| From: Tadsamillionaire | 5/26/2005 8:21:00 PM | | | | | | Avian influenza – cumulative number of cases – update 18
19 May 2005
WHO is updating its table showing cumulative numbers of human cases of H5N1 avian influenza broken down according to phases in the outbreak, which began in December 2003. [Cumulative Number of Confirmed Human Cases of Avian Influenza A/(H5N1) Reported to WHO]. Numbers for Viet Nam, where the vast majority of recent cases have occurred, have been amended in line with case counts provided by the Ministry of Health during late April and May. Since the third wave of infection began in Viet Nam in mid-December 2004, 49 cases have been reported. Of these cases, 17 were fatal. The most recent case was reported to the ministry on 17 April.
WHO has asked the Ministry of Health in Viet Nam to supplement the numbers with data on individual cases. Rapid field investigation of new cases, especially when these occur in clusters, remains essential to assess possible changes in transmission patterns that could indicate improved pandemic potential of the virus.
Since January 2004, when human cases of H5N1 avian influenza were first reported in the current outbreak, 97 cases and 53 deaths have been reported in Viet Nam, Thailand and Cambodia. Viet Nam, with 76 cases and 37 deaths, has been the most severely affected country, followed by Thailand, with 17 cases and 12 deaths, and Cambodia, with 4 cases and 4 deaths.
who.int
U.S. unprepared against new flu -experts The United States still has no licensed vaccine to prevent avian flu and has nowhere near enough drugs to treat the sick if there is an epidemic, experts told Congress on Thursday.
Hospitals have too little capacity to deal with the huge numbers of people who would become sick and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department does not have a plan for dealing with an epidemic, the experts said.
"Although many levels of government are paying increased attention to the problem, the United States remains woefully unprepared for an influenza pandemic that could kill millions of Americans," said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chairman of the Infectious Disease Society of America's Pandemic Influenza Task Force.
"Clearly, we need a much larger supply of drugs and vaccine to control a flu pandemic. We need to build up U.S. manufacturing capacity so that we are not dependent on other countries to meet our needs," Pavia said in remarks prepared for a hearing of the health subcommittee of the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the government was working hard to address the threat.
"CDC's influenza budget is $197 million ... a lot larger than just a few years ago," Gerberding said. "We have a lot of work to do, and that work needs to be a priority."
The H5N1 strain of avian flu has killed 37 people in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and four in Cambodia.
It could sicken up to 20 percent of the world's population if it acquires the ability to pass easily among people, says influenza expert Dr. Albert Osterhaus of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
A pandemic could send 30 million people to the hospital and a quarter of them could die, Osterhaus and colleagues predicted in articles in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
Influenza causes epidemics annually and kills 36,000 Americans in a normal season. Different strains emerge almost annually, and a new one can kill many more if it is one that has not affected people in recent years.
A brand-new strain, such as H5N1, could be devastating.
"The U.S. population has no immunity and therefore no protection against this deadly virus," Pavia said.
He recommended that the United States stockpile a larger supply of antiviral drugs, especially oseltamivir, made by Switzerland's Roche under the brand name Tamiflu. Avian influenza resists older antiviral drugs, like amantadine and rimantadine, but Tamiflu can help make an infection less severe.
Although Roche has quadrupled its production capacity for Tamiflu, experts believe global stockpiles will be too small for a pandemic. The current stockpile would treat less than 2 percent of the U.S. population. Pavia's group recommends having enough on hand to treat 50 percent.
The U.S. government has also contracted with Sanofi-Aventis and Chiron Corp. to make H5N1 flu vaccines, but the contracts provide for only 2 million doses and the vaccines are still experimental.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office also criticized the U.S. lack of preparation.
Marcia Crosse, Director of Health Care for the GAO, said in prepared testimony that the United States needs to address regulatory, privacy, and procedural issues surrounding measures to control the spread of disease, especially across borders.
news.yahoo.com
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| From: Tadsamillionaire | 5/26/2005 8:25:13 PM | | | | | | Flu pandemic warnings escalate
By Anita Manning, USA TODAY
Growing concern over a persistent epidemic of bird flu across Asia is leading to urgent calls from international scientists to prepare for a global flu pandemic that could strike, by some estimates, 20% of the world's population. usatoday.com
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| From: Tadsamillionaire | 5/26/2005 8:31:11 PM | | | | | | Avian flu special: Avian flu: Are we ready?
Peter Aldhous1 and Sarah Tomlin2
Peter Aldhous, chief news & features editor.
