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New genetic clues on molecular evolution of Q fever pathogen

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Texas A&M Health Center, and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have uncovered genetic clues about why some strains of the pathogen Coxiella burnetii are more virulent than others.

2 Feb 2009

Quinolone-resistant gonorrhea increases in Ontario

The prevalence of quinolone-resistant gonorrhea has increased rapidly in Ontario - Canada's most populous province - from a rate of 2% in 2001 to 28% in 2006, found a study published in CMAJ.

2 Feb 2009

Single gene lets bacteria jump from host to host

All life - plants, animals, people - depends on peaceful coexistence with a swarm of microbial life that performs vital services from helping to convert food to energy to protection from disease.

2 Feb 2009

New compound shows potential as tuberculosis drug

Rajesh Gokhale has created a compound in his lab in India that stops tuberculosis in its tracks.

2 Feb 2009

Discovery could lead to a new animal model for hepatitis C

During its career, the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus has banked its success on a rather unusual strategy: its limitations.

2 Feb 2009

New insights into a avian pathogenic E. coli and its risks to human health

Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University associate research scientist Melha Mellata, a member of professor Roy Curtiss' team, is leading a USDA funded project to develop a vaccine against a leading poultry disease called avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC).

29 Jan 2009

New bone cement may prevent amputations

Old technologies, bone cement and a well known antibiotic, may effectively fight an emerging infection in soldiers with compound bone fractures, according to a study published online in the Journal of Orthopedic Research.

29 Jan 2009

The immune system's hidden talents

Half of the immune system has a hidden talent, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered.

27 Jan 2009

Scientists discover key protein component involved in inflammation

Reporting in the journal Nature, researchers led by Emad Alnemri, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, discovered a key protein component involved in inflammation.

23 Jan 2009

Scientist decodes the language of memory cells

When an infection attacks, the body's immune system sounds the alert, kills the invading germs and remembers the pathogen to protect against contracting the same type of infection again.

23 Jan 2009

Discovery of key protein regulator of inflammation and cell death

Reporting in the journal Nature , researchers led by Emad Alnemri, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, discovered a key protein component involved in inflammation.

23 Jan 2009

Topical treatment wipes out herpes with RNAi

Whether condoms or abstinence, most efforts to prevent sexually transmitted diseases have a common logic: keep the pathogen out of your body altogether.

21 Jan 2009

MRSA head and neck infections increase among children

Rates of antibiotic-resistant head and neck infections increased in pediatric patients nationwide between 2001 and 2006, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

19 Jan 2009

MRSA's weak point visualised by scientists

An enzyme that lives in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and helps the dangerous bacterium to grow and spread infection through the human body has been visualised for the first time, according to a study out today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

19 Jan 2009

Tuberculosis commandeers body's defenses to gain foothold

Tuberculosis bacteria can commandeer the body's defenses in the early stages of infection and redirect them for their own offensive strategies, according to results reported in the scientific journal, Cell.

9 Jan 2009

Discovery of novel ways to halt the spread of antibiotic resistance

Scientists have identified the structure of a key component of the bacteria behind such diseases as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and Legionnaires' disease.

9 Jan 2009

New nasal spray vaccine shown to be effective against botulism

A preclinical study found a new nasal spray vaccine to provide complete protection against a major botulism toxin, according to a study published today in the Nature journal Gene Therapy .

8 Jan 2009

New avenue for TB therapy

Masses of immune cells that form as a hallmark of tuberculosis (TB) have long been thought to be the body's way of trying to protect itself by literally walling off the bacteria.

8 Jan 2009

Many babies with simple febrile seizures can avoid spinal tap

When babies develop a fever high enough or abrupt enough to cause a seizure, frightened parents often rush them to the emergency room, where their workup frequently includes a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to rule out bacterial meningitis.

6 Jan 2009

Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal

By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus.

30 Dec 2008