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Virome analysis reveals clues for increased risk of type 1 diabetes in children

New results from The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young study show an association between prolonged enterovirus infection and the development of autoimmunity to the insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells that precedes type 1 diabetes.

2 Dec 2019

Research uncovers mechanism that triggers inflammatory process by Mayaro virus

The mechanism by which defense cells respond to infection by Mayaro virus has been described by a team affiliated with the Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases - CRID in an article published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

2 Dec 2019

People who eat bushmeat may be at risk of contracting life-threatening diseases

People who eat wildebeests, wart hogs and other wild African animals may be at risk for contracting potentially life-threatening diseases, according to an international team of researchers.

2 Dec 2019

New compound may enhance dengue vaccine efficacy by simulating amino acid deficiency

A new study published in the journal Science Signaling on November 26, 2019, describes a mouse experiment, in which the immune response to the dengue vaccine was boosted when the mice were first given halofuginone, a plant compound that is well known to herbalists.

27 Nov 2019

Simple precautions to avoid food poisoning during the holiday season

Preparing a holiday feast can begin as soon as you get home from the grocery store. But if you want to serve family and friends a delicious meal that keeps them coming back for more, food safety guidelines need to be part of the recipe.

26 Nov 2019

New antiviral drug drives treatment resistance in influenza viruses

On January 31, 2019, an 11-year old boy in Japan went to a medical clinic with a fever. The providers there diagnosed him with influenza, a strain called H3N2, and sent him home with a new medication called baloxavir.

25 Nov 2019

New flu drug makes influenza viruses develop resistance

Researchers have discovered a mutation in strains of influenza treated with a drug that makes the virus resistant to treatment.

25 Nov 2019

New highly sensitive test for dengue virus developed using DNA star

Researchers have developed a new method for detecting and destroying the dengue virus that could be adapted for other viruses.

25 Nov 2019

Decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use is key strategy to control drug resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a larger public health threat than most people realize. And, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about half of all antibiotics in outpatient settings are incorrectly prescribed.

22 Nov 2019

This story contains a warning that might cause alarm — or apathy

For more than a decade, Raymond Ho has answered calls for California's poison emergency hotline.

22 Nov 2019

Study reveals effective way to block the transmission of mosquito-borne dengue virus

An international team of scientists have reported an effective and environmentally sustainable way to block the transmission of mosquito-borne dengue virus, in trials carried out in Malaysia.

21 Nov 2019

Eastern equine encephalitis virus poses emergent threat in the U.S.

Although eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), a mosquito-borne illness, has existed for centuries, 2019 has been a particularly deadly year for the disease in the United States.

21 Nov 2019

Public health officials announce that eastern equine encephalitis virus is an “emergent threat”

Public health officials have declared that the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus is an "emergent threat".

21 Nov 2019

Efforts to move the needle on flu shot rates get stuck

It's free and available everywhere. Yet most Americans skip the annual flu shot - with the number of dispensed vaccines barely changed in the past decade, despite government removal of cost and access obstacles.

21 Nov 2019

Certain traditional soup broths possess antimalarial properties

Researchers have found that some soups have antimalarial properties and can interrupt the life cycle of a malarial parasite.

19 Nov 2019

Measles heralds state of emergency in Samoa

All students in Samoa should stay at home, because all schools are closed – this message may bring joy to juvenile hearts but not to those of parents and other adults, who know this is because of the destruction caused by the deadly measles epidemic that is spreading across the Pacific islands.

18 Nov 2019

Sterilizing mosquitoes may be the answer to curb Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, WHO reports

A new technique that sterilizes male mosquito through radiation shows promise in fighting mosquito-borne illnesses, including Zika, dengue and chikungunya. Soon, health experts plan to test the technique as part of global health efforts to control these diseases.

18 Nov 2019

The Black Death still lurks all over the world

Beijing, the capital of the economic giant, China, is in the news currently for a far different reason – two patients have developed pneumonic plague. The patients, who hail from Inner Mongolia’s northwestern corner, are being treated at a high-level hospital there, amidst 21 million other people. The health authorities say they have put in place adequate protection and control measures to keep the plague from spreading.

17 Nov 2019

Access to mobile phone location data can help understand spread of vector-borne diseases

Researchers from EPFL and MIT have shown that human mobility is a major factor in the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue even over short intra-city distances. In a paper published in Scientific Reports, the team compares different mobility models and concludes that having access to mobile phone location data can prove crucial in understanding disease transmission dynamics - and, ultimately, in stopping an outbreak from evolving into an epidemic.

15 Nov 2019

Altering malarial parasite genes to prevent malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by the parasitic organism called Plasmodium, of which there are several types that cause the different kinds of malarial fever. This age-old infection still kills over 400,000 people every year, all over the world. A new study published in the journal Cell on November 14, 2019, shows how a simple tweaking of the genes of this organism could quite conceivably lead to the elimination of this disease altogether.

14 Nov 2019