homeWeek in Review
THE LATEST FLU REPORTS
Global Influenza Update to Jan 14, 2011 WHO
Canadian Influenza Update to Jan 8, 2011 PHAC
NEW STUDY
'2011 Canadian Life Sciences Industry Forecast'
BIOTECanada 20 Jan 2011 (news release - pdf) Full Report (pdf)
CANADIAN NEWS
North frozen out of doctor supply
PostMedia Jan 21, 2011
In southern Canada, one doctor cares for an average of 438 people, but in the country's northern regions, one physician is responsible for the health of as many as 3,333 people, according to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada.
Vaccinations should not be optional
The Winnipeg Sun Jan 18, 2011
Refusing to vaccinate your child is a form of neglect. It’s that simple. But it’s among the more insidious forms of neglect because it’s often tangled up in genuine care.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
ETHIOPIA: Transport sector launches HIV policy
PlusNews 17 January 2011
The Ethiopian government has unveiled an HIV policy for its transport sector, which has grown significantly in recent years alongside the rapidly expanding road network.
A New Culprit: Antibiotics
The Boston Globe (Editorial) January 20, 2011
One of the great public health mysteries is why asthma has become more common among children, even as air pollution has decreased and fewer parents are smoking. One possibility is that antibiotics have kept infants’ immune systems from developing properly, making them vulnerable to asthma and allergies later on...Researchers found that infants treated with antibiotics in their first six months were...more likely to develop asthma and allergies by age 6 than babies who did not get antibiotics.
EURO: Media may have helped UK patients seek care during pandemic
Eurosurveillance Jan 20, 2011
Researchers found that the first wave of pandemic flu in Wales in 2009 saw a high rate of general practitioner (GP) consultations but a low rate of test results positive for 2009 H1N1 flu. The second wave, in contrast, had a lower rate of GP consultations for ILI but a much higher positivity rate, and the study's authors attribute the difference to intense media coverage during the first wave.
U.K. Study Supports Virus Vaccine
REUTERS Jan 20, 2011
Countries that vaccinate babies against rotavirus, which can kill in days, have significantly reduced the number of children admitted to hospitals with the disease, a report showed Thursday.
U.K. NIH’s plan to break up a Centre
ScienceInsider Jan 19, 2011
Anxiety continues to roil the biomedical community about a decision last month by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create a new center for translational research and, in the process, dismantle an existing center. On Sunday, NIH deputy director Lawrence Tabak posted online a "straw model" for how the pieces of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) might be distributed.
U.S.: Bioterror Fears Prompt U.S. to Keep Its Smallpox Cache
The Wall Street Journal January 18, 2011
The U.S. and Russia will fight international efforts this week to set a deadline to destroy the last known stocks of smallpox, saying the deadly virus is needed for research to combat bioterrorism…The U.S. says it needs to maintain the virus samples…Russia also believes the virus should be kept for research…But Washington and Moscow must win over other governments and public-health officials who fear the virus could be stolen or unleashed by accident.
Uganda: Male Circumcision May Help Protect Sexual Partners Against Cervical Cancer
The New York Times Jan 18, 2011
Researchers reported in The Lancet this month that having a circumcised partner reduced a woman’s risk of catching human papillomaviruses by about 25 percent.
Global vaccine efforts offer hope to millions
Washington Post Op Ed Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The editors of the British Medical Journal recently concluded that a 1998 study ringing alarm bells on a possible connection between vaccines and autism was an "elaborate fraud." It is the culmination of a more-than-decade-long controversy in which the charge was initially and frighteningly plausible, then embattled, then discredited by large-scale studies.
Hong Kong: Antibodies help seriously ill H1N1 patients recover
Reuters Jan 20, 2011
Patients who fell severely ill with the pandemic H1N1 flu responded well when treated with antibodies harvested from survivors of the disease, a study in Hong Kong has found.
Pfizer, biotech Theraclone strike $632M research deal
The New York Times Jan 19, 2011
Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, has agreed to pay up to $632 million to Seattle-based Theraclone Sciences in a research collaboration on antibody drugs for cancer and infectious disease, the companies said Tuesday.
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