Health Meaning

The growing number - on the swine flu

May 8 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published today reports new details on outbreaks of swine flu in Mexico and the United States, revealing a much larger number of suspected and confirmed cases reported above. Highlights: Mexico May 6 had nearly 12,000 suspected cases, more than 1,000 others confirmed; the United States had more than 0 confirmed and 800 probable and tests showed that over 99% of probable cases were found to be positive for influenza A (H1N1) virus. Both countries show a "similar age distribution" in their cases, and the report notes that "the percentage of patients requiring hospitalization appears to be higher than would be expected during a normal flu season."

Microbiologist arrested for smuggling materials -

A Canadian researcher is held US after attempting to pass 22 vials of biological materials in the United States. Konan Michel Yao was arrested at the border between North Dakota and the Canadian province of Manitoba, on May 5, according to this AFP story.

Yao worked until recently at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, doing research on vaccines for the Ebola virus and HIV. He said US border guards that he was carrying the vials to his new job at the National Institutes of Health. Although the materials in its possession are not infectious, and the authorities do not believe this is a case of attempted terrorism, the case is likely to add to concerns about the safety of laboratories that harbor dangerous pathogens. Yao could face smuggling charges.

When the vaccine against the flu Get ready? -

Despite recent news report to the contrary, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides Science Insider efforts to make a vaccine against the virus causing the swine flu outbreak have not encountered unexpected delays.

Confusion about the chronology of the vaccine from a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday, who told a meeting organized by a scientific working group which studied closely production problems. The Advisory Working Group concluded that manufacturers would not be able to begin "large scale production" of a vaccine against the new H1N1 virus until mid-July. The report did not describe these as delays, but many media accounts did, noting that Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO, the director of the WHO's initiative for vaccine research, earlier predicted that production could begin two months earlier and suggested that a vaccine could be ready as soon as September.

Tom Skinner, spokesman for the CDC, assured science Insider that everything is on track. "We hope we can have a loan late autumn vaccine; However, we know that the manufacturing process is complicated, and we must be ready in case we encounter glitches with vaccine production, "said Skinner. The time, of course, depends on the specific steps in the manufacturing process, and the CDC and the WHO working group seem to have different estimates on some key points.

the vaccine process begins with viral isolate being converted into "seed stock." CDC has already five isolates sent to seven laboratories to make the starting material. a key property of the seed bank is that it is a weakened or attenuated version of the original virus, making it a safer production process and reduces the risk of an accidental release.

Skinner said CDC expects the seed stock in hand next week. According to the WHO report, it will then take 1 to 2 weeks of testing animals to ensure that the seed stock is attenuated. But Skinner said CDC simultaneously perform these tests on animals and send the seed stock for some manufacturers who biosafety level laboratories 3-plus (BSL-3 and more), which are specially designed to work with dangerous pathogens. "Those who have BSL-3 laboratories as well, and some will begin immediately," said Skinner, who points out that the United States, it all depends on the government to decide to get the vaccine, which does has not happened yet.

the WHO report says that manufacturers must then typically 1 to 2 months "to isolate rapid growing strains for maximum efficiency." Skinner said no. "They to do some more work on it to get in the condition they need for the vaccine, and I thought that takes a few weeks, so that the middle of June to the end of June, they could start to produce a lot of drivers, "he said. These pilot batches are used in small clinical trials to make sure the vaccine is safe and triggers the appropriate immune responses, a process that takes about 8 weeks Skinner said.

But Skinner points out that manufacturers are not normally put the production of commercial batches of vaccines waiting until they have the results of the batch of pilot tests. "They will not wait until everything is done to start producing the vaccine than the rest of us might need in the fall and winter," said Skinner. "These two processes are parallel. "

As to exactly when this vaccine can be ready, Skinner says this is a question for manufacturers. A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline, a major manufacturer of vaccine against influenza, said, "We expect the first doses of H1N1 vaccine would be available 4 to 6 months after receipt of the seed strain, pending regulatory approval." this means that the vaccine would be available in mid-October to mid-December and that is assuming there are no unforeseen manufacturing problems or regulatory issues surface. wHO Kieny May 1 estimated that it would take only 4 to 6 months to produce a vaccine from the time of virus isolation, which means September 1 availability.

is CDC concerned that the vaccine may not be ready in time? "It is safe to say that we are considering several scenarios in mind when a vaccine could be available, "Skinner said.

