News

The Eradication Calculation

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 03:52 Written by Charles Kenny

On January 13, India became the latest country to celebrate a year completely polio-free. After more than a century as a global scourge and hundreds of thousands lives lost, polio may now be on the verge of being the second human disease wiped off the face of the Earth -- after smallpox, which was eradicated 36 years ago. But the global battle to defeat polio is expensive -- and we're by no means sure of victory. That does raise the question: is it worth it?

In 1952, more than 50,000 kids were paralyzed by a polio outbreak in the United States. Today, the disease is unknown in America -- and across much of the rest of the world. In 1981, there were more than 65,000 new cases reported worldwide to the World Health Organization. That number dropped to 1,348 in 2010 and 628 in 2011. That progress has saved as many as five million kids from paralysis worldwide and is thanks to a global effort involving millions of volunteers, health workers, and government officials, as well as the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Rotary and Gates Foundations.

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For Intrigue, Malaria Drug Gets the Prize

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 03:07 Written by Donald G. McNeil Jr.

The Chinese drug artemisinin has been hailed as one of the greatest advances in fighting malaria, the scourge of the tropics, since the discovery of quinine centuries ago.

Artemisinin’s discovery is being talked about as a candidate for a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Millions of American taxpayer dollars are spent on it for Africa every year.

But few people realize that in one of the paradoxes of history, the drug was discovered thanks to Mao Zedong, who was acting to help the North Vietnamese in their jungle war against the Americans. Or that it languished for 30 years thanks to China’s isolation and the indifference of Western donors, health agencies and drug companies.

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Rotary beats $200m polio fundraising target

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 03:02 Written by http://ribi.org/news

Rotary clubs in Great Britain and Ireland, and the rest of the world, have succeeded in raising USD$200 million in new funding for polio eradication.

The fundraising milestone was reached in response to a USD$355 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, set in 2007, which would be given if Rotary had raised USD$200m by June this year. All funds have been earmarked to support polio immunisation activities in affected countries where this vaccine-preventable disease continues to paralyse children.

In addition to delivering the promised USD$355m challenge, an additional USD$50m from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is being committed to the global fight against polio. This brings the total funding to USD$610m for polio eradication.

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Nanoparticle trick 'boosts body's vaccine response'

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 02:56 Written by http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Tiny capsules engineered to mimic part of the body's immune system could strengthen its response to vaccines, say researchers.

The nanoparticles, described in the journal Nature Materials, are a message sent from cells in the skin to warn of a threat.

Scientists from Duke University in the US said mice given them as part of a vaccine coped with otherwise lethal infections.

They could soon be suitable for humans.

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Brazil Introduces Inactivated Polio Vaccine in National Immunization Program

Tuesday, 24 January 2012 16:59 Written by http://www.4-traders.com/SANOFI-4698/new

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced today that Brazil has chosen to introduce injectable polio vaccine in its national immunization program with inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) from Sanofi Pasteur. The IPV doses will be provided by Bio-Manguinhos, the Institute of Technology in Immuno- biologicals of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), through an agreement with Sanofi Pasteur. IPV will be included in the Brazilian national immunization program starting in 2012.

"Injectable polio vaccine is the standard of care for polio vaccination in polio-free countries. Sanofi Pasteur commends the decision made by Brazil to introduce this vaccine in its public immunization program," said Olivier Charmeil, President and CEO of Sanofi Pasteur. "We are very pleased to contribute again to Brazilian public health history by partnering with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation to ensure the availability of IPV to millions of children in Brazil."

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