What BRF Does

Blastocystis 'hominis' News

March 25, 2011: Research publish complete genome sequence of Blastocystis

March 23, 2011: Culinary herbs common in Southeast Asian cooking inhibit growth of Blastocystis in-vitro

February 12, 2011: Diagnostic methods commonly used in laboratories fail to identify most Blastocystis infections

January 17, 2011: US FDA researchers report on new assay for Blastocystis

November 18, 2010: BRF co-authors study on detection of Blastocystis in samples from patients with inflammatory bowel disease and IBS

March 4, 2010: Rats infected with Blastocystis exhibit high levels of oxidative stress in a new paper from Parasitology Research

February 10, 2010: Are any of the antiprotozoal drugs really eradicating Blastocystis 'hominis' infection in patients? A recent review: "Eradication of Blastocystis carriage with antimicrobials: reality or delusion?" says they may not be working.

February 9, 2010: Patients with ulcerative colitis are more likely to experience a relapse in illness if they are infected with Blastocystis and other protozoa

January 15, 2010: BRF co-authors the world's first report on subtyping of Blastocystis 'hominis' isolates from Egypt

Older News

NOTE: The correct term is now Blastocystis not Blastocystis 'hominis' as there is no Blastocystis unique to humans.

Accountability

Progress can not be made in controlling infectious diseases unless public officials are held accountable for their decisions.

In most areas where the Federal government has responsibility for public welfare (i.e. disaster response, financial regulation), ignoring a problem is recognized as inappropriate. When officials are found to have ignored a problem, there are consequences.

But in infectious diseases, there are no consequences. This needs to change.

To help make that change happen, we are recording communications to public health employees on this page.

BRF only posts communications to high-level management officials. We do not post communications to scientists, researchers, patients, or lower level government employees.

Date	Recipient	Response
September 27, 2009	Dr. Lonnie King Director, NCZVED copies to Representative Sara Gelser Representative Peter deFazio Dr. Emilio deBess, Oregon DHS Dr. Mel Kohn, Oregon DHS
September 6, 2009 Enclosure A Enclosure B Enclosure C	Dr. Lonnie King Director, NCZVED	No response received
April 13, 2009	Director, NCZVED	No response received
May 28, 2008	Rep. Pete deFazio	No response received
May 12, 2008	Dr. Anthony Fauci Director, NIAID	Response received May 28, 2008
February 2, 2008	Representative Darlene Hooley Senator Ron Wyden Senator Gordon Smith	No response received
Eleven letters sent in 2006 and 2007 Documents enclosed: Enclosure A Enclosure B Enclosure C	Dr. Ted Nash, Director, National Lab for Parasitic Diseasases, NIH Dr. Alan Scher Dr. Thomas Nutman	No response received
October 1, 2006	Representative Darlene Hooley Senator Ron Wyden Senator Gordon Smith	No response received