Sarah Tomlin, commentary editor.
Trouble is brewing in the East. A highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza is endemic in southeast Asia. Many millions of chickens have been culled, but there is a persistent reservoir in domesticated ducks and wild birds. The H5N1 virus isn't going to go away. And each time it emerges, people can be infected.
H5N1 first reared its head in Hong Kong and southern China in 1997, killing six. Since late 2003, it has led to the deaths of more than 50 people in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
The stage is set for the emergence of a fresh human influenza pandemic. These occur when a virus to which most people have no immunity, usually an avian strain, acquires the ability to transmit readily from person to person. H5N1 hasn't yet gained that ability — and hopefully, it will not.
But if it does, the virus could spread across the globe within months. The consequences are difficult to predict. We're unlikely to be as lucky as in 1968, when the relatively mild H3N2 virus killed some 750,000 people worldwide. But the real nightmare scenario is a re-run of the H1N1 flu pandemic of 1918, which left as many as 40 million dead. Standards of health care have improved a lot since then, which will help. But if a pandemic strain were to retain H5N1's current extreme pathogenicity, a similar toll can't be ruled out.
This week, Nature devotes its News Feature and Commentary pages to a detailed consideration of the risks posed by avian flu, and how well we are prepared to deal with it. In the pages that follow, our reporters examine nations' capacity to produce a vaccine against a pandemic strain, and the adequacy of global stockpiles of antiviral drugs. They do not paint an encouraging picture.
Repeated warnings about the international community's failure to respond to the pandemic threat have fallen on deaf ears. So in our opening News Feature, we use the benefit of fictional hindsight to throw the issues into starker relief, describing a future pandemic through the weblog of a journalist in the thick of things. This is fiction, but not fantasy — the storyline was drawn up in consultation with those who could soon be dealing with the situation for real.
In our extended Commentary section, starting on page 415, experts who are grappling with the issues tackle some hard questions. Which nations are ready, and which are not? David Ho asks if China is in a better position to cope with new microbial threats since the 2003 SARS outbreak. And Anthony Fauci outlines what US researchers are doing to develop vaccines and drugs.
Asian countries are the most immediately vulnerable. Robert Webster and Diane Hulse address the possibility of controlling flu outbreaks in these nations at source, pointing to two examples of successful intervention to wipe out the disease in poultry — in Hong Kong in 1997 and more recently in Thailand. Joining up the dots between animal and human health is also the concern of Albert Osterhaus and his colleagues. They propose a permanent global flu task force to strengthen coordination among agencies on the ground.
If we are fortunate, we may still have the time to take these messages on board. As Michael Osterholm warns in his Commentary, a flu pandemic could bring human tragedy and a global economic catastrophe. Let's hope world leaders heed the warnings.
nature.com |
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| From: jmhollen | 6/7/2005 9:33:14 AM | | | | | | GenoMed Announces 3rd Year of its West Nile Virus Trial; Now Part of BioShield II
Contact: Paula Hempen, PhD GenoMed, Inc. tel. 314-983-9933
David Moskowitz MD GenoMed, Inc. dwmoskowitz@genomed.com
ST. LOUIS--June 7, 2005--GenoMed Inc.-- ("the Company" or "GenoMed") (National Quotation Bureau's Pink Sheets Symbol: GMED) a St. Louis, Missouri-based Next Generation Disease Management company, announced today that it will be conducting a clinical trial to prevent and treat West Nile virus encephalitis for the third summer in a row. The Company's approach to viral diseases was recently included in BioShield II, the landmark anti-bioterrorism bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Sam Brownback (R-KS).
A part of the bill reads:
"CHAPTER 5; REPORT AND ADMINISTRATION. SEC. 2151. REPORT TO CONGRESS. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary for Medical Readiness and Response of the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease of the National Institutes of Health, shall submit a report to Congress that describes alternatives to traditional vaccines and anti-viral therapeutics for viral diseases, including negative immunomodulation compounds that partially suppress a macrophage-dependent innate immune response of an individual to viral pathogens, in order to decrease morbidity and mortality from an excessive immune response."
This language exactly describes GenoMed's patent-pending method to gently suppress the innate immune response in order to treat most viral diseases in the general population.
Said Dr. Moskowitz, GenoMed's CEO and Chief Medical Officer, "Our record in West Nile virus currently stands at 11-3. For best results, we know to use our treatment in patients who aren't immunocompromised, and to begin treatment early."
Physicians in Utah, and Stanislaus County in California, are currently studying GenoMed's WNV protocol for use in their residents.
