health
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Ebola vaccine from Glaxo passes early safety test
(Reuters) – An experimental Ebola vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline caused no serious side effects and produced an immune response in all 20 healthy volunteers who received it in an early-stage clinical trial, scientists reported on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial, which began on Sept. 2 and will monitor the volunteers for 48 weeks, is primarily…
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Chikungunya vaccine successful in clinical trial
VIENNA, Austria I November 23, 2014 I The Austrian biotech company Themis Bioscience GmbH in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur (Paris, France) have developed a prophylactic vaccine against chikungunya.The vaccine appears to be safe, and produced an immune response that researchers suspect would protect people against infection. The Vienna-based biotech company Themis Bioscience GmbH (‘Themis’) has received final results of…
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New strain of Chikungunya in Brazil could spur North American outbreak
BAHIA, Brazil, Wednesday November 12, 2014 (AMG) — The Chikungunya outbreak which continues to affect thousands of Caribbean residents since it first appeared in St. Martin last year has been relatively self-limiting in the United States, due to the fact that the current strain only spreads through the Aedes egypti mosquito vector, which is uncommon on the US Eastern seaboard.…
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CACRICOM, UNFPA framework aims to reduce adolescent pregnancy in region
ADOLESCENT pregnancy in the Caribbean could decline by 20 per cent between 2015 and 2019 if an initiative by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) succeeds. Last year, UNFPA and Caricom unveiled a strategic framework aimed at reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in countries of the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, executive…
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Drugs and tourism combine to raise HIV risk in Caribbean
New research shows how drugs in the Dominican Republican’s touristy areas present barriers to preventing HIV. The Caribbean has the second highest global HIV prevalence in the world outside of Sub-Saharan Africa, with HIV/AIDS as leading cause of death among people aged 20–59 years within the region. Particularly hard-hit are the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti, on the island of…
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Statement At The Conclusion of the Seventeenth Special Meeting of The Conference of Heads of Government of The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Public Health Challenges Port-Of-Spain Trinidad 4 November, 2014
Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met in special session in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 4 November, 2014, for deliberations on the two current public health challenges facing the Community: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD); and the Chikungunya outbreak. Heads of Government expressed considerable concern, not just in relation to the possible health impact of the Ebola…
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OECS Health Ministers say Chik-V and Ebola are urgent priorities
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Monday October 20, 2014 – Health Ministers of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, OECS, have identified Chikungunya and Ebola as the most urgent public health priorities facing the region at this time. In a statement issued Monday by the St. Lucia-based OECS Commission, the Ministers said that given the actual and potential socio-economic impact of both…
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UN: Ebola No Threat Yet To The Caribbean – UN and specialized agencies must prevent Ebola spread
Act now and avert a global public health emergency. That, in essence, was the urgent demand of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Guyana, Barbados and their Caribbean neighbors and the plea was made at the United Nations in New York at a time when the U.S. was seeking to tame rising domestic worries about the potential spread of the deadly…
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Ebola survivors’ blood to treat deadly disease
Anastassia Cunningham, Health Coordinator The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the blood of patients who recover from the deadly Ebola virus could be used to treat those still suffering from the disease. Like other infections, infected humans produce antibodies in the blood in an attempt to fight off an Ebola attack. According to scientific theory, those antibodies can…
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St. Lucia prepares to deal with possible threat of Ebola virus
CASTRIES, St.Lucia, Oct. 2, CMC – Senior Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sharon Belmar-George says the country is improving its readiness and ability to respond, to a possible threat of the Ebola virus . Belmar says Ministry of Health has taken an approach approved by both regional and international standards. This includes education and sensitization for health…
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