIIL),
which manufactures the Menafrivac vaccine.""Initial mass vaccination campaigns with Menafrivac have been highly effective in reducing the number of meningitis A cases,
"said Dr. Marie-Pierre Préziosi, director of MVP.""But epidemics will return when rising numbers of unprotected newborns become a larger proportion of the total population over time.
5 g dose of the meningitis A vaccine meets international standards of quality, safety, and efficacy and can
The only existing vaccine was insufficient to break the cycle. Protection at an affordable price In 2004, MVP partnered with SIIL to develop an affordable, tailor-made vaccine for use against meningitis A in Sub-saharan africa.
Menafrivac was developed in record time at less than 1 tenth the cost of a typical new vaccine. Since campaigns started in 2010,
Menafrivac has been administered to over 215 million people in 15 countries of the African meningitis belt:
"Developing the Menafrivac vaccine fit exactly Serum's ingrained philosophy of bringing down prices of vaccines
"We at Serum Institute are extremely proud of being part of an international partnership that brought an end to a public health issue that has been plaguing Sub-saharan africa for more than a century."
"One year after large-scale vaccine introduction in late 2010, for example, experience from Burkina faso provided early evidence that mass vaccination was associated with a significantly reduced risk of meningitis in the targeted population,
Findings were confirmed in a major way in Chad in 2012 where researchers reported a dramatic reduction in transmission and incidence of meningitis A a drop of more than 90 percent following vaccination.
Support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the United nations children's fund (UNICEF; PATH; WHO; and national governments has been crucial for mass vaccination campaigns that are due to continue until 2016 to cover at-risk populations in all 26 countries where disease burden from meningitis A is greatest.
From mass campaigns to routine immunizations In parallel to the large-scale vaccination campaigns, clinical studies were designed
and conducted to determine the safety, immunogenicity, and optimal dosage and immunization schedule for administering Menafrivac to infants and toddlers alongside other routine childhood vaccines in African meningitis belt countries.
Results from two infant clinical studies in Ghana and Mali and vaccine introduction impact data were presented to THE WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) in October 2014
and these SAGE experts concluded that a one-dose schedule at 9 months of age or older was recommended to achieve sustainable disease control following the initial mass campaigns in 1-29 year olds.
Specifically, THE WHO prequalification that was announced today allows United nations procurement agencies to purchase the vaccine for use in routine immunization programs in meningitis-belt countries
while mass vaccination campaigns will continue in remaining countries. Created in June 2001 with the goal of eliminating epidemic meningitis as a public health problem in Sub-saharan africa,
MVP was one of the earliest product development partnerships funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Menafrivac was the first vaccine developed outside"traditional pharma, "and the only vaccine developed specifically for people in Africa."
"With Menafrivac, we created a revolutionary new model for vaccine development and now we stand on the brink of protecting an entire generation,
and those to come, from a devastating disease, "said Dr. Kathy Neuzil, director of Vaccine Access and Delivery at PATH."
"Our efforts began with a request by African leaders to address a major health challenge affecting hundreds of millions of people,
effective vaccine could be developed and deployed across multiple countries at a price that was sustainable.""
""The benefits of childhood immunization last a lifetime and the Menafrivac vaccine is one of the greatest success stories that shows
"Prequalification of the Menafrivac vaccine for infants clears the way for the routine immunization of every child before his
""We are more than halfway through with introducing the vaccine in meningitis-belt countries, and the first introductions have been a stunning success,
"said Dr. Jeanmarie Okwo-Bele, director of THE WHO Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.""But we cannot yet declare a win on meningitis epidemics in Sub-saharan africa.
and introduce the vaccine in the Expanded Programme on Immunization. Then and only then will we win the battle against meningitis. a
which is causing a public health crisis, according to Uni ver sity Dis tin guished Pro fessor Kim Lewis. But in new research,
Senegal, the Public health Institute of Guinea, the University of Stirling, Robert Koch Institute, and Twistdx Ltd.
#New approach may lead to inhalable vaccines for influenza pneumonia The work led by Cathy Fromen
In contrast negatively charged particles of the same composition led to weaker and in some cases undetectable immune responses suggesting that particle charge is an important consideration for pulmonary vaccination.
The findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also have broad public health implications for improving the accessibility of vaccines.
An inhalable vaccine may eliminate the need for refrigeration which can not only improve shelf life but also enable distribution of vaccines to low-resource areas including many developing countries where there is significant need for better access to vaccines s
#Study pinpoints autism-linked protein for sculpting brain connections A new study by Duke researchers provides a close up of synapse refinement
With this information health care workers can then personalize the baby's nutritional supplements to help with appropriate weight gain.
health care workers have performed hundreds of analyses of breast milk. Simmons, the Ruth and Harry Roman Chair in Neonatology in honor of Larry Baum said the information from both analyses should ultimately lead to healthier weight gain, better neurological outcomes and shorter hospital stays
This combination results in multiple health risks including high blood sugar and fatty liver disease. For years to gain insight into this phenomenon researchers focused on the role of altered insulin action in the liver in the production of triglycerides.
New Molecular Target Identified A drug already approved for treating other diseases may be useful as a treatment for cerebral malaria, according to researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public health.
both researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public health, found that leptin--a hormone secreted from fat tissue with roles in suppressing appetite,
Abnormalities in these brain regions are associated with neurological and mental health disorders. According to Professor Donohoe: For years scientists have been fascinated by the development of different brain structures and how this changes in brain-based disorders.
and gene therapy, said Daiger, the report's senior author and holder of the Thomas Stull Matney Ph d. Endowed Professorship in Environmental and Genetic sciences at UTHEALTH School of Public health."
"For approximately three decades, Daiger, a member of the Human genetics Center at the UTHEALTH School of Public health, has been following the progress of hundreds of families across the country with retinitis pigmentosa."
But what we found was that in most cases including the reaction to a standard influenza vaccine
or toxic exposures vaccinations diet and dental hygiene--trumped heritable ones when it came to accounting for differences within a pair of twins.
Davis and his associates also observed considerable environmental influence over the quantities of antibodies produced in members of twin pairs who had been vaccinated for influenza in a separate Stanford investigation directed by study co-author Cornelia Dekker MD professor of pediatric infectious disease
and medical director of the Stanford-Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Vaccine Program. While many previous studies have suggested a powerful genetic component in vaccine responsiveness Davis noted that those studies typically were performed in very young children who had undergone not yet the decades of environmental exposure that appears to reshape the immune system over time.
In a striking example of the immune system's plasticity the Stanford scientists found that the presence
a team of biomedical engineering undergraduates has developed a kit to teach front-line health care workers in developing countries how to implant contraceptives.
the student inventors were advised by physician Ricky Lu, technical director for reproductive health and family planning at Jhpiego,
Cancer researchers have been interested in these proteins as markers for cancer and as potential targets for therapeutic cancer vaccines."
"We have designed a vaccine-style treatment or'immunotherapy'specifically for individuals carrying high-risk rheumatoid arthritis genes and specific rheumatoid arthritis antibodies, called anti-CCP."
clinically-practical vaccine technology that could deliver similar outcomes for patients. Professor Thomas is working on a delivery technology with Dendright Pty Ltd (a Uniquest start-up company) in collaboration Janssen Biotech Inc,
either through infection or through vaccination. Elledge estimates it would take about 2-3 days to process 100 samples,
Their findings on viral epitopes may also have important implications for vaccine design. Elledge says the approach his team has developed is limited not to antiviral antibodies.
which is still the gold standard in the health care industry for making a definitive diagnosis. Also routinely used today is a newer method for rapidly identifying bacteria based on a DNA-analysis technique called quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qpcr),
fatigue and in many cases can result in a reduction of quality of life, time off work, hospitalisations and surgery.
#Protein discovery fuels redesign of mosquito-based malaria vaccine A promising type of vaccine designed to eradicate malaria by blocking parasite transmission could be a step closer,
and Dr Rhoel Dinglasan from the Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health in Baltimore, USA, focused on a protein in the Anopheles mosquito midgut called Anapn1.
