This just in:

Patient’s Cells Deployed to Attack Aggressive Cancer

Doctors have taken an important step toward a long-sought goal: harnessing a person’s own immune system to fight cancer.

An article published Thursday in the journal Science describes the treatment of a 43-year-old woman with an advanced and deadly type of cancer that had spread from her bile duct to her liver and lungs, despite chemotherapy.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute sequenced the genome of her cancer and identified cells from her immune system that attacked a specific mutation in the malignant cells. Then they grew those immune cells in the laboratory and infused billions of them back into her bloodstream.

Read the rest of the story in this New York Times article

Disease outbreak doesn't lead to higher childhood vaccination rates
Even when a whooping cough outbreak was in full swing in Washington state in 2012, childhood vaccination rates did not increase, according to a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting. Researchers found a 2.1% difference in the number of infants who received the recommended doses of the DTaP vaccine before and during the outbreak, which was not statistically significant. NBC News (5/5), HealthDay News (5/5)
~~~
WHO raises worldwide alarm on spread of polio
The recent detection of polio across 10 countries in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East prompted the World Health Organization to declare on Monday the spread of the disease as an international public health emergency. The agency said Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon should require their residents to present a certificate proving that they have been vaccinated against the disease before traveling abroad. WHO also said seven other countries should encourage travelers to be vaccinated. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (5/5), The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (5/5)

CDC announces first case of MERS in U.S.

On May 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, announced its first report of a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in the U.S. The patient is in a hospital in Indiana after flying from Saudi Arabia to Chicago via London, then taking the bus to Indiana. According to the CDC, this first U.S. case represents a very low risk to the public. A CDC Health Advisory provides background and recommendations, and the CDC has online information for healthcare providers. MERS was first reported in 2012, with 401 confirmed cases to date, all of which originated in six countries in the Arabian Peninsula.


WHO report calls antimicrobial resistance serious threat to health

Antimicrobial resistance is a serious, worldwide threat to public health, according to “Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance 2014,” which the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, released April 30. WHO says resistance is “happening right now in every region of the world.”