Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Research suggests asymptomatic infection as source of norovirus outbreaks in Indonesia

Norovirus, also referred to as the "winter vomiting bug", is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans. A Japanese research team has shown that norovirus is significantly present in the stools of healthy volunteers in Indonesia who are asymptomatically infected with the virus.

6 Nov 2017

Gonorrhea and syphilis cases rise in Australia

The Annual Surveillance Report on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections (STIs) in Australia was released and it revealed that there is a rise in diagnosis of gonorrhea and syphilis but the number of people being affected by HIV has plateaued. In addition tens of thousands of people have been cured of Hepatitis C. The report comes from the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney.

5 Nov 2017

Collaborative research identifies broadly cross-protective vaccines for H3N2 influenza

A collaborative research and development partnership between researchers at the University of Georgia and Sanofi Pasteur, the largest influenza vaccine manufacturer in the world, has resulted in the identification of a vaccine candidate that protects against multiple co-circulating strains of H3N2 influenza isolated over five seasons following testing in mouse and ferret models.

2 Nov 2017

Molecular tests to detect Zika virus should be repeated more than once in pregnant women

Molecular tests to detect Zika virus, which enable identification of the pathogen's genetic material in body fluids, such as blood, urine, semen and saliva during the acute phase of infection, have been used routinely in prenatal checkups for pregnant women with symptoms of the disease.

1 Nov 2017

Vedantra and Neon Therapeutics extend research alliance to develop impactful cancer therapies

Vedantra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an immunotherapy company focused on developing products to treat cancer and infectious disease, and Neon Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology company developing neoantigen-based therapeutic vaccines and T-cell therapies to treat cancer, announced today that the companies have extended their non-exclusive research alliance.

31 Oct 2017

GHIT Fund announces US$16.7 million to support development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, a unique Japanese public-private partnership formed to battle infectious diseases around the globe, today announced US$16.7 million to support development of new compounds for fighting malaria and tuberculosis, a leishmaniasis vaccine and drug, and a treatment for a long-ignored flesh-eating infection.

31 Oct 2017

Researchers caution against using antibodies to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child

HIV+ mothers who possess a strong neutralizing antibody response may be more likely to pass the virus on to her infant through breast feeding. In addition, infants born to mothers with a strong antibody response are significantly more likely to have a serious illness or death, regardless of whether or not they acquire the virus.

31 Oct 2017

Cochrane review provides clarity about safety of mefloquine for preventing malaria in travelers

Researchers from LSTM Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group publish two systematic reviews this week about the safety of mefloquine (Lariam) for preventing malaria in travelers.

30 Oct 2017

CureVac begins phase I study to assess intratumoral application of RNAdjuvant technology in patients with solid tumors

CureVac AG, a fully-integrated biotechnology company pioneering mRNA-based drugs, today announced it has initiated a Phase I study assessing the intratumoral application of its novel RNAdjuvant technology in patients with superficial solid tumors that are easily accessible for repeated intratumoral injections. RNAdjuvant is designed to amplify the scope and quality of an immune response when used alone or in combination with other immune therapies.

28 Oct 2017

Novel consortium aims to create new paradigm of cancer drug discovery

Scientists from two U.S. national laboratories, industry and academia today launched an unprecedented effort to transform the way cancer drugs are discovered by creating an open and sharable platform that integrates high-performance computing, shared biological data from public and industry sources and emerging biotechnologies to dramatically accelerate the discovery of effective cancer therapies.

27 Oct 2017

Genome-wide molecular tests can guide treatment in recurrent glioblastoma, study shows

Several patients with recurring glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, survived for more than a year in a clinical trial believed to be the first to use comprehensive DNA and RNA sequencing of a patient's tumor to inform treatment for these patients in real-time.

27 Oct 2017

‘Precision Medicine’ may not always be so precise when applied to diverse populations, study says

Precision Medicine in oncology, where genetic testing is used to determine the best drugs to treat cancer patients, is not always so precise when applied to some of the world's more diverse populations, according to a study led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute, an affiliate of City of Hope, and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

27 Oct 2017

International initiative led by Vanderbilt aims to develop universal flu vaccine

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are leading an international effort to develop a universal influenza vaccine that would protect everyone against all strains of the flu anywhere in the world.

27 Oct 2017

IBN researchers create DNA technology with two new genetic alphabets

Just like how alphabets are strung together to form words, our DNA is also strung together by alphabets to encode proteins. Our DNA contains only 4 natural genetic alphabets - A, C, G and T, which hold the blueprint for the production of proteins that make our bodies work.

26 Oct 2017

New flu forecasting tool makes better predictions by factoring evolution of virus

Each year, public health officials monitor the spread of influenza to identify which flu strains need to go into that year's vaccines and where outbreaks will occur. But it can be difficult to predict how bad a particular flu season will be until people actually start getting sick.

25 Oct 2017

New assessment system shows which patients need to be examined for heart valve infection

A risk assessment system developed by researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows which patients, with a certain type of streptococcal bacteria in the blood, need to be examined for a heart valve infection - a serious condition requiring prolonged medical treatment.

25 Oct 2017

Measuring biological samples using SNAP

My group is interested in host pathogen interaction and we mainly focus on how bacteria enter cells. In essence