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Verily, Vanderbilt to test enrollment in U.S. Precision Medicine pilot

The pilot program, which aims to enroll 79,000 U.S. participants by the end of this year, is the first phase of an ambitious program to mine medical data, including genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle, to develop better ways to treat or even prevent a wide range of diseases. Vanderbilt and Verily are slated to test approaches for engaging and enrolling volunteers through a web portal. The NIH plans for the “cohort program” to recruit by 2019 one million or more U.S. volunteers – including a wide spectrum of diverse participants from all age, economic and racial groups.

White House says magnitude of Zika challenge means new funding needed

The White House said on Monday that it will ask the U.S. Congress for permission to redirect some money set aside for Ebola-related projects for its response to the Zika virus, but said it would primarily need new funding to address the outbreak. President Barack Obama has asked Congress for more than $1.8 billion to fight Zika, but several top Republican lawmakers have said the administration should instead draw from funds not yet used for public health projects aimed at the Ebola virus. “The magnitude of the Zika outbreak primarily requires new resources to ensure it is adequately addressed,” White House budget director Shaun Donovan said in a letter to Representative Hal Rogers, the top Republican appropriator in the House of Representatives.

New laws to ease doctor shortage see long delays, criticism

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A new Missouri law offered a first-of-its-kind solution to the physician shortage plaguing thousands of U.S. communities: Medical school graduates could start treating patients immediately, without wading through years of traditional residency programs.

MSF denies Taliban was firing from Afghan hospital hit by air strike

By Mirwais Harooni and Andrew MacAskill KABUL (Reuters) – Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres denied that Taliban fighters were firing from its hospital at Afghan and NATO forces before a suspected U.S. air strike killed at least 19 people in a battle to oust the Islamist insurgents from an Afghan city. The northern city of Kunduz has been the scene of fierce fighting since the Taliban captured it almost a week ago. Afghan security forces fought their way into Kunduz four days ago, but battles continue in many places.

South Korea conducts experimental plasma therapy on MERS patients

By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) – Two South Korean hospitals are conducting experimental treatment on Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patients, injecting them with blood plasma from recovering patients, the health ministry said on Tuesday, as four new cases were reported. The procedure has been conducted on two consenting MERS patients in addition to existing care, the ministry's head of public health policy, Kwon Jun-wook, told a media briefing. “There is insufficient clinical basis about the result of plasma treatment among experts in the country,” Kwon said, but added: “The ministry has deep confidence in the medical staff on the direction of the treatment.” Plasma treatment was previously used in SARS patients with some positive results in seriously ill patients that led to a decrease in the death rate by up to 23 percent, Kwon said.

Medical charity MSF opens Ebola clinic for pregnant women

By Umaru Fofana FREETOWN (Reuters) – Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) has opened the first care centre in the current Ebola epidemic for pregnant women, whose survival rate from the virus is virtually zero, the charity said on Saturday. There is currently one patient in the clinic, which is perched on a hill in the compound of a disused Methodist boys high school in the Sierra Leone capital. …

Cautious Doctors Use Telemedicine to Diagnose Flu

Some doctors in Tennessee are asking patients with flu-like symptoms not to come into their offices to avoid spreading the virus to other patients in their waiting room.Instead, these doctors are evaluating patients over the phone or on computers as part of something called “telemedicine.””If you're really feeling crummy and you have the symptoms of influenza, your chances of having influenza are very, very high — over 90 percent,” Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. …