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Shots - Health News
West Nile Virus Makes A Comeback This Summer
August 2, 2012 An unusual number of severe West Nile cases has prompted a warning from federal health officials. Most of the cases have occurred in just three states — Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma — but cases are occurring throughout the country.
Shots - Health News
NIH Official Calls For Extension Of Moratorium On Bird Flu Experiments
July 31, 2012 Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said public discussions about controversial bird flu experiments are needed before a moratorium on them can be lifted.
Shots - Health News
As Ebola Cases Rise In Uganda, Health Workers Seek To Contain Virus
July 31, 2012 Since the World Health Organization reported an Ebola outbreak in Uganda on Saturday, the number of cases has risen to 36 from 20. The cases remain limited to a small area in western Uganda. An international team is on the scene to identify the source and contain the outbreak.
Shots - Health News
What Does The Future Hold For Bird Flu Research?
July 30, 2012 Scientists gather in New York to consider the future of bird flu research after a moratorium on the work passes. Critics say the work and its findings could pose security risks, but scientists defend their experiments as preparation for outbreaks.
Shots - Health News
Ebola Outbreak Kills At Least 14 In Uganda
July 30, 2012 At least 20 people have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus in rural Uganda. The number of infections is expected to rise, as more patients are admitted to hospitals. An international team has been dispatched to the region to contain the outbreak.
Shots - Health News
'Calling My Children' And The Faces Of AIDS
July 26, 2012 Photographer David Binder has been telling the stories of people with AIDS for 25 years. Binder's photographs of Gail Farrow, who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion, and her family shattered prevailing perceptions of the epidemic. His documentary on her struggle was screened this week in Washington.
Shots - Health News
Epidemics Prefer Changing Planes In JFK Over ATL
July 25, 2012 Researchers at MIT have developed a pretty nifty computer model to figure out the most influential U.S. airports in the early stages of an epidemic's spread. John F. Kennedy International is No. 1, followed by Los Angeles International. You might be surprised to learn that Honolulu's airport ranks third.
Shots - Health News
Track The Spread Of AIDS Across The Globe
July 25, 2012 A handful of AIDS cases were first recognized in the U.S. at the beginning of the 1980s. By 1990, there was a pandemic. In 1997, more than 3 million people became newly infected with HIV. A multimedia chart lets you track the cases by country over time.
Shots - Health News
Needle Exchanges Often Overlooked In AIDS Fight
July 24, 2012 Few strategies to prevent HIV infection are so effective, or so thoroughly proved. Yet needle exchanges aren't offered in some places that have been hit hard by the virus. In the U.S. there is pressure on funding that raises concerns the programs could be curtailed.
Shots - Health News
U.S. AIDS Cases Come Into View
July 23, 2012 The first reports of AIDS were from Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco among gay and bisexual men. Even now, you can see the lingering geographic contours of how the epidemic unfolded with AIDSVu, an interactive map developed by Emory University's school of public health.
Shots - Health News
AIDS Returns To The U.S. Spotlight
July 23, 2012 The leading international AIDS conference returns to the U.S. after a 22-year hiatus. A lot has happened in the years since the conference was last here. Treatments have turned a disease with a near-certain death sentence into a disease that people can live with for decades. And there is evidence that the epidemic could be greatly slowed or even stopped.
Shots - Health News
San Francisco Thwarts HIV With Wide Testing, Universal Treatment
July 23, 2012 A new approach in San Francisco provides HIV testing and treatment for patients with the virus who didn't know they were at risk. "Test and treat" requires long-term vigilance by doctors and patients, but early evidence suggests that it is reducing HIV in the city.
Shots - Health News
Activists Fear Brazil's Triumph Over HIV Has Fizzled
July 20, 2012 When other countries were struggling to deal with the HIV epidemic, Brazil openly acknowledged the problem and launched aggressive campaigns to raise awareness and treat the disease. But activists now say say there are no longer organized HIV prevention efforts.
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HIV Cure Is Closer As Patient's Full Recovery Inspires New Research
July 18, 2012 After Timothy Ray Brown became the first person to be cured of HIV, scientists became more optimistic that they could find other ways to cure patients. Two of the most promising possibilities include a vaccine and gene therapy that would re-engineer the immune system.
Shots - Health News
Cholera Vaccination Test Reached Targets In Haiti
July 17, 2012 Almost 90 percent of the target population – half in Port-au-Prince and the other half in a remote rural area – got fully protected against cholera. The results defy the forecasts of skeptics who said in advance of the campaign that it would be lucky to protect 60 percent of the target populations.