West Virginia Lawmakers OK Bill Drawing Back One of the Strictest Child Vaccination Laws
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s GOP-controlled state Legislature voted Saturday to allow some students who don’t attend traditional public schools to be exempt from state vaccination requirements that have long been held up as among the most strict in the country. The bill was approved despite the objections of Republican Senate Health and Human Resources Chair Mike Maroney, a trained doctor, who called the bill “an embarrassment” and said he believed lawmakers were harming the state. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “I took an oath to do no harm. There’s zer...
Source: TIME: Health - March 10, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: LEAH WILLINGHAM / AP Tags: Uncategorized News Desk wire Source Type: news

What Happened When a Man Got 217 COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19 vaccines have been key to controlling the pandemic, but researchers in Germany report on one man who took the vaccination message to the extreme. The subject of the research published in Lancet Infectious Diseases is a 62-year-old man from Magdeburg, Germany who claims to have received 217 COVID-19 vaccinations within about 2.5 years. (German prosecutors confirmed he received 130 shots in nine months during an investigation into fraud; ultimately, they did not file criminal charges.) [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] It’s not clear why the man wanted so many vaccinations or how he obtained...
Source: TIME: Health - March 6, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news

Durham gene editing firm raising $40M for Hepatitis B treatment
Precision BioSciences continues to push forward its gene editing platform even as a wave of challenges impacts the sector. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines - March 4, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Zac Ezzone Source Type: news

North Carolina biotech inks $30M deal to expand its global pipeline
A biotechnology firm in Durham is betting millions on a potential treatment for hepatitis B. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines - February 15, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Zac Ezzone Source Type: news

World Cancer Day 2024
Cancer is a major contributor to global mortality, causing about 1 in every 6 deaths and affecting nearly every household (1). Globally, there were an estimated 20 million new cases of cancer and 9.7 million deaths from cancer in 2022. The cancer burden will increase by about 77% by 2050, further straining health systems, people and communities (2). In the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region alone, more than 788 000 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2022. This number is projected to double to reach 1.57 million cases by 2045, because of population growth and, more importantly, the high prevalence of cancer risk factors in...
Source: WHO EMRO News - February 1, 2024 Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news

[Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR] Roche exceeds guidance and achieves sales growth of 1% (CER) for 2023 despite sharp COVID-19 sales decline
Group salesgrow by 1%1 at constant exchange rates (CER; -7% in CHF), more than offsetting the decline in COVID-19-related sales and biosimilar erosion, and thereby exceeding 2023 guidanceExcluding COVID-19 products,Group sales increase by 8%Pharmaceuticals Divisionsalesincrease by 6% (excluding COVID-19 medicine Ronapreve: +9%) due to ongoing high demand for newer medicines, with eye medicine Vabysmo continuing to be the top growth driver, followed by Ocrevus (multiple sclerosis), Hemlibra (haemophilia A) and Polivy (blood cancer)Diagnostics Division salesare 13% lower due to high demand for COVID-19 tests in 2022; strong ...
Source: Roche Media News - February 1, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

[Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR] Roche exceeds guidance and achieves sales growth of 1% (CER) for 2023 despite sharp COVID-19 sales decline
Group salesgrow by 1%1 at constant exchange rates (CER; -7% in CHF), more than offsetting the decline in COVID-19-related sales and biosimilar erosion, and thereby exceeding 2023 guidanceExcluding COVID-19 products,Group sales increase by 8%Pharmaceuticals Divisionsalesincrease by 6% (excluding COVID-19 medicine Ronapreve: +9%) due to ongoing high demand for newer medicines, with eye medicine Vabysmo continuing to be the top growth driver, followed by Ocrevus (multiple sclerosis), Hemlibra (haemophilia A) and Polivy (blood cancer)Diagnostics Division salesare 13% lower due to high demand for COVID-19 tests in 2022; strong ...
Source: Roche Investor Update - February 1, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

