Mediaboss Marketing

HIV/AIDS, the most publicized deadly virus is fast becoming a national calamity, as it spreads throughout the political subdivisions of Liberia.

By All Account, the virus is endangering the lives of thousands, especially the youth population from which much is expected in terms of national development.

As WE SPEAK, hundreds of people either consciously or unconsciously have fallen prey to the deadly HIV/AIDS virus. In some clinics and hospitals in Liberia, diagnosed HIV/AIDS infections are apparently dominating the report.

AT GANTA, PHEBE, CATHOLIC, ELWA Hospitals and the Government Hospital in Buchanan, reports of HIV/AIDS diagnoses are very disturbing. At these various hospitals, HIV/AIDS diagnoses are being made on a daily basis, with nearly 20% of those tested proven positive.

TRUTHFULLY, THE HIV/AIDS infections' rate is multiplying across the country. Death rate in relation to the virus is seemingly high although some people ignorantly associate it(death rate) with "witchcraft activities" and "African Science".

NO DOUBT, the children, young and the elderly are sufferers of this deadly disease.

IN SEVERAL HOSPITALS and Clinics across the country, the conditions of HIV/AIDS sufferers are bad. Some of the victims, with absolutely no hope of survival, whimper for death. Often associated with pain and frustration, the virus is by all account a threat to humanity.

WITH THESE CANDID analysis and coupled with our desire to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS virus in the country, we will, like in our previous editorials, call on the Government of Liberia, United Nations and all HIV/AIDS crusaders to join the campaign aimed at fighting this killer disease.

WE BELIEVE, the fight against this killer disease will achieve its desired objectives once we all work collectively.

Copyright 2012 Heritage. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

Read the original:
Liberia: Let Us Pay Heed!

by Jacqueline Quynh

KTVB.COM

Posted on May 30, 2012 at 11:06 AM

Updated today at 4:11 PM

BOISE-- Mosquitoes can not only be annoying, they can also carry potentially deadly illnesses.

Case in point: the summer of 2006 when 23 people in Idaho died in connection with the West Nile virus. Experts say while 2012's wet spring doesn't guarantee a bumper crop of 'skeeters' here in Idaho, they caution folks to be on the lookout.

Why?

At least one case of West Nile Virus has already shown up in Pennsylvania. Now, national experts say the East Coast could see its worst mosquito season in decades due to 2012's unusual weather patterns.

Will mosquitoes 'suck' here in Idaho?

According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, it may be difficult to predict a potential rise in cases of West Nile virus here in Idaho. However, department spokesman Tom Shanahan says everyone should be prepared to deal with an outbreak because conditions could be favorable for a rise in the mosquito population.

See the rest here:
Idaho could see new batch of 'killer' mosquitos

Animal Studies Indicate Vacc-C5 Generates Immune Responses to HIV, Similar to Those in HIV Patients who Naturally Suppress the Virus

OSLO, NORWAY--(Marketwire - May 29, 2012) - Bionor Pharma ASA (OSLO: BIONOR)

News Summary

Bionor Pharma ASA (OSLO: BIONOR) announced today that the first study of Bionor Pharma's Vacc-C5 is now approved to begin at Oslo University Hospital. Vacc-C5 is a therapeutic HIV vaccine developed to slow down or stop induction of immune hyperactivation, a feature that drives the production of HIV and is damaging the immune system, leading to AIDS. Vacc-C5 also may have the potential to be a preventive vaccine, alone or in combination with Vacc-4x.

The phase I/II study will use Vacc-C5 at three different dose levels, in order to evaluate safety and provide a determination for the optimal dose of the vaccine, when given intradermally (in the skin) or intramuscularly.

"The pre-clinical studies of Vacc-C5 in rabbits, and sheep, as well as data confirming an association between high antibody levels and slow progression of HIV in humans have generated considerable interest," said Dag Kvale, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator at Oslo University Hospital. "We look forward to see how people living with HIV respond when on Vacc-C5."

The study seeks to recruit 36 patients who have been infected with HIV for at least one year. Study participants must have been stable on antiretroviral therapy (ART, traditional HIV medicine) for at least six months with a viral load of less than 50 copies per milliliter. The primary endpoint of the trial is to evaluate safety of the vaccine at three different dose levels. Secondary endpoints include measuring specific antibody and T-cell responses to Vacc-C5 and to evaluate T-cell activation markers. Vacc-C5 will be given in combination with two different adjuvants, (that enhance the immune response), either GM-CSF (Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor) or Alhydrogel (an aluminum-based treatment).

