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Green Tea Chemical Shows Potential As Low-Cost Intervention Against Sexual HIV Transmission, Study Says
A chemical found in green tea might be an effective tool against the sexual transmission of HIV, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, AFP/Google.com reports. According to the study, green tea polyphenol -- called epigallocatechin-3-gallete, or EGCG -- neutralizes a protein in sperm that aids in the transmission of HIV during sex. The researchers noted that they "recently identified a peptide fraction in human semen that consistently enhanced HIV-1 infection." The study found that EGCG is able to neutralize the sperm protein, known as a semen-derived enhancer of virus infection, or SEVI. The researchers said that SEVI is "an important infectivity factor of HIV." According to the researchers, EGCG "appears to be a promising supplement to antiretroviral microbicides to reduce sexual transmission of HIV-1." The researchers said that because a majority of people living with HIV contract the disease through heterosexual transmission and that 96% of new cases are reported in developing and impoverished nations, the use of green tea in topical creams could be a "simple and affordable prevention method" (AFP/Google.com, 5/19).
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Report Examines Zimbabwean Refugees In South Africa
According to a report released Tuesday by Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF), "Zimbabweans continue to cross the border [into South Africa] every day, legally and illegally, in massive numbers as a matter of survival," AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/2). An estimated "three million Zimbabweans - about a quarter of the entire population" have fled "the economic collapse and human rights abuses at home, as well as a cholera outbreak that has infected about 100,000 people," according to the BBC, and the "inauguration in February of a fractious power-sharing government in Zimbabwe has not stemmed the flight" (BBC, 6/2).
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Conference: Discovery Partnerships: Academia & Industrial Interactions
Opal Events is proud to present our next exciting conference Drug Discovery Partnerships: Academia & Industrial Interactions , to be held at the Hyatt Regency in Boston on October 28-30, 2009.
Public Health

Billions Lost In Productivity Due To Vision Impairment

Corrected vision impairment could prevent billions of dollars in lost productivity annually, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of School of Public Health, the International Centre for Eyecare Education, the University of New South Wales and the African Vision Research Institute. Researchers estimate that nearly 158 million people globally suffer with vision impairment resulting from uncorrected refractive error, which can usually be eliminated with a pair of eyeglasses and an eye examination. This is the first study to estimate the productivity loss from uncorrected refractive error and is published in the June 2009 issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. "The economic gains that could be made if eyeglasses were provided to everyone in need are substantial," said Kevin Frick, author of the study and an associate professor with the Bloomberg School"s Department of Health Policy and Management. "Our research estimates $269 billion in productivity lost and nearly 158 million people are vision-impaired because of uncorrected refractive error - which is correctable. The Western Pacific region, which includes China and Vietnam, has the highest estimated number of cases of uncorrected refractive error at 62 million and is responsible for almost half of the potential loss of productivity. The Southeast Asia region, encompassing Bangladesh, India and Nepal, has 48.7 million cases." Frick, along with colleagues, used conservative assumptions and national data to estimate the purchasing power, parity-adjusted gross domestic product loss for individuals with impaired vision and blindness, and for individuals with normal sight who provide them with informal care. Researchers found that uncorrected refractive error has a potentially greater impact on the global economy than all other preventable vision disorders despite low-cost interventions such as eyeglasses. "Apart from the moral obligation, this research indicates that there is a tremendous loss of human potential and lost productivity associated with avoidable blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error," said Frick. "Potential lost productivity resulting from the global burden of uncorrected refractive error" was written by TST Smith, KD Frick, BA Holden, TR Fricke and KS Naidoo. Natalie Wood-Wright Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health


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