Even if the uS government decides to buy the vaccine, Skinner acknowledges that the country can not eventually use the product if the spread of the new H1N1 virus does not justify. "We will be looking very closely what happens during the summer here in the United States, but especially what happens in the southern hemisphere regarding the new H1N1, to have this information to decide what, if anything, we're going to do regarding a vaccination campaign later this fall and winter, "said Skinner." But if we think we might need a vaccine, we must now to ensure that we have one, and what we do. "

The Rock-It Scientists -

by Geoffrey Beene advertising campaign in the June issue of GQ has 11 biomedical scientists (all men) posing with rock stars such that Seal and Sheryl Crow. Why? It seems that the clothing company has a foundation that funds medical research. The campaign aims to "honor researchers who save our lives, to rock science as a career choice for the next generation, and increase [stars'] platinum voice in the application for funding for future research," says the announcement. Soon on a website, visitors will be nominal measuring their favorite rock star of science or sign a petition asking Congress to increase funding for medical research. This plan offers Alzheimer's researcher Rudy Tanzi, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, and geneticist Francis Collins, who seems to be everywhere these days as rumors grow louder it will soon be appointed as Director of the National Institutes of Health. (For details, see the blog scientific careers to take on the ad.)

Novartis Reports Advance in swine flu vaccine production -

Novartis announced in a press release today that it has made the first batch of vaccine against influenza A ( H1N1) flu causing the swine flu pandemic. The Swiss pharmaceutical company said it had 10 liters of vaccine that will be used in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials may be the beginning. The company uses cells to grow the vaccine virus and claims that this traditional overproduction with eggs "shows significant time savings." Thirty governments "requests" to the company for the ingredients of vaccines. If all goes well, the company expects to receive regulatory approval for its vaccine in the fall.

The New York Times on - Results Nerve cancer subsidies

Yesterday The New York Times featured a front-page story suggesting that the approach the government cancer research funding, particularly at the national Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists -pushes to "play it safe" and steer clear of bold ideas. The article, by Gina Kolata, addressed the scientific points have complained for years, and has generated a storm of comments mostly positive on Times website. More than 0 people have weighed in so far, many of them frustrated researchers, grant their authors, and others inside and outside the field of cancer.

A number of scientists, both those comments and those mentioned in the original article, said it was not always bad. They attribute some caution to years of tight budgets under the Bush administration. Several speakers defended the current system, especially at a time of difficult funding: "There is a limited amount of money VERY limited," wrote Rosa Ohio, who said she has reviewed grants. NIH for the last 8 years. "We can not finance all the wild ideas without any proof of the basic feasibility."

But from the sound of it, there is a desire among some at least, to the wildest studies over those tamed in the hope that they will actually make a difference.

Cancer does not discriminate -

For years, researchers know that race is a factor in cancer survival. Black women are less likely than whites to have breast cancer, for example, but much more likely to die from it ( Science , February 2, 07). How much of this difference stems from unequal access to health care, such as regular screening and aggressive treatment, and how much is rooted in biology? A new study looks back on dozens of clinical cancer trials finds that for some cancers, such as lung and leukemia, race makes no difference, while for others, such as breast, prostate and ovarian cancer, it does.

oncologist Kathy Albain of Loyola University of Chicago in Illinois found that one way to get a big-picture view of the link between race and cancer survival was combing through a vast clinical trials network. So she turned to the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), one of the many cooperative groups in the United States overseeing large multicenter trials for a variety of cancers in which all participants receive the same level of care, and many receive the same treatment. Albain and colleagues focused on 35 large SWOG trials that were running at some point between 1974 and 01, which included almost 20,000 adults. Trials were conducted on eight cancers: breast, lung, colon, ovarian, prostate, multiple myeloma, lymphoma and leukemia. Albain's team examined how African-American participants are doing, adjusting for potential confounding factors such as weight and socioeconomic status (estimated from zip codes).

For most cancers, the race made no difference in survival. But for three - breast, prostate and ovarian cancer - it mattered. In premenopausal cancer early breast, for example, the survival rate at 10 years was 68% for African Americans against 77% for all other patients (mostly Caucasian) in the tests. For advanced ovarian cancer, median survival was 1.3 years for African Americans and 2.3 years for the rest of the participants. And cancer advanced prostate, it was 2.2 years against 2.7 years, the group says online today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

First, the results are reassuring because for many common cancers, race made no difference to the outcome, said Albain. She believes the answer to why there are differences in three cancers lies in an interaction between tumor biology, hormonal responses in the patient, and genes that may affect how medicines such as some chemotherapy, are metabolized .

One of the issues that dogged the study of racial disparities in cancer has been how much is due to access to care, notes Timothy Rebbeck, a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Pennsylvania . But here, "the disparities persist even with standard treatment." In addition, three specific cancers sex were fingers in other racial-disparity studies, he said.

One concern, said Peter B. Bach, a physician and epidemiologist at Cancer Center Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City, is whether the deaths in the trials were invariably due to cancer - as opposed to a disease unrelated to which African Americans are more susceptible, such as diabetes. But Albain noted that if that were the case, his group would have seen disparities in all cancers - not just some detected. She is now scrutinizing the expression profiles of genes and other characteristics of tumor bank for more tips.

