Bioterrorism Week articles from August 2003

Bioterrorism Week archives from August 2003

Electron microscopy can differentiate poxviruses from herpesviruses.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Electron microscopy can differentiate poxviruses from herpesviruses. According to a study from the United States, "With increased threat of terrorism, much attention is being directed toward...

Study tests vaccine bandages.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As questions continue to swirl around President Bush's national smallpox vaccination plan, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a new smallpox bandage trial that will help answer questions...

Researchers discover novel mechanism of how anthrax impairs immunity.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the first study of its kind, researchers led by Bali Pulendran, PhD, at the Emory Vaccine Center and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center have shown that anthrax lethal factor (LF) impairs the...

Revaccination with smallpox possible with diluted vaccine.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Adults can be revaccinated against smallpox relatively safely if the vaccine is diluted 10-fold, according to a report published in the Journal of the...

Statement on smallpox vaccinations for emergency physicians released.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A statement on smallpox vaccinations for emergency physicians has been released by the AAEM/SAEM Smallpox Vaccination Working Group. "On December 13, 2002, President Bush formally announced the...

Researchers find test for bioweapons.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sensors that light up within seconds after coming into contact with a dangerous virus or bacteria may allow emergency workers in the field to quickly detect any weapons of bioterrorism, researchers say....

Collaborative grant to Rutgers and Georgia for research.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) has announced a cooperative research antiterrorism grant of $100,000 to a team of scientists from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and the former Soviet...

CDC: Virus may still be a threat.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A top U.S. health official worries that Americans have been "lulled into a false sense of security" about the threat of smallpox, because biological agents have not yet been found in Iraq. The need...

Heart Association comments on patients with dilated cardiomyopathy following vaccine.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that two patients contracted dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) 3 months after receiving the smallpox vaccine. Smallpox vaccinations have not...

Myopericarditis is potential adverse reaction to smallpox vaccination.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Clinicians involved in smallpox vaccination programs should be aware of myopericarditis as a potential adverse reaction, according to a report in the...

Researchers look for guidance on vaccinating children against smallpox.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers are looking for guidance on vaccinating children against smallpox in emergency situations. According to a study from the United States, "Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September...

U.S. Army awards researcher $1 million grant to develop vaccine.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A bacteriologist in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine has been awarded a $1.06 million grant from the U.S. Army to develop a vaccine for tularemia. Thomas J. Inzana,...

Focal and generalized folliculitis common after smallpox vaccination.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Focal and generalized folliculitis was noted in people immunized against smallpox for the first time, according to a report in the Journal of the...

Detrick vaccine tested.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Work done at the U.S. Army's research institute at Fort Detrick, Maryland, has led to several clinical trials across the country for a possible new anthrax vaccine. The new vaccine would require...

Terrorism task force tests prototype portable hospital.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When a woman on an international flight arrived in Pittsburgh with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis about 18 months ago, Eric Poach knew that Mercy Hospital could treat her without risking other...

Upgrades aid lab in fighting bioterrorism.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Kentucky's public health laboratory complex will soon be equipped to identify bioterrorism agents within hours instead of days. The facility has received a major upgrade at a cost more than $1...

New European agency proposed to tackle future outbreaks, bioterrorist threats.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The European Commission proposed setting up its own European Center for Disease Prevention and Control to give the E.U.'s head office more powers to tackle diseases like SARS or bioterrorist threats....

License agreement executed for rights to ricin vaccine technology.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DOR BioPharma, Inc., announced it has executed an exclusive worldwide license agreement with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT Southwestern) to license issued U.S....

Program to vaccinate health workers against smallpox is faltering.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The number of health care workers vaccinated against smallpox varies widely across the country, a top federal health official said in July, offering the most detailed picture yet of the foundering...

War in Iraq and continued security concerns present significant challenges.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The war in Iraq and subsequent security problems, disruption of disease control programs, damage to public health facilities, and reduced access to safe water have created challenges for the control of...

Emergency smallpox vaccination may not allow for informed consent.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Emergency smallpox vaccination may not allow for informed consent in the event of an attack. According to published research from the United States, "In the event of a widespread biological attack...

Antibiotic treatment may not be sufficient.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- People exposed to high levels of anthrax may need more than the 60 days of antibiotics currently recommended, researchers say. A team at Johns Hopkins University developed a mathematical analysis...

Vaccine maker reports net loss of $3.2M in second quarter.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avant Immunotherapeutics, Inc., (AVAN) reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2003. The company reported a net loss of $3.2 million, or $.05 per share, for the second...

NIH awards grant for optimization of three key antibodies.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Diversa Corp. (DVSA) announced that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has awarded the company a grant for optimization...

Sensor detects pathogens quickly and accurately.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory and department of biology report that they have created a fast, powerful new sensor that can identify everything from SARS to...

Pediatricians should prepare for potential radiation disasters.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of radiation and so pediatricians should prepare for potential radiation disasters. According to a study from the United States, "The special...

Joint venture completes phase I vaccinia immune globulin trial.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) announced that DynPort Vaccine Company LLC (DVC), a joint venture between CSC and Porton International, has completed a second phase I clinical trial to evaluate the...

WTC pollution linked to smaller babies.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Air pollution from the World Trade Center attacks may have resulted in smaller babies among pregnant mothers who were in or near the collapsing towers, preliminary research suggests. Exposed...

Delaware to protect patients with access to patient records at point of care.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Delaware is embarking on becoming the first state in the nation to provide statewide electronic access to clinical information at the point of care. A key to the system is that patient consent is...

Patent filed for rapid DNA, protein detection.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Accelr8 Technology Corporation (ACLY) said the company filed a provisional patent application for microarraying methods to rapidly detect and quantitatively measure nucleic acids and proteins in a...

Army sends teams to probe Iraq illness.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Army is trying to figure out what is causing a rash of serious pneumonia cases, including two fatalities, among soldiers serving in Iraq. A six-person team of specialists has been sent to Iraq...

License agreement signed for injectable rights to ricin vaccine technology.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DOR BioPharma, Inc., announced it has executed an exclusive worldwide license agreement with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT Southwestern) to license issued U.S....