Malaria transmission-blocking vaccines are designed to prevent the spread of malaria by interrupting parasite transmission.
Vaccinated individuals in malaria-endemic countries produce antibodies to Anapn1. During routine disease transmission, when these same immunised individuals become infected with malaria parasites,
The Anapn1 protein is a leading candidate for a mosquito-based malaria transmission-blocking vaccine that is being developed by Dr Dinglasan."
"This type of vaccine won't boost people's immunity to malaria, but instead it will provide a delayed benefit to the individual by protecting the entire community from parasite transmission,
Dr Dinglasan said as a vaccine antigen, Anapn1 prompts people to make antibodies; however only some of these antibodies block parasite transmission,
To further improve vaccine immunogenicity at the preclinical stage, we need to immuno-focus the antibody response to only the critical,
The document, published in the Lancet June 16 and signed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health's Alain Labrique and six others, states that the conditions in the April tremor that killed 8
when infected by the virus. There is a safe and effective vaccine available, the researchers say,
if the vaccine were used in Nepal during monsoon season, which runs from July to September.
that the Nepalese Ministry of Health should initiate a request for the vaccine and build a stockpile;
and develop targeted deployment strategies for the use of the vaccine, based on identification of high-risk populations and the available organizational capacity for safe implementation and monitoring of outcomes."
"These findings now explain why it is difficult to develop vaccines against tuberculosis, "said Dr. Das."
"The immune cells activated by the vaccine agent may not be able to reach the hypoxic site of bone marrow to target these"wolfs-in-stem-cell-clothing."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports around 1 in 25 hospital patients in the US have at least one infection contracted in the health care setting.
and 99,000 deaths in acute care hospitals in the U s. and add $35-45 billion in excess health care costs each year.
#Bonelike 3-D silicon synthesized for potential use with medical devices"Using bone formation as a guide,
""The hope for a definitive cure and an effective vaccine has been frustrated by HIV's endless propensity to subvert the host's defences
"says Dr. Markus Selzner, a transplant surgeon in the Multi-Organ transplant Program at TGH, co-investigator of the clinical trial and the transplant surgeon who performed the donor operation.
The medical device encloses the liver in a sterile environment, circulating oxygenated blood and nutrients into the liver at body temperature, allowing it to improve
"says Dr. David Grant, Surgical Director of the Multi-Organ transplant Program, co-investigator of the clinical trial who also transplanted the donor liver,
which had been placed on the medical device, into the recipient.""This new technology can help us answer critical questions such as,
and how public health officials are working with those groups. Since the 1990s about half of women with HIV delivering babies in Canada were born foreign.
"said Joel Singer, professor in the School of Population and Public health at UBC, who is presenting at IAS 2015."
"The researchers say this recent success stems largely from public health initiatives to ensure women in these high-risk populations are tested
and infants is to engage hard-to-reach populations in health care and allow them to access prenatal care,
and commercialized innovative medical devices like Notouch Breastscan and Infrascan. He co-founded UE Lifesciences in 2009 to develop innovative yet cost
Blood transfusions can sometimes prevent such attacks but there are currently no good ways to predict when a vaso-occlusive crisis which can last for several days is imminent. ou don know exactly
the researchers were able to preserve all aspects of reproductive health in post-stress mice, thus suggesting a single molecular target that could help alleviate a range of stress-induced fertility problems. t is possible that manipulation of RFRP3 signaling in humans may relieve stress-related reproductive dysfunction,
Administrators usually just spend a few days a month monitoring health care workers, noting hand-hygiene habits on a WHO checklist.
A 2014 study in the Journal of Infection and Public health concluded that compliance with WHO hand-washing rules jumped 25 percent in one month when staff used Medsense in a 16-bed hospital unit at Salmaniya
and can collect data around the clock. leanstart General Sensing may tackle a serious health care issue, but its core technology started as a novelty item:
When a researcher requested the technology to monitor health care staff, however, the startup decided to get a clean start in the health care industry,
hich they say is recession-proof, Gips says. And after learning about WHO hand-hygiene guidelines, the team developed Medsense as an automated way to help administrators monitor hand-washing among staff.
as well as public health in the case of diseases that can move from animals to humans, the paper authors wrote.
