Also in Global Health News: TB Drug and Diagnostic, Cameroon Vaccination Campaigns
Biotech Sequella Begins Phase One Trial of TB Drug-Sensitive, Resistant Antibiotic
Phase one trials of an antibiotic aimed at stopping drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis have begun in three groups of volunteers in Kansas, the Washington Business Journal reports. Biotech firm Sequella "has earned fast-track and orphan drug status" from the FDA to test the drug, which has already been proven safe in a single dose. The new trial will determine if the drug is safe to take on a daily basis. Sequella is in "the final stages of testing a skin patch to diagnose TB, a product it hopes to start selling to developing countries by early next year" (Sinha, Washington Business Journal, 5/5).
Cameroon Launches Yellow Fever, Polio Vaccination Campaign
Cameroon's Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda, has announced a nationwide vaccination campaign against yellow fever and polio, Cameroon Radio Television reports. The effort is targeting eight million people older than nine months for the yellow fever vaccine and four million children under age five for the polio vaccine (Tatah, CRTV, 5/5). After yellow fever was discovered in an eastern region in Cameroon, health officials became concerned of wider spread. The Cameroon Tribune/AllAfrica.com reports that the yellow fever vaccine protects for 10 years against this mosquito-borne disease. The health minister "added that it has no cure and it is very contagious and also kills easily" (Tambenkongho, Cameroon Tribune/AllAfrica.com, 5/5).
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