GenoMed's protocol was also used last summer by bird rescuers, with a 50% success rate. A second trial is planned again for this summer. Owls, hawks, and eagles have been saved using GenoMed's protocol, but so far no crows. This year's goal is to try to save crows, too.
"Horses should also benefit from our approach," Dr. Moskowitz added. "Veterinarians already use non-steroidal drugs to try to reduce the brain inflammation in horses, so our anti-inflammatory approach should make sense to them."
To enroll in GenoMed's trial, which uses already existing, safe medication present in every drug store, just go to www.genomed.com and click on the link for the West Nile virus trial.
About GenoMed
GenoMed has found what it believes to be the "master" disease gene, and has already been able to prevent kidney failure due to diabetes and hypertension in whites, blacks and Hispanics; dramatically delay the progression of terminal emphysema; and begin to see success in treating autoimmune diseases, West Nile virus encephalitis, and cancer. GenoMed has recently found several thousand genes for the top six solid cancers in Caucasians--breast, colon, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate--and is currently offering its Healthchip(r) for early diagnosis of cancer on a research basis.
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| From: jmhollen | 6/14/2005 2:34:08 PM | | | | | | GenoMed to be Awarded Second Patent, for Treating Acute Kidney Failure Without Dialysis
Contact: David Moskowitz MD GenoMed, Inc. tel. 314.983.9933
ST. LOUIS (June 14, 2005) - GenoMed, Inc.-- ("the Company" or "GenoMed") (National Quotation Bureau's Pink Sheets Symbol GMED), a St. Louis, Missouri-based biotechnology and Disease Management company, announced today that the US Patent Office has allowed claims and will be following up with an issued patent shortly on the Company's treatment to treat acute kidney failure with a drug rather than the dialysis machine.
Currently, patients with acute kidney failure are placed on the kidney machine in a hospital until their own kidney function improves. The older a person is, the less likely their kidneys are to recover, and the longer they have to stay on kidney dialysis. Acute kidney failure carries a 50% risk of dying, and involves a much longer and more expensive hospitalization.
GenoMed's treatment makes use of an already existing, generic drug. It has been used in adults, including those with hepatorenal syndrome, and newborns, with over a 70% success rate. A larger trial, for publication, is being planned.
GenoMed's treatment is ideal where access to kidney dialysis is scarce, e.g. after an earthquake, or on the battlefield, or in the Third World. First World countries interested in cutting healthcare costs and improving the atrocious mortality of acute renal failure might also be interested in the company's approach.
About GenoMed
GenoMed is a Next Generation DM™ company that translates knowledge of disease pathways into better patient outcomes so as to lower healthcare costs. GenoMed is currently marketing its patent-pending protocols for preventing chronic kidney failure due to high blood pressure or diabetes, and slowing down emphysema. The Company has recently developed a Healthchip® to predict the six most common cancers in Caucasians: breast, colon, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate. Testing is available on a research basis.
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| From: jmhollen | 6/16/2005 8:23:46 PM | | | | | | GenoMed Treats Its First Presumptive West Nile Virus Patient of 2005
Contact: David Moskowitz MD GenoMed, Inc. tel. 314-983-9933 dwmoskowitz@genomed.com
ST. LOUIS--June 16, 2005--GenoMed Inc.-- ("the Company" or "GenoMed") (National Quotation Bureau's Pink Sheets Symbol: GMED) a St. Louis, Missouri-based Next Generation Disease Management company, announced today that it has successfully treated its first patient this summer with presumed West Nile virus encephalitis.
The patient is a previously healthy 17 year old woman in Philadelphia, PA, whose parents called GenoMed yesterday from her hospital room. Their daughter had been agitated with a fever for three days. Bacterial meningitis had been ruled out by the hospital staff with a spinal tap. Her parents called GenoMed when she became delirious, and could no longer recognize them, despite being on antiviral medications. A family member had found out about GenoMed's clinical trial for West Nile virus on the Internet.
After two doses on GenoMed's protocol, 12 hours apart, the patient's mental state has improved markedly, according to her mother. She could recognize her parents, could tell her mother that she felt hot and thirsty, and has been sleeping quietly.
Said Dr. Moskowitz, GenoMed's CEO and Chief Medical Officer, "This patient's medical team diagnosed viral encephalitis. It will take a week or two to establish whether or not it's West Nile virus encephalitis. But since our treatment approach should work for most viruses, we could initiate treatment empirically. We're extremely gratified that her family turned to us, and even more excited that the patient has responded so quickly, as we've seen in previous summers."
