MEDIC Blood Center updates donor questionnaire following new federal guidelines

The FDA’s new blood donor guidelines gave more gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships the chance to donate blood. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — MEDIC Regional Blood Center said it will start using a new questionnaire to screen donors on Monday, Nov. 6. The new questionnaire follows recommended guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]

Under cloud of scrutiny, CDC advisers meet to revise infection protections for health care workers

CNN  —  Amid scrutiny and protest, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pushing ahead on its process to update guidelines hospitals use to control the spread of infectious diseases. Some health care workers say they’re worried the changes focus on flexibility for hospitals while putting frontline workers at greater risk. On Thursday and Friday, the CDC’s […]

Re-engineered pseudoviruses for 3D mapping of infections open up new horizons in virus research

<div data-thumb="https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/tmb/2023/viral-impostors-breakt.jpg" data-src="https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/2023/viral-impostors-breakt.jpg" data-sub-html="Credit: ACS Nano (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c07767″> Credit: ACS Nano (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c07767 Pseudoviruses resemble impostors: Although harmless, they are designed in such a way that they can hardly be distinguished from their dangerous relatives. This makes them an invaluable tool in virus research. They can be used to precisely analyze infection pathways […]

Health Canada issues warning on cord blood stored in Edmonton

Health Canada says there are concerns surrounding umbilical cord blood stored at the Canadian Cord Blood bioRepository in Edmonton that “may pose serious health risks.” The issues could lead to the possibility of contamination and transmission of infectious diseases and could harm the products, the regulator said on Tuesday. “These concerns include processing, testing, and storing […]

N.J. parents file lawsuit challenging secret ‘baby blood stockpile’

A group of New Jersey parents filed a federal lawsuit Thursday challenging the state’s practice of keeping newborn babies’ blood samples for 23 years without their parents’ knowledge. The state can use the blood however it wants, the lawsuit alleges, including selling it to third parties or providing it to police officers who don’t have […]

EXCEED-ET Study Evaluates Ropeginterferon alfa-2b-njf in ET

Lucia Masarova, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the rationale of the EXCEED-ET study (NCT05482971) of ropeginterferon alfa-2b-njf (Besremi) for patients with essential thrombocytopenia (ET). Transcription: 0:10 | The EXCEED-ET study is getting the ropeginterferon, which is the novel interferon into […]

FDA grants breakthrough device designation to AI-powered, retinal imaging-based CVD assessments

“Toku’s mission is to make identifying disease accessible for everyone, everywhere, all the time,” Ehsan Vaghefi, CEO and co-founder of Toku, said in a statement. “The breakthrough device designation that the FDA has granted to our CLAiR technology platform is a validation of the tremendous potential our CLAiR AI technology can provide to the tens […]

Study highlights lack of clinical research to address sight loss in working-age people

A new study has highlighted a lack of clinical research to address the leading causes of severe sight impairment (SSI) among the working-age UK population, which costs the UK economy an estimated £7.4bn annually. The study, carried out by researchers from Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Oxford, examined how clinical studies align with […]