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What Is Polio (poliomyelitis)? What Causes Polio?
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. The term poliomyelitis is from the Greek poliÃös meaning "grey", myelÃös referencing the spinal cord, and -itis meaning inflammation.
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Neuropsychological Perspectives On The Mechanisms Of Imitation
For over a century neurologists and psychologists have investigated how the human brain processes and controls the imitation of gestures, and looked for differences depending on whether the gestures were meaningful, such as grabbing an object, or meaningless, on the goal of the action, and on the body part used.
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New Analysis Examines Fraud In Both Private And Public Health Insurance Markets
A new report from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Department of Health Policy challenges the notion that fraud is a problem only in public health insurance markets and finds that fraud is a system-wide problem affecting private and public health insurance alike. The report finds that some of the most striking examples of fraud come from fraud committed directly by the private insurance industry itself. In 2007, when the U.S. spent nearly $2.3 trillion on health care and public and private insurers processed more than 4 billion health insurance claims, fraud was estimated to reach as much as 10 percent of annual health care spending. At this rate, the losses in 2007 alone over $220 billion would have been enough to cover the uninsured. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) has estimated conservatively that 3 percent of all health care spending or $68 billion is lost to health care fraud.
Sexual Health

New Broad-Spectrum Vaccine To Prevent Cervical Cancer Induces Strong Responses In Animals

Mice and rabbits immunized with a multimeric-L2 protein vaccine had robust antibody responses and were protected from infection when exposed to human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 four months after vaccination, according to a new study published in the May 26 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Current HPV L1-based vaccines are almost 100% protective against infection by the two HPV types that are responsible for 70% of all cervical cancer cases world wide. However, the existing vaccines provide limited protection against the other HPV types that cause cancer. With that limitation in mind, Richard Roden, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues have been working on an alternate vaccine that is based on the HPV minor capsid protein L2, which is highly conserved between HPV types. Previous experiments showed that the L2 protein induced only a weak antibody response in animals. In the current study, Roden and colleagues linked together a short segment of the L2 protein from several HPV types to generate a single multimeric L2 fusion protein. They tested the ability of this multimeric-L2 protein to induce antibody responses in animals and its ability to protect them from subsequent infection with HPV type 16. Mice immunized with the multimeric L2 vaccine developed robust antibody responses against all of the HPV types tested, although the antibody titer was still lower than the type-restricted responses following vaccination with an existing HPV L1-based vaccine. When a multimeric L2 vaccine was delivered with a potent adjuvant to stimulate the immune response, such as alum, the vaccinated animals were able to resist infection by HPV16. "Clinical studies are warranted to assess the safety and immunogenicity of multitype L2 vaccines in alum and other adjuvant formulations," the authors write. "If an L2 vaccine were proven effective in people, its simpler manufacturing process could make the local production of such a vaccine highly feasible, which might achieve the goal of producing it at sustainable prices in emerging countries and lead to its widespread implementation in the developing world." In an accompanying editorial, F. Xavier Bosch, M.D., Ph.D., of the Catalan Institute of Oncology, in Barcelona, Spain, reviews the strengths of the current HPV vaccines but notes that they are too expensive to be used in much of the world and do not protect against enough HPV types. A broad-spectrum vaccine, such as the one being developed by Roden and colleagues, could solve those problems. The new data represent a meaningful step forward, Bosch says. "The results open the door to a novel family of second generation HPV vaccines with significant potential value in the public health horizon," the editorialist writes. "As soon as appropriate, Phase 1 trials in humans should be initiated." The clinical evaluation of new products, however, will likely take years. During this time, the currently available vaccines should be used as widely as possible, according to the editorialists. Citations: Article: "Concatenated Multitype L2 Fusion Proteins as Candidate Prophylactic Pan-Human Papillomavirus Vaccines." Jagu et al J Natl Cancer Inst 2009, 101: 782-792. Editorial: "Broad-Spectrum Human Papillomavirus Vaccines: New Horizons but One Step at a Time." Bosch, F.X. J Natl Cancer Inst 2009, 101: 771-773 Journal of the National Cancer Institute


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