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A New Lab-Made COVID-19 Virus Puts Gain-of-Function Research Under the Microscope
On October 14, a team of scientists at Boston University released a pre-print study reporting that they had created a version of SARS-CoV-2 combining two features of different, existing strains that boosted its virulence and transmissibility. Scientists and the public raised questions about the work, which refocused attention on such experiments, and prompted the U.S. government to investigate whether the research followed protocols for these kinds of studies. The concerns surround what is known as gain-of-function studies, in which viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens are created in the lab—either intentionally or ...
Source: TIME: Science - October 27, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news

New head of U.S. aid program for HIV/AIDS vows to refocus attention on the other, ‘silent’ pandemic
On 13 June, John Nkengasong, 58, was appointed the first African-born head of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that helps more than 50 countries respond to their HIV/AIDS epidemics. Nkengasong, who grew up in Cameroon and became a U.S. citizen in 2007, previously ran the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). PEPFAR is credited with helping save more than 20 million lives since its inception in 2003. It had a $10.7 billion budget in 2021, more than half of it spent on HIV treatment and care. The agency has relied on an acting director since Deborah Birx...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - July 5, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

What We Learned About Genetic Sequencing During COVID-19 Could Revolutionize Public Health
You don’t want to be a virus in Dr. David Ho’s lab. Pretty much every day since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Ho and his team have done nothing but find ways to stress SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease. His goal: pressure the virus relentlessly enough that it mutates to survive, so drug developers can understand how the virus might respond to new treatments. As a virologist with decades of experience learning about another obstinate virus, HIV, Ho knows just how to apply that mutation-generating stress, whether by starving the virus, bathing it in antibodies that disrupt its ability to infect cells, ...
Source: TIME: Health - June 11, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Genetics Magazine Source Type: news

Johnson & Johnson Joins World Health Organization in Efforts to Prevent Spread of Ebola in West Africa
Discussions are ongoing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding the approval of the vaccine regimen in the U.S. WHO Prequalification is often a prerequisite for national registrations of new vaccines and medicines in developing countries. Johnson & Johnson now looks forward to collaborating with the WHO’s African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF) to progress national registrations of the Company’s Ebola vaccine regimen. The Company’s Ebola vaccine regimen is designed to be used proactively to induce immunity against Ebola virus disease in adults and children. Johnson & Johnson’s Commitment to E...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - May 13, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Our Company Source Type: news

Johnson & Johnson Announces European Commission Approval for Janssen ’s Preventive Ebola Vaccine
Discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have taken place to define the required data set for filing US licensure. About Janssen’s Ebola Vaccine Regimen The Janssen preventive Ebola vaccine regimen, Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, utilizes a non-replicating viral vector strategy in which viruses – in this case adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) – are genetically modified so that they cannot replicate in human cells. In addition, these vectors carry the genetic code of several Ebola virus proteins in order to trigger an immune response.Janssen’s vaccine regimen ori...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - July 1, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Innovation Source Type: news

Johnson & Johnson Receives Positive CHMP Opinion for Janssen ’s Investigational Preventive Ebola Vaccine Regimen
Discussions with the FDA are ongoing to define the required data set for filing Janssen’s Ebola vaccine regimen under the FDA’s Animal Rule licensure pathway. About Janssen’s Ebola Vaccine Regimen The Janssen investigational preventive Ebola vaccine regimen (Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo) utilizes a viral vector strategy in which viruses – in this case adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) – are genetically modified so that they cannot replicate in human cells. In addition, these vectors are modified to safely carry the genetic code of an Ebola virus protein in order to trigger an immun...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - May 29, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Innovation Source Type: news

Trump Wants to End HIV Within 10 Years. Here ’s What That Would Take, According to Experts
About 1.1 million Americans currently live with HIV, and approximately 40,000 are infected each year, according to federal data. But in his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump promised to “eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years” — a plan that hinges on a multi-agency push for better diagnosis, treatment and prevention in at-risk communities, health officials said Wednesday. Trump introduced the plan during his annual address on Tuesday but offered few details. Health officials fleshed out the plan during a call with reporters on Wednesday. The initiative will be ove...
Source: TIME: Health - February 6, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized healthytime HIV/AIDS onetime Source Type: news

The World Is Not Ready for the Next Pandemic
Across China, the virus that could spark the next pandemic is already circulating. It’s a bird flu called H7N9, and true to its name, it mostly infects poultry. Lately, however, it’s started jumping from chickens to humans more readily–bad news, because the virus is a killer. During a recent spike, 88% of people infected got pneumonia, three-quarters ended up in intensive care with severe respiratory problems, and 41% died. What H7N9 can’t do–yet–is spread easily from person to person, but experts know that could change. The longer the virus spends in humans, the better the chance that i...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - May 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Bryan Walsh Tags: Uncategorized CDC Disease ebola Gates Foundation MERS outbreak pandemic Zika Source Type: news

How D.C.'s Mayor Plans To End The HIV Epidemic In The Capitol's Backyard
More than 13,000 people are living with HIV in Washington, D.C. That’s 2 percent of the city’s population, or double the rate that constitutes an “epidemic” in the eyes of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nancy Mahon, global executive director of the MAC AIDS Fund, the philanthropic arm of the cosmetic company MAC, says it’s “shameful” that the infection rate is so high “in the backyard of our nation’s Capitol” ― especially given the United States’ leading role in funding international AIDS work. While D.C.’s infection rate has falle...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - December 2, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Zika Virus Health Information Resources from NLM’s Outreach and Specific Populations Branch
We have all been hearing more about the mosquito-borne flavivirus transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, Zika Virus. The National Library of Medicine has gathered together these resources to assist public health departments, health care providers, librarians, and others seeking authoritative information on the virus. General Information Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Zika Virus – http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html World Health Organization (WHO) Zika virus disease – http://www.who.int/csr/disease/zika/en/ Zika Virus Fact sheet ...
Source: Dragonfly - January 27, 2016 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Emily Glenn Tags: News from NLM Public Health Source Type: news