Elimination of river blindness in view -

Cases of parasitic infection known as river blindness or onchocerciasis, fell dramatically in Africa in the 2 recent decades, thanks to large donations of a drug by the pharmaceutical company Merck. Now, a new study suggests that these programs can eventually eradicate the disease. "It's fantastic," said Uche Amazigo, Director of the African Programme against onchocerciasis, based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. "For us in Africa, this is an important step."

onchocerciasis - often simply called "river blindness" - is caused by Onchocerca volvulus , a nematode worm that is transmitted from person to person by many species of Simulium black flies. The adult worms mate inside the human body, and the female produces a large number of microscopic larvae, called microfilariae. The larvae cause intense itching and a severe immune reaction when they die; when they colonize the eye can cause blindness.

initial control efforts have focused kill black flies around fast rivers where they prefer to breed. But after Merck has set up a donation program for ivermectin in 1987 - which is sold in the US as well and is active against many other parasites - annual or biannual treatment rounds with the drug proved more effective. Ivermectin paralyzes and kills the microfilariae; it also reduces the fertility of adult worms, but does not kill them. This works great to prevent blindness and other symptoms, but no one knew if the drug alone could completely stop onchocerciasis transmission

In the new study, researchers surveyed the places where treatment by ivermectin has been going on longer :. Three regions Mali and Senegal, which were distributed the drug for 15 to 17 years. The team verified nearly 18,000 people in 126 villages for O. volvulus less than 1% were tested positive. Of more than 150,000 black flies captured in the same areas, less than 0.05% have been able to transmit the worm. At these levels, the models suggest that the disease is linked to eventually peter says Hans Remme, parasitology World Health Organization retired who participated in the study as a consultant.

Next, the researchers stopped the treatment with ivermectin in five eight villages in each region. (Given the importance of whether the treatment can be stopped safely, it was considered ethical provided that the villages were monitored carefully for signs of resurgence, said Remme.) But the disease did not return. Among nearly 2,300 people were tested from 16 to 22 months later, no one had worms, while the number of infected flies remained extremely low, today reports the team in PloS Neglected Tropical Diseases . It is the first evidence, Remme said that stopping treatment with ivermectin is safe

In the next study phase, treatment was interrupted through two of the three regions. if the results are similar, Mali and Senegal ivermectin consider dropping altogether, said Remme. The chances of O. volvulus would stage a comeback are slim, he said, partly because men and women to need to meet within a single individual spread.

similar success may be more difficult in countries such as Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which had higher transmission levels prior to treatment and are home to black fly species that spread them to more efficiently, said Remme. But a new drug called moxidectin, currently under study, could reduce the clearance time for it to target the long-term adult, in addition to their microscopic offspring. Nobody talks about eradication - the elimination of a disease of the entire planet - for now, but "we can really start to shrink the map onchocerciasis in Africa," said Amazigo

Merck, which already. given some 2.5 billion ivermectin tablets valued at $ 3.5 billion, said it will continue the program as long as necessary. "We dreamed that a step like this could be a day possible, "said CEO Richard Clarke in a statement released by the company today.

More Canadian hog Catch New Influenza virus -

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ), the H1N1 influenza 09 has infected a herd of pigs in the Canadian province. This is only the third pig farm known to have been infected with the virus that is causing the swine flu pandemic in humans. A statement said a federal laboratory in Winnipeg identified the virus July 24.

Prior infection of a Canadian pig herd in Alberta received intense attention because of the possibility that the virus isolated in animals could help clear up questions about the origin of the pandemic. Genetic analyzes human viruses could not find a close match with viruses currently circulating in pigs, which suggests that the ancestor of the 09 H1N1 flu may have been circulating in pigs or other species not detected during de many years. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has rejected the idea that pigs infected humans in Alberta, insisting from the beginning that it was "highly probable" that he was in the other meaning. But the DNA evidence was confusing.

A CFIA spokesman said Science Insider that he could not immediately answer questions about the genetic sequence of the virus in Quebec flock. Canadian officials reports MAPAQ Quote media say this infection, too, is a probable cases of the virus moving from man to pig, but there is no evidence of man with Alzheimer ' interact with the herd.

Expert genetic policy to reach Collins at NIH -

New National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins recruited a former colleague to be his chief of staff.

Kathy Hudson now heads the Genetics Centre and Public Policy in Washington, DC, which she founded in 02 at Johns Hopkins. Molecular biologist was the policy director of Collins for part of his mandate as head of the National Institute for Human Genome Research at NIH.

In addition to serving top lieutenant of the leader NIH, Hudson said she hopes conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration oversight of genetic tests. Push for the regulation of these tests was a big part of the work of the center, and she said. "I am optimistic that we will actually see some of these changes occur" Even if it is completed the paperwork, Hudson is still awaiting a formal offer. the previous director, Elias Zerhouni, has never served.

Hudson leaves the genetics center as its main funder, the Pew Charitable Trusts, winds down its support this fall. the Member center number of full-time staff has declined since January a dozen to about seven, said Joan Scott, now deputy director, who will succeed Hudson. the focus of the center likely expand the policy to move genetic testing in the clinic, said Scott.