How Vacc-C5 is considered to Work, in Comparison to Vacc-4x Vacc-C5 generates antibodies based on modified, manufactured (synthetic) peptides from the C5 region (of gp 120) at the HIV-virus surface. Data suggest that anti-C5 antibodies may play a crucial role for Natural Viral Suppressors, a group of people who are able to control the HIV infection without the need of HIV medication.

Bionor Pharma has filed a patent application covering Vacc-C5.

The further strategy is to use Vacc-C5 in combination with Vacc-4x since Vacc-4x already has via T-cell (killer cell) responses shown to lower the viral load set point (stabilized virus level) by statistically significant levels compared to placebo.

More:
First Human Clinical Study of HIV Vaccine Vacc-C5 Approved to Begin

Iran claimed on Tuesday to have come up with an anti-virus programme against "Flame," extraordinarily sophisticated malware that hit its servers and deployed various spying modules, apparently at the behest of a foreign power.

"Tools to recognise and clean this malware have been developed and, as of today, they will be available for those (Iranian) organisations and companies who want it," Maher, a computer emergency response team coordination centre in Iran's telecommunications ministry, said on its website.

Flame, a crafty volume of code that can steal files, take screenshots, activate computer microphones to record conversations, log keystrokes and carry out other activities controlled remotely, was identified this week by leading anti-virus firms around the world.

Maher said Flame was undetectable by 43 different anti-virus programmes it tested, forcing it to come up with its own defence after "months of research." It did not give details of how its Flame-killer worked.

Iran appeared to be the main target of the worm-like malware, though it was also detected in other regions, including Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Sudan and Syria.

The virus hit Iran's oil ministry servers in April, forcing authorities to shut them down.

"Experts from Maher... have said that the theft of large volumes of data in recent weeks was caused by Flame," the Fars news agency reported.

Anti-virus experts said Flame was many times more sophisticated than Stuxnet, a virus that in 2010 infected computers running Iran's sensitive uranium enrichment, knocking out hundreds of centrifuges, or a cousin to Stuxnet, Duqu, which struck in 2011.

The staggering complexity of all three of these viruses suggested a nation-state was responsible, with suspicion falling on the United States or Israel.

Flame is "actively being used as a cyber weapon attacking entities in several countries," a top Russian anti-virus software firm, Kaspersky Lab, said in a statement late on Monday, describing its purpose as "cyberespionage."

View post:
Middle East Online

AFP Tuesday, May 29, 2012

TEHRAN - Iran claimed on Tuesday to have come up with an anti-virus programme against "Flame," extraordinarily sophisticated malware that hit its servers and deployed various spying modules, apparently at the behest of a foreign power.

"Tools to recognise and clean this malware have been developed and, as of today, they will be available for those (Iranian) organisations and companies who want it," Maher, a computer emergency response team coordination centre in Iran's telecommunications ministry, said on its website.

Flame, a crafty volume of code that can steal files, take screenshots, activate computer microphones to record conversations, log keystrokes and carry out other activities controlled remotely, was identified this week by leading anti-virus firms around the world.

Maher said Flame was undetectable by 43 different anti-virus programmes it tested, forcing it to come up with its own defence after "months of research." It did not give details of how its Flame-killer worked.

Iran appeared to be the main target of the worm-like malware, though it was also detected in other regions, including Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Sudan and Syria.

The virus hit Iran's oil ministry servers in April, forcing authorities to shut them down.

"Experts from Maher... have said that the theft of large volumes of data in recent weeks was caused by Flame," the Fars news agency reported.

Anti-virus experts said Flame was many times more sophisticated than Stuxnet, a virus that in 2010 infected computers running Iran's sensitive uranium enrichment, knocking out hundreds of centrifuges, or a cousin to Stuxnet, Duqu, which struck in 2011.

The staggering complexity of all three of these viruses suggested a nation-state was responsible, with suspicion falling on the United States or Israel.

Read more:
Iran readies anti-virus for 'Flame' spy malware