Canadian company gets US approval for pediatric CDI drug
Appili Therapeutics Inc. of Halifax announced Tuesday it has received a key U.S. regulatory designation for a drug that treats Clostridium difficile infection in children. The company said in a statement the Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to its drug candidate ATI-1501. This medicine removes the bitter taste from a long-standing drug so that children are more willing to take it, thereby improving its effectiveness. It is the...
BCCDC Flu Policy Survey – enter to win!
Healthcare Worker Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Study related to the BC Influenza Prevention Policy The province introduced a new policy in 2012 that requires healthcare workers to get vaccinated against influenza or wear a mask in patient care areas during influenza season. The BC Centre for Disease Control is doing an evaluation study on the Policy, and you are encouraged to fill out a 10-15 minute survey on your experiences. All...
Canadian-designed mosquito trap could help fight Zika virus
A Canadian-led research team has taken a form of trash that promotes the spread of mosquitoes and turned it into a potential weapon against the disease-carrying insects. The scientists have repurposed used tires — which can fill with rain water and provide an ideal breeding chamber for female mosquitoes — by fashioning chunks of the rubberized material into traps for their eggs. "What we are aiming at is destroying the second...
IPAC-BC Education Day: Save the Date!
IPAC-BC will be hosting an Infection Prevention and Control Education Day on Friday November 4, 2016. Be sure to mark it in your calendar! The event will be open to everyone (not just IPAC members). Details on the program and registration fees will be announced later this year. The event will be held in the Century-Plaza Hotel at 1015 Burrard Street, Vancouver. If you will be traveling from other parts of BC,...
FDA approves experimental test to screen blood donations for Zika virus
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Wednesday that it would allow the use of an experimental test to screen blood donations for contamination with the Zika virus. The move means that Puerto Rico, which had halted local blood donations and had imported nearly 6,000 units of red blood from the continental United States, will soon be able to resume collecting donations from residents. And it should help blood banks...
BC’s Animal Health Centre: detecting avian influenza
In British Columbia, when something mysterious has killed or sickened an animal – whether a fish, bird or mammal – the scientists at the Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford are the ones who often get the call. The centre, which employs 35 people, houses the provincial veterinary diagnostic laboratory and has high-level accreditation found only at two other facilities in the country. Each year, it accepts 6,000 case submissions of...
University of Saskatchewan researchers develop new way of combating antibiotic resistance
A University of Saskatchewan research team has discovered a way to prevent bacteria from developing resistance to antibiotics, potentially helping to blunt the edge of a looming threat to public health around the world. The University of Saskatchewan research team, led by biochemist Ron Geyer, looked at the “SOS response,” which happens when bacteria are attacked by antibiotics. The bacterial cell stops its normal cycle in order to repair its DNA....