New York doctors complete first-ever successful trachea transplant
A 56-year-old woman from the Bronx, New York, named Sonia Sein is the recipient. She ended up in the hospital six years ago after a particularly nasty asthma attack.
Disease
Landmark brain cancer vaccine passes first phase of human trials
New data suggests the experimental vaccine is safe and stimulates a significant immune response that slows tumor progression. A larger Phase 2 trial is currently being planned.
New prostate cancer test makes diagnosis in 20 minutes with near 100% accuracy
The breakthrough, developed by Korean scientists, is likely to revolutionize testing as existing methods are not only inaccurate but can result in over-diagnosis and necessitate invasive biopsies.
U.S. FDA approves first-ever long-acting HIV medication
The monthly injection treatment replaces the need for some to take daily pills. The company says the price of the injections is comparable to the cost of the pill versions.
Phase 1 human trial for universal flu vaccine reports promising results
The Phase 1 trial, led by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, found this experimental vaccine to be both safe and effective at generating a long-term immune response in a small number of healthy adults.
Elephantiasis cases cut by 150 million worldwide since 2000
Over the last 20 years, however, the number of people infected has dropped by 74%, from 199 million to 51.4 million, and last year three countries—Malawi, Kiribati, and Yemen—eliminated it altogether.
New HIV diagnoses in British gay and bisexual men hits 20-year-low
A new report shows that there were 1,700 new HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men in 2000. In 2019, new HIV diagnoses stood at 1,500. HIV transmission has fallen by 80% between 2011 when there was an estimated peak of 2,700 cases and 2019 when there was an estimated 540.
WHO rolls out plan to rid world of cervical cancer, saving millions of lives
The strategy involves vaccinating 90% of girls by the age of 15, screening 70% of women by the age of 35 and again by the age of 45, and treating 90% of women identified with cervical disease.
Promising flu vaccine derived from tobacco plant passes clinical trials
The recent development, promises to be a huge boost to the annual fight against the seasonal flu, as plants can be engineered to produce viral proteins and cultivated at scale.
Tuberculosis deaths have fallen by 14% in five years, saving 60 million in the last two decades
In the World Health Organization’s annual global tuberculosis report, the UN agency responsible for international public health forecasts hundreds of thousands of people recovering from, or avoiding the disease of TB altogether. Since 2000, TB treatment has averted the deaths of 60 million people, the disease itself being treatable with the right medicine.