This device would be a great leap forward in cheap medical devices for underdeveloped countries, where simple medical care,
#Scientists successfully test immunogen a component for potential HIV vaccine Team of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, INTERNATIONAL AIDS Vaccine Initiative and The Rockefeller University have shown successfully that an experimental vaccine candidate
In fact, scientists believe that findings of the study could provide key information for the development of an effective AIDS vaccine.
may become one of the parts of first successful HIV vaccine. Image credit: scripps. eduefforts to create effective vaccine against HIV so far have been virtually fruitless.
However, scientists already describe results of this latest research as spectacular. The long-term goal of the research is to develop a vaccine that prompts the body to produce antibodies that bind to HIV
and prevent infection and current experiments with mice models showed promising results. Many vaccines for other diseases use a dead
or inactive version of the disease-causing microbe itself to trigger antibody production. However, this simple approach does not work with HIV immunizations with ativehiv proteins are ineffective in triggering an effective immune response
This makes HIV vaccine a particularly challenging task for scientists, which explains why science still has produced not an effective one.
This challenge did not make scientists believe that AIDS vaccine is impossible. Instead they figured out that it has to consist of a series of related,
Professor David Nemazee evaluated results like that he vaccine appears to work well in our mouse model to rimethe antibody response In another research scientists used the same immunogen in a slightly different mouse model,
which showed promising results As well as scientists have taken approach to collect a variety of different immunogens to develop a united HIV vaccine,
HIV vaccine would be a major breakthrough at fight against AIDS, as it still is arguably the biggest threat to human population.
vaccine could be one of the greatest scientific achievements of the century. Source: Scripp s
#Researchers develop a new means of killing harmful bacteria The global rise in antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to public health,
MA#A new study led by researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public health finds that a malaria parasite protein called calcineurin is essential for parasite invasion into red blood cells.
Currently, there are no vaccines or treatments specifically for Marburg infections. The findings were published online ahead of print today in the journal Plos Pathogens.
The high cost of creating independent vaccines or treatments for each of the different viruses in this family necessitates intelligent design of immunogens (antibody-inducing molecules).
where the local health care infrastructure might not be able to support the level of research
#Bonelike 3-D silicon synthesized for potential use with medical devices Semiconducting silicon spicules engage tissue like a bee stinger.
Researchers have developed a new approach for better integrating medical devices with biological systems. The researchers, led by Bozhi Tian,
#HIV vaccine: Pushing the Envelope A new study led by scientists at Harvard Medical school and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical center demonstrates that a heterologous prime-boost HIV-1 vaccine regimen protected 50 percent of vaccinated nonhuman primates against challenges with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV),
a virus similar to HIV that infects nonhuman primates. Published in the July 2 online edition of Science, these new findings provide a new strategy for the clinical development of this novel HIV-1 vaccine candidate. espite the urgent need for a safe and effective
global HIV-1 vaccine, only four vaccine concepts have been evaluated for protective efficacy in humans over the past 30 years,
said lead author Dan Barouch, HMS professor of medicine and director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess. e are encouraged very by the results of this latest preclinical HIV-1 vaccine study
and believe the findings may lead to a clear path forward for evaluating this HIV vaccine candidate in humans.
In this work, nonhuman primates were given first a dose of adenovirus serotype 26 vectored vaccine to rimethe immune system to mount an antibody response
and then received a oostwith a purified HIV envelope protein (the surface protein of HIV),
which enhances the immune system over time. Adenovirus 26 is responsible for the common cold and is engineered to serve as a carrier,
The study results showed that the prime-boost vaccine regimen provided complete protection in half of the vaccinated nonhuman primates against a series of six repeated challenges with SIV. ur previous studies
of viral vector-based HIV-1 vaccine candidates showed much lower levels of protection against SIV,
Based on these preclinical data, the HIV-1 version of this vaccine regimen is now being evaluated in an ongoing international clinical study sponsored by Crucell Holland BV
the definitive solution to this epidemic will likely be said a vaccine Barouch. hese new findings represent an important step forward. s
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