Patient adherence to ultrasound liver cancer surveillance recs is low
Patient adherence to ultrasound hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance imaging recommendations has been suboptimal, according to research published January 12 in Radiology: Imaging Cancer.Ultrasound is considered a cost-effective surveillance method in the management of HCC, a common type of liver cancer associated with long-term liver damage and scarring of the liver and chronic infections such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C, a research team from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) noted. But whether patients comply with surveillance recommendations prompted by the ultrasound LI-RADS metric isn't cle...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - January 16, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Source Type: news

Antivirals Aid HBeAg-Negative Chronic Hepatitis B Patients
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3, 2024 -- Continuous nucleos(t)ide analog treatment is effective in lowering the risk for liver cirrhosis in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B patients, according to a study published in the December... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - January 3, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

ChatGPT perpetuates racial and gender biases
ChatGPT-4 consistently produces clinical vignettes that stereotype certain races, ethnicities, and genders, according to a study published in the January issue of The Lancet: Digital Health.The findings highlight an urgent need for comprehensive and transparent bias assessments of LLM tools such as GPT-4 before they are integrated into clinical care, wrote a team led by Travis Zack, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco.“Our results underscore the need for caution in deployment of LLMs for clinical applications to ensure LLMs do not further exacerbate health inequities,” the group wrote.Large language mod...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - January 2, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Will Morton Tags: Radiology Education Artificial Intelligence Source Type: news

Africa: The 3rd African Hepatitis Summit - 'Putting Africa On Track Towards Viral Hepatitis Elimination
[Africa CDC] Viral hepatitis remains a pressing concern, causing over 125,000 deaths annually in Africa alone, despite the existence of effective treatments and Hepatitis B vaccine. It is alarming that in Africa, over 70% of people living with viral hepatitis are unaware of their status and more than 90% lack necessary care. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - December 21, 2023 Category: African Health Tags: Africa Health and Medicine Source Type: news

Africa: Alliance Introduces New Vaccine Programmes to Save More Lives and Support Child Health
[GAVI] Geneva -- Countries can now submit plans to introduce diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP)-containing vaccine boosters (DTP boosters) and the six-in-one hexavalent vaccine Gavi and partners are also working towards expanding the portfolio of offerings in 2024, including the hepatitis B birth dose and rabies vaccines Thabani Maphosa, Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery, Gavi: "By continually expanding our vaccine portfolio, and targeting the children and communities most frequently left behind, we (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - December 5, 2023 Category: African Health Tags: Africa Children and Youth External Relations Health and Medicine International Organizations and Africa NGOs and Civil Society Source Type: news

Roche expands hepatitis diagnostics portfolio to help clinicians diagnose and monitor patients with acute or chronic hepatitis B infection
Elecsys ® HBeAg quant is an immunoassay that can be used as an early marker of acute hepatitis B infection, as well as an indicator of chronic active hepatitis in combination with other laboratory results and clinical information.The single test will inform clinicians if treatment is required and regimens are working in conjunction with other diagnostic assays.Almost 300 million people globally have chronic hepatitis B, causing a significant burden to health systems as it puts patients at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.1Basel, 27 November 2023 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced the la...
Source: Roche Media News - November 27, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

How Late Can You Give Routine Newborn Care?
Discussion Routine newborn screening and treatment is focused on assisting the infant’s transition to extrauterine life, screening for health problems that may or may not be easily identifiable, and preventing acute or chronic health problems. Healthy infants begin with healthy pregnancies including risk factor assessment and screening of mothers. Such routine maternal screening and treatment does or may include glucose tolerance tests, ultrasound examinations, screenings for maternal blood type (with appropriate administration of Rho(D) immunoglobulin if appropriate), Hepatitis B, Neisseria gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Cyt...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - November 20, 2023 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Pediatric Education Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news

How Late Can You Give Routine Newborn Care?
Discussion Routine newborn screening and treatment is focused on assisting the infant’s transition to extrauterine life, screening for health problems that may or may not be easily identifiable, and preventing acute or chronic health problems. Healthy infants begin with healthy pregnancies including risk factor assessment and screening of mothers. Such routine maternal screening and treatment does or may include glucose tolerance tests, ultrasound examinations, screenings for maternal blood type (with appropriate administration of Rho(D) immunoglobulin if appropriate), Hepatitis B, Neisseria gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Cyt...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - November 20, 2023 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Pediatric Education Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news