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Public health experts outline critical steps in handling HPAI H5N1 spread

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A virus (HPAI H5N1) remains a low risk to the general public, and public health experts in the United States believe that available treatments and vaccines, as well as those in development, are sufficient to prevent severe disease.

2 Jan 2025

Immunocompromised adults show weaker response to RSV vaccines

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that people 60 years or older with weakened immunity - primarily organ transplant recipients who take immunosuppressive medications to reduce the risk of rejection and others with immune system disorders - do not respond as strongly to vaccines against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as people in the same age group with normal immune function.

30 Dec 2024

Scientists detect rare H5N1 avian flu strain in Australian child after travel to India

A 2.5-year-old returning to Australia from India was infected with a reassortant H5N1 virus, revealing genetic mixing between avian influenza clades and gaps in South Asian surveillance.

18 Dec 2024

Interim analysis of STOMP study finds no efficacy for tecovirimat in mild to moderate Mpox cases

The antiviral drug tecovirimat did not reduce the time to lesion resolution or have an effect on pain among adults with mild to moderate clade II mpox and a low risk of developing severe disease, according to an interim data analysis from the international clinical trial called the Study of Tecovirimat for Mpox (STOMP).

10 Dec 2024

Study challenges long-standing understanding of axon structure

Biology textbooks may need a revision, say Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists, who present new evidence that an armlike structure of mammalian brain cells may be a different shape than scientists have assumed for more than a century.

2 Dec 2024

Bacteria modify their ribosomes in response to the antibiotics

Bacteria modify their ribosomes when exposed to widely used antibiotics, according to research published today in Nature Communications. The subtle changes might be enough to alter the binding site of drug targets and constitute a possible new mechanism of antibiotic resistance.

29 Nov 2024

Research identifies respiratory transmission potential of H5N1 virus

A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus, isolated from the eye of a farm worker who became infected through contact with dairy cows, was lethal in mice and ferrets infected in a high-containment laboratory environment, according to a new study in Nature.

28 Oct 2024

Researchers discover how ovarian tumors cripple immune cells

Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have discovered a mechanism that ovarian tumors use to cripple immune cells and impede their attack - blocking the energy supply T cells depend on.

23 Oct 2024

NIAID awards grants for 10 projects to improve diagnostic tools for syphilis

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded grants for 10 projects to improve diagnostic tools for congenital and adult syphilis - conditions currently diagnosed with a sequence of tests, each with limited precision.

3 Sep 2024

New insights into macrophages' role in MASH and liver fibrosis

Formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is an inflammatory disease characterized by liver scarring or fibrosis that progressively impairs liver function.

22 Aug 2024

Tecovirimat shows no significant impact on mpox lesion duration in DRC study

The antiviral drug tecovirimat did not reduce the duration of mpox lesions among children and adults with clade I mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), based on an initial analysis of data from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

16 Aug 2024

Alarming spread of H5N1 bird flu in US dairy cattle reveals cross-species transmission dangers

Researchers discovered that the H5N1 avian influenza virus has spilled over into dairy cattle in the US, posing significant cross-species transmission risks. Their multidisciplinary study reveals the virus's evolution and its zoonotic potential, emphasizing the need for heightened biosecurity measures.

25 Jul 2024

Reliability of HIV viral load tests for CAB-LA PrEP questioned in new study

A single laboratory-based HIV viral load test used by U.S. clinicians who provide people with long-acting, injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) did not reliably detect HIV in a multi-country study.

23 Jul 2024

Abacavir linked to increased cardiovascular risk in HIV patients, study finds

CJ Fichtenbaum et al. Abacavir is associated with elevated risk for cardiovascular events in the REPRIEVE trial. International AIDS Conference. Friday, July 26, 2024

23 Jul 2024

Long-acting injectable CAB-LA safe for HIV PrEP during pregnancy, study finds

Long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) was safe and well tolerated as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) before and during pregnancy in the follow-up phase of a global study among cisgender women.

23 Jul 2024

Rise of multidrug-resistant Salmonella strains in U.S. retail chicken meat

Salmonella infections are a major public health issue in the United States, causing over 1.3 million illnesses annually.

18 Jul 2024

NIH launches Phase 1 trial for innovative nasal COVID-19 vaccine

A Phase 1 trial testing the safety of an experimental nasal vaccine that may provide enhanced breadth of protection against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is now enrolling healthy adults at three sites in the United States.

1 Jul 2024

Clinical trial seeks to evaluate safety of new EV-D68 treatment

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is sponsoring a clinical trial to evaluate the safety of an investigational monoclonal antibody to treat enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), which can cause severe respiratory and neurological diseases such as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) – similar to polio. Scientists are striving to better understand AFM, which has emerged in the United States with spikes in cases every other year, primarily in the late-summer months over the last decade.

28 Jun 2024

NIAID scientists discover probiotic treatment for eczema

NIAID research has led to the availability of a new over-the-counter topical eczema probiotic.

26 Jun 2024

Novel approach can make many more bacteria amenable to genetic engineering

Bacteria possess unique traits with great potential for benefiting society. However, current genetic engineering methods to harness these advantages are limited to a small fraction of bacterial species.

26 Jun 2024