Infectious Diseases News and Research

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New Cochrane review assesses efficacy of pyrethroid-PBO nets for preventing malaria in Africa

Researchers from LSTM have confirmed that using pyrethroid-PBO treated nets to prevent malaria is more effective at killing mosquitoes in areas where there is a high level of resistance to pyrethroids.

29 Nov 2018

Surgery and addictions counseling associated with reduced mortality in injection drug users with endocarditis

Cases of endocarditis - infection of the heart valves - have risen dramatically in recent years as a result of the opioid crisis. In London, Ontario 55 per cent of people who experience heart valve infections are injection drug users. They are particularly vulnerable to the disease and a third die as a result.

27 Nov 2018

NIH-funded study finds how hantaviruses infect the lungs

A human protein associated with asthma is key to how hantaviruses infect the lungs and sometimes cause a life-threatening pulmonary condition known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

26 Nov 2018

Scientist named as one of top 10 innovators for fighting superbugs

University of Adelaide scientist Dr Katharina Richter has been named as one of the top 10 innovators in the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 competition for the Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Taiwan region.

23 Nov 2018

Eyes may be portal for prions to enter the body finds study

A recent study has found that prion proteins that cause a deadly brain disease may enter the body via the eyes.

23 Nov 2018

Scientists identify key protein involved in Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

A global team of investigators has identified a key protein involved in Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, a serious and sometimes fatal respiratory disease, according to research published today in the journal Nature.

22 Nov 2018

Scientists find evidence of prions in the eyes of CJD patients

National Institutes of Health scientists and their colleagues have found evidence of the infectious agent of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in the eyes of deceased CJD patients.

21 Nov 2018

Vanderbilt researchers isolate antibody that can neutralize West Nile virus

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues have isolated a human monoclonal antibody that can "neutralize" the West Nile virus and potentially prevent a leading cause of viral encephalitis (brain inflammation) in the United States.

21 Nov 2018

Researchers develop model that predicts transmissibility of viral zoonoses

Researchers have developed a model that predicts which of the viruses that can jump from animals to people can also be transmitted from person to person--and are therefore possible sources of human diseases.

20 Nov 2018

First modeling system developed for testing age-specific human immune responses to vaccines

A team of scientists at Boston Children's Hospital has developed the first modeling system for testing age-specific human immune responses to vaccines -- outside the body. The practical, cost-effective new platform, using all human components, is expected to accelerate and de-risk the development, assessment and selection of vaccines.

20 Nov 2018

Study indicates that frogs in virus-exposed groups breed at young age

Frogs from groups exposed to a deadly virus are breeding at younger ages, new research suggests. Scientists studying European common frogs in the UK compared groups ("populations") exposed to ranavirus and those free from the disease.

20 Nov 2018

Routine HCV testing in correctional facilities can best identify and treat disease, say researchers

Results from a new study led by Boston Medical Center (BMC) found routine Hepatitis C testing identified a significant number of cases that would have been missed by targeted testing among a population of individuals in Washington State prisons.

20 Nov 2018

Health sector coalition urges Government to safeguard patients in future UK-EU relationship

A coalition from the UK’s health sector say Brexit negotiators have a responsibility to protect 500 million patients on both sides of the Channel. The group is calling on both sides to make patients and public health central to the Political Declaration for the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

19 Nov 2018

New blood test developed for early diagnosis of ovarian cancer

Research on a bacterial toxin first discovered in Adelaide has led to the development a new blood test for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer - a disease which kills over 1000 Australian women and 150,000 globally each year.

19 Nov 2018

Reducing cellular proliferation could help deplete HIV reservoir and lead to a functional cure

A majority of the HIV-infected cells that persist in HIV-infected individuals even during suppressive antiretroviral therapy originated from cellular proliferation, not viral replication, according to new research published in Nature Communications.

17 Nov 2018

In-hospital mortality higher among patients with drug-resistant infections

In one of the largest studies to measure the burden of antibiotic resistance in a low- or middle-income country, researchers at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy report that in-hospital mortality is significantly higher among patients infected with multi-drug resistant or extensively drug resistant pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii.

17 Nov 2018

Specific bacterial toxins reduce number of cells suppressing immune response

Staphylococcus aureus bacteria can cause numerous diseases, such as skin infections, pneumonia and blood poisoning.

16 Nov 2018

Researchers develop new drug molecule that inhibits inflammation

A multidisciplinary team of researchers led from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed an anti-inflammatory drug molecule with a new mechanism of action.

15 Nov 2018

Study provides new insight into norovirus outbreaks, may help guide efforts to develop vaccines

Outbreaks of norovirus in health care settings and outbreaks caused by a particular genotype of the virus are more likely to make people seriously ill, according to a new study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

15 Nov 2018

TGen North collaborates with NARBHA Institute to advance human health

TGen North, the Pathogen and Microbiome Division of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, has partnered with the non-profit NARBHA Institute to advance human health through the new TGen One Health Collaborative, an initiative that recognizes the interdependence of people, animals and plants in both the human-built and natural environments.

15 Nov 2018