The patient's doctors had told her parents to be prepared for her to remain delirious or in a coma for two to three weeks.
Physicians in Stanislaus County, California are now rushing GenoMed's WNV protocol to the local Institutional Review Board for use in their residents.
To enroll in GenoMed's trial, which uses already existing, safe medication present in every drug store and hospital, just go to www.genomed.com and click on the link for the West Nile virus trial.
About GenoMed
GenoMed has found what it believes to be the "master" disease gene, and has already been able to prevent kidney failure due to diabetes and hypertension in whites, blacks and Hispanics; dramatically delay the progression of terminal emphysema; and begin to see success in treating autoimmune diseases, West Nile virus encephalitis, and cancer. GenoMed's broad-spectrum anti-viral approach was specifically mentioned in BioShield II, recently introduced in the US Senate. GenoMed has recently found several thousand genes for the top six solid cancers in Caucasians--breast, colon, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate--and is currently offering its Healthchip(r) for early diagnosis of cancer on a research basis.
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| From: jmhollen | 6/21/2005 3:29:39 PM | | | | | | GenoMed's Method to Prevent Most Kidney Dialysis Featured on IKIDNEY.COM
Contact: David Moskowitz MD GenoMed, Inc. tel. 314-983-9933 dwmoskowitz@genomed.com
ST. LOUIS--June 21, 2005--GenoMed Inc.-- ("the Company" or "GenoMed") (National Quotation Bureau's Pink Sheets Symbol: GMED) a St. Louis, Missouri-based Next Generation Disease Management company, announced today that its method to prevent up to 90% of kidney dialysis was featured in the latest version of NEPHROLOGY Incite, a newsletter for kidney patients at www.IKIDNEY.com.
Dr. David Moskowitz, GenoMed's CEO and Chief Medical Officer, was interviewed about his work on angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE). Said Dr. Moskowitz, "Using higher than usual doses of certain ACE inhibitors can actually reverse chronic kidney failure. But this approach must be started while a person's serum creatinine is below 2. A normal serum creatinine is less than 1.5. Patients aren't referred to a kidney specialist until their creatinine is close to 3. So it's imperative that patients learn about this before it's too late for them."
The full interview is at:
ikidney.com
About GenoMed
GenoMed has found what it believes to be the "master" disease gene, and has already been able to prevent kidney failure due to diabetes and hypertension in whites, blacks and Hispanics; dramatically delay the progression of terminal emphysema; and begin to see success in treating autoimmune diseases, West Nile virus encephalitis, and cancer. GenoMed's broad-spectrum anti-viral approach was specifically mentioned in BioShield II, recently introduced in the US Senate. GenoMed has recently found several thousand genes for the top six solid cancers in Caucasians--breast, colon, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate--and is currently offering its Healthchip(r) for early diagnosis of cancer on a research basis.
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| From: jmhollen | 6/22/2005 9:48:47 AM | | | | | | GenoMed CEO Briefs AFL-CIO on How to Lower Healthcare Costs
Contact: David Moskowitz MD GenoMed, Inc. dwmoskowitz@genomed.com tel. 314-983-9933
ST. LOUIS--(June 22, 2005)--GenoMed Inc. ("the Company" or "GenoMed") (National Quotation Bureau's Pink Sheets Symbol GMED) announced today that its CEO, David Moskowitz MD, was invited to speak yesterday on lowering healthcare costs before the AFL-CIO Healthcare Taskforce at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Said Dr. Moskowitz, "Rising healthcare costs has been the number one labor issue for several years. It's possible that GM could reverse its recently announced layoffs if it found a way to lower its healthcare bill. Fortunately, GenoMed's cutting-edge medicine and cheaper drugs can save 10% of healthcare costs immediately and for years to come."
Added Dr. Moskowitz, "This message, I hope, will also be heard by our nation's fifty state Medicaid programs, which are all in the same boat. The solution some states have taken, like Tennessee and my own state of Missouri, is to simply disenroll hundreds of thousands of Medicaid recipients in order to make ends meet. Rather than cutting these people loose to die, I hope state legislators can follow the AFL-CIO's lead and learn about other options to save money. Clearly, we as a society can no longer afford to ignore 21st century preventive molecular medicine."
