Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Clinical trial to test nasal saline irrigations as treatment for COVID-19 patients

Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) are conducting a clinical trial to determine whether nasal saline irrigations can reduce viral shedding and symptoms in patients with COVID-19.

3 Sep 2020

Obesity may cause irregular immune responses to COVID-19

Obesity may cause a hyperactive immune system response to COVID-19 infection that makes it difficult to fight off the virus, according to a new manuscript published in the Endocrine Society's journal, Endocrinology.

3 Sep 2020

Researchers identify properties in placenta tissue that may prevent COVID-19 transmission

Researchers from Boston Medical Center's Maxwell Finland Laboratory for Infectious Diseases have identified properties in placenta tissue that may play an important role in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 from a mother with the virus to her fetus.

3 Sep 2020

HIV and HCV testing at drug detoxification centers can help identify persons at-risk during opioid epidemic

With an increase in HIV and HCV infections as a consequence of the ongoing opioid epidemic, Boston Medical Center researchers found that only a small number of those who test positive for those infections at a drug detoxification center followed up for a clinical visit after their test.

3 Sep 2020

Study shows why coronavirus is more dangerous in people with comorbidities

Why is the COVID-19 virus more dangerous in people with comorbidities?. Sadis Matalon, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and colleagues in Texas and San Francisco asked that question in a hypothesis paper published online in Physiological Reviews on March 27.

3 Sep 2020

Genomic analysis of specific E. coli strain can help develop potential vaccines

Foodborne pathogens are very common and usually benign, but certain virulent strains of pathogens can result in severe disease and even death.

3 Sep 2020

Major UK study launched to assess the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients

A new UK study has been launched to assess the impact of covid-19 on people with cancer.

2 Sep 2020

VUMC launches clinical trial of promising COVID-19 treatments in outpatient setting

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a clinical trial of promising treatments for COVID-19 in the outpatient setting.

2 Sep 2020

Study identifies subtypes and developmental process of novel immune T cells

There are memory cells that remember previously encountered pathogens and help to react quickly and strongly when exposed to them again.

2 Sep 2020

Blood test can identify patients at high risk of severe COVID-19

A blood test on hospital admission showing the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 can identify patients at a high risk of severe COVID-19.

2 Sep 2020

A global vaccine is sufficient to combat COVID-19 infection, indicates study

Genetic analysis of sequences from more than 27,000 individuals infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 reveals that the virus has mutated minimally since December 2019, suggesting one vaccine would be sufficient to combat global infections.

2 Sep 2020

Excessive immune response plays an important role in severe Covid-19

The team from Marien Hospital and the department of Virology of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) as well as the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, the Clinic of Anesthesiology and the Institute for Virology of University Medicine Essen studied specific antibodies and T cells occurring in recovered, seriously ill and deceased Covid-19 patients.

1 Sep 2020

Dr. Fauci says COVID vaccine trials could end early if results are overwhelming

A COVID-19 vaccine could be available earlier than expected if ongoing clinical trials produce overwhelmingly positive results, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease official, in an interview Tuesday with KHN.

1 Sep 2020

Researchers launch study to evaluate safety of HIV prevention methods in breastfeeding women

The development of safe and effective HIV prevention methods for cisgender women has long been a global health priority, yet research in women during pregnancy and breastfeeding, when they are most vulnerable to infection, has lagged years behind.

31 Aug 2020

New dual CAR T cell immunotherapy shows enhanced therapeutic potency to fight HIV

A recent study published in the journal Nature Medicine, led by researchers Todd Allen, PhD, a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and group leader at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, and Jim Riley, PhD, a professor of Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, describes a new Dual CAR T cell immunotherapy that can help fight HIV infection.

31 Aug 2020

Vaccine reduces race-based pneumococcal disease disparities

In a major public health success, the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PCV13, or Prevnar 13, in 2010 in the United States is associated with reduction in socioeconomic disparities and the near elimination of Black-white-based racial disparities for invasive pneumococcal disease.

31 Aug 2020

Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 spreading in an airplane toilet

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is still actively spreading like wildfire, with nearly 300,000 new infections reported daily across the globe. Early on in the outbreak in China, scientists said that the virus could spread through respiratory droplets, when a person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.

30 Aug 2020

Bulky benchtops for fingerprinting drugs could be replaced with a tiny photonic chip

As new infectious diseases emerge and spread, one of the best shots against novel pathogens is finding new medicines or vaccines.

28 Aug 2020

Poultry farmers play active role in the dissemination of avian influenza

Small-scale poultry farmers in Vietnam tend to respond to viral outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) by rapidly selling their birds as a way to avoid financial loss, according to a new study by an international team of researchers.

28 Aug 2020

Serious heart complications are common in adults hospitalized with flu

The link between influenza and serious heart conditions just grew stronger. A CDC study looking at more than 80,000 adult patients hospitalized with flu over eight seasons found that sudden, serious heart complications were common, occurring in 12% of patients, or 1 in 8.

28 Aug 2020