Respiratory News and Research

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Situation-specific policies can reduce antibiotic resistance in hospital

The mass use of antibiotics has caused a rise of bacterial resistance to these drugs that is threatening to destroy the power of these life saving drugs.

23 Oct 2005

Nitric oxide may help sickle cell patients

Inhaling a small dose of nitric oxide gas may one day help sickle cell patients avoid pain crises and live healthier lives, researchers say.

23 Oct 2005

Avian flu and planning for pandemic

Influenza season is almost upon us. While it is impossible to tell whether we are going to experience a usual flu season -- with one in every five people falling ill -- or whether we are facing a more serious problem such as a dangerous new strain capable of causing a global pandemic, information is important.

20 Oct 2005

Dust storms in Asia can have implications in geographically remote countries

Bacteria found in soil around Tokyo are not indigenous to the area. A study published in the BioMedCentral open access journal Saline Systems reveals a large proportion of salt-loving bacteria in non-saline soil around Tokyo. The researchers suggest that dust storms may have carried the bacteria from their natural habitats in China.

19 Oct 2005

Breath-analysis testing may prove to be an effective method for detecting the damaging lung-bacteria growth seen in cystic fibrosis

By using a chemical analysis method developed for air-pollution testing, UCI chemists and pediatricians have found that people with cystic fibrosis exhale higher concentrations of sulfur compounds from their lungs than do people who don't have the disease.

17 Oct 2005

Antibiotic moxifloxacin as a new treatment for tuberculosis

Moxifloxacin is currently approved in more than 100 countries, including the United States, as a treatment for bacterial respiratory infections, such as bronchitis, sinusitis and pneumonia.

17 Oct 2005

$4.4 million, 4-year grant aims to bridge gap between Western and African medicine

Described as a hotspot of botanical diversity, there are more than 20,000 indigenous plant species in South Africa. Several thousand of them are used by traditional healers every day in that country for treating a range of problems from the common cold to serious diseases such as AIDS.

17 Oct 2005

Your worse nightmare - harmful fungi live in your pillow!

It's your worse nightmare, when you lay that weary head down to rest, that pillow is literally festering!

From The University of Manchester 17 Oct 2005

Ireland's smoke free law is protecting bar workers

The smoke-free law in the Republic of Ireland is protecting non-smoking bar workers from exposure to secondhand smoke, conclude two studies published online today by the journals, British Medical Journal and Tobacco Control.

16 Oct 2005

Fungal contamination of bedding

Researchers at The University of Manchester funded by the Fungal Research Trust have discovered millions of fungal spores right under our noses - in our pillows.

From The University of Manchester 16 Oct 2005

Whooping cough vaccine 90 percent effective

A vaccine to protect adults and adolescents against illness due to Bordetella pertussis infection--or whooping cough--has proved more than 90 percent effective in a national, large-scale clinical study, according to research results published in this week's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

12 Oct 2005

Experimental HIV vaccine progresses in trials

A novel vaccine targeted to multiple HIV subtypes found worldwide has moved into the second phase of clinical testing, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced today.

11 Oct 2005

Bats carry SARS like virus

An international consortium headed by CAS researchers has identified that the Chinese horseshoe bat is healthy carriers of a virus that is very closely related to those causing SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

10 Oct 2005

Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is calling for concerted action following the recent release of an important report of the World Heart Organisation (WHO).

9 Oct 2005

Researchers find CCL5 protein produced in the course of respiratory viral infections can serve to protect macrophages from an untimely death

Enlisted to help fight viral infections, immune cells called macrophages consume virus-infected cells to stop the spread of the disease in the body.

9 Oct 2005

Tissue engineering used to reconstruct defective tracheas (windpipes) in fetal lambs

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report using tissue engineering to reconstruct defective tracheas (windpipes) in fetal lambs, first using cells from the amniotic fluid to grow sections of cartilage tube, and then implanting these living grafts into the lambs while still in the womb.

9 Oct 2005

Divalent metal transporter-1 decreases metal-related injury in the lung

Multi-vitamin products, nutritional supplements and parents tout the need for such mineral elements as calcium, zinc, phosphorus, iron and others.

4 Oct 2005

Healthy 3 and 4-year-olds drive flu epidemics

Current immunization policies recommend universal flu vaccination for children aged 6-23 months, but shots are advised for older children only if they have high-risk medical conditions.

3 Oct 2005

Training for health workers improves the quality of tuberculosis care and control without requiring extra staff

Tuberculosis is a growing problem in lower and middle income countries, including South Africa. The World Health Organization estimates that about two thirds of people with tuberculosis are never diagnosed and so cannot benefit from treatment, leaving the epidemic unchecked despite global treatment programmes.

3 Oct 2005

Nicotine has an unusual psychological property that may drive dependence

Associate Professor Athina Markou, Ph.D., who is in the Scripps Research Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences Department at Scripps Research’s La Jolla Campus, and Paul Kenny, Ph.D., a former Research Associate in her laboratory, report in an upcoming issue of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology that nicotine has an unusual psychological property that may drive dependence.

28 Sep 2005