SWINE FLU

When Drugs Aren’t the Answer

Public health measures that reduce the potential for spreading disease through groups of people present a strong defense in the face of an outbreak. We should have been talking about them earlier.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Flu Farms?

Controlling infections once they reach the human population is crucial, but the origin of many pathogens may lie in factory farming operations, where potent diseases develop.

In the Face of Swine Flu, Public Health System Doing OK

Over at the main CAP site, P.J. Crowley and Andy Grotto ask how well public health officials have done in responding to the international epidemic. Their assessment: the systems in place to protect citizens are working well. Detection, identification, and [...]

Obama Talks to National Academies About Swine Flu, Investing 3 Percent of GDP in R&D

This morning, President Obama addressed the National Academies of Sciences, laying out the imperative for sustained government investment in scientific research. He said his administration would commit more funding to R&D than during the Apollo program (see Update below): I [...]

Funding Fresh Ideas to Stop Malaria

Almost one million people died of malaria in Africa in 2006, according to the World Health Organization. Stopping this devastating disease requires a new set of tools, some of which might include mosquito-killing drugs, drugs designed to evade parasite resistance, [...]

PUBLIC HEALTH

Our Inequitable Immigrant Vaccination Policy

Vaccine policy in the United States is riddled with inconsistencies that are prejudiced against those coming into the country and which undermine the system as a whole.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Vaccines Are Safe and Vital

Last week, the British Sunday Times reported that the original study which sparked a ten-year debate about vaccine safety and autism was based on faulty data. Days later, a special U.S. court ruled that there is little to no evidence linking vaccines to autism. Together, the two events may cool a simmering debate about how to protect young children’s health.

Data Bank: Human Avian Flu Infections Around the World

While the risks for most people from avian influenza remain low, the virus has occaisionally moved from bird population to humans since 1997. In 2006, the number of human infections peaked; the World Health Organization counted 115 cases and 79 [...]

WEISS'S NOTEBOOK

Readying the Global Flu Shot

While pandemic flu is off the media radar, public health officials are busy tracking what they call the number one infectious threat in the world—and are preparing for the worst-case scenario. Above: A scientist works at the U.S. Naval Medical Research in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“The Single Most Effective Way to Prevent the Transmission of Disease”

The organizers of National Handwashing Awareness Week, which runs through Saturday, want you to know that washing your hands with soap and warm water, or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, is the best way to stop the spread of germs.

HIV/AIDS In the U.S. By the Numbers

In recognition of World AIDS Day, our colleagues at the Center for American Progress have prepared a set of stats on the ongoing epidemic in the United States. They also provide recommendations for the next administration to develop a National AIDS Strategy.

The Revolution Will Be Personalized

It will be an uphill battle to justify some of the upfront costs of the personalized medicine revolution, given the technical, political, and educational hurdles that stand between where we are and where we want to get: to a place with better care that costs less.

Lather, Rinse, Protect

Keeping hands clean—literally and figuratively—saves money and lives. The point is worth considering as the country closes the door on an era of regulatory slumber and considers anew how to get people and institutions to behave in more socially responsible ways.

Gates Foundation Funds Research, Venture Capital Style

There’s no shortage of good researchers with groundbreaking, unfunded ideas. So the Gates Foundation will dole out $100,000 to 104 scientists around the world with the aim of cultivating novel new preventive methods or cures for treating a variety of diseases, including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

A Brief History of Lead Regulation

In a surprising move last week, the Environmental Protection Agency sided with science, environmentalists, and America’s children. It has been 30 years since the United States saw a reduction in lead emissions standards, but on October 15, EPA reduced the limits from 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter to 0.15. Here’s a timeline of lead regulation in the United States over the past 100 years.

Bacteria Outmaneuvering Proven Vaccine

It’s been about a year since MRSA, or drug-resistant staph, last made major headlines. But the news this October is about a form of Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus, that is causing meningitis, pneumonia, and bloodstream infections, according to a report in The New York Times. Rather than resisting antibiotics, the organisms in this case may have outmaneuvered a proven vaccine.

Science and Tech Policy Events This Week

Here’s a roundup of some of the science and technology policy events happening around Washington D.C. from September 15 to September 19.

What Took So Long?

Why did it take almost four months after the first report of a Salmonella St. Paul infection for the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control to find the grower responsible? Two congressional hearings yesterday and today aimed at understanding why this most recent food safety scare took so long to understand.

House Moves to Regulate Unregulated Drug Delivery Systems

With the support of cigarette manufacturer Phillip Morris USA, the House voted Wednesday to approve legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco.

End-of-the-Week Review: HIV, OTA, IMF, GMOs

A quick look at the issues making the rounds on the science blogs this week.