Following a large number of false-positive results, New York City health officials have suspended the use of oral HIV test OraQuick in the city. Manufactured by Orasure Technologies Inc.'s, the test which rapidly screens saliva and blood samples for antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 has been halted at its 10 sexually transmitted disease (STD) walk-in clinics.

In January 2004, the clinics introduced on-site, rapid HIV testing of finger-stick, whole-blood specimens using the OraQuick test. However it was replaced by the finger-stick test with an oral fluid test, the OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test in the same year in March

The use of a pacifier or 'dummy' by babies has been identified as a risk factor for acute otitis media (AOM), a type of common ear infection, new study says.

The researchers from University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands studied almost 500 Dutch children who used dummies or pacifiers. The study spanning five years found that the pacifiers almost double the risk of recurrent ear infections in those who used it as compared to the non-users

Scientists have discovered a new, inexpensive compound that has the potential to treat acute diarrhea. The finding could prove beneficial for developing countries, where diarrhea is a major cause of child deaths.

The new compound is a pyridopyrimidine derivative that targets E. coli and other enterotoxigenic strains of bacteria that cause acute secretory diarrhea, researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston said

A new, faster-to-make whole-virus bird flu vaccine may protect against multiple bird flu strains, early studies in humans suggest. The new H5N1 vaccine appears to be safe, more effective than the one currently approved for human use and also able to be manufactured much more quickly than conventional vaccines, researcher said.

Current flu vaccines are grown in fertilized hens' eggs and the long process takes 22 weeks. Due to this drawback, the vaccine can only be manufacture seasonally, when the eggs are available

Bangladesh health authorities confirmed on Thursday that a 16-month-old boy who became infected with bird flu had recovered after treatment. The south-Asian country has become the 15th country to have a human case of H5N1 avian influenza, according to news services.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta confirmed on Wednesday that child is from Dhaka, the capital; an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report quoted Saluddin Khan, a government official, as saying