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| From: jmhollen | 6/24/2005 2:52:04 PM | | | | | | GenoMed's WNV Treatment Abruptly Stopped, Patient Deteriorates
Contact: David W. Moskowitz MD FACP GenoMed, Inc. Tel. 314.983.9933
PHILADELPHIA, PA.--June 24, 2005--GenoMed (the "Company") (Pink Sheets GMED), a Next Generation DM(tm) company that uses molecular medicine to improve patient outcomes and save healthcare costs, announced today that its first presumed West Nile virus encephalitis patient is doing poorly after GenoMed's treatment was abruptly stopped last week.
The patient received two doses of GenoMed's treatment for WNV on Wednesday and early Thursday morning last week, and appeared to get better according to her mother (see 6/16/05 press release). When she was moved to the Intensive Care Unit for closer monitoring, her new Attending Physician could not be convinced of the usefulness of GenoMed's treatment, and stopped it. She has been without GenoMed's treatment for over a week now.
Said Dr. David Moskowitz, GenoMed's CEO and Chief Medical Officer, "I happened to be in Philadelphia this week for a Disease Management conference, and visited the patient in the ICU on Wednesday evening. She had evidence of decorticate posturing then, constantly shrugging her shoulders inwards. She was unresponsive to pain or verbal stimuli. The situation looked grim."
Added Dr. Moskowitz, "We will never know in this poor patient's case what would have happened if she had just stayed on our treatment. Perhaps she would be exactly as sick as she is now. But it looked like she was getting better, as eleven out of fourteen of our patients have done the past two summers. Now she has full-blown viral encephalitis, and the eventual outcome does not look good. "
The patient's initial serum test for West Nile virus was negative, as is usually the case, so she has not yet been reported to the health authorities. A convalescent serum titer will be drawn in several weeks to see if she has WNV.
ABOUT GENOMED
GenoMed is a Next Generation DM(tm) [Disease Management] company that uses molecular medicine to improve patient outcomes and thus lower healthcare costs. Although the Company has effective treatments, there are obstacles to their adoption, as illustrated by this example. Currently, the company is marketing its protocols for preventing kidney failure from diabetes and high blood pressure, and significantly delaying emphysema.
GenoMed is conducting a free trial for WNV for the third consecutive summer. Those interested in participating are invited to download the trial documents from the Company's home page at www.genomed.com
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| From: jmhollen | 6/29/2005 10:00:39 AM | | | | | | GenoMed CEO Testifies Before Missouri Medicaid Reform Commission
Contact: David Moskowitz MD FACP GenoMed, Inc. dwmoskowitz@genomed.com tel. 314-983-9933
ST. LOUIS--(June 29, 2005)--GenoMed Inc. ("the Company" or "GenoMed") (National Quotation Bureau's Pink Sheets Symbol GMED) announced today that its CEO, David Moskowitz MD, has been invited to testify today, the first day of public testimony, before the Missouri Medicaid Reform Commission. The Medicaid Reform Commission is a joint committee of the Missouri House and Senate empanelled to study ways to rein in rising healthcare costs for the Missouri state Medicaid program.
As a first attempt, the Missouri Legislature cut 65,000 patients from the state Medicaid program this spring. These patients lose coverage on July 1st, i.e. this Friday. Since oxygen tanks are among the items no longer covered, many patients will soon die.
Said Dr. Moskowitz, "I'm honored to represent GenoMed and the promise of genomics-based medicine at the very first session of public testimony before the Missouri Medicaid Reform Commission. I'm happy to describe the dramatic cost-savings that Next Generation Disease Management can yield, as I did last week for the AFL-CIO Healthcare Taskforce in Washington, DC. My earnest hope is that Missouri legislators will consider adopting our protocols and stop the disenrollments before a single patient has died."
Added Dr. Moskowitz, "The Missouri Legislature is wrestling with the most critical domestic issue of our time. It is literally a life and death issue for tens of millions of Americans. It seems to me profoundly un-American, on the eve of our nation's birthday, to have people die simply because Medicaid is still paying retail for drugs. The best way to control healthcare costs is to control diseases and cut back on hospitalizations. Only genomics-based medicine can do this. And only GenoMed has demonstrated that it can halt cardiovascular diseases including emphysema."
About GenoMed
GenoMed, Inc. is a Next Generation DM(TM) company whose mission is to improve patient outcomes by identifying the molecular pathways that cause disease. DM (Disease Management) is the only healthcare player whose business model is to profit by lowering healthcare costs. A St. Louis Business Journal article (http://www.stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2002/05/13/story8.html) first reported that the company applied for patents based on its finding that the ACE gene is associated with many common diseases. The company is currently marketing its protocols for preventing kidney failure due to diabetes and high blood pressure, and delaying the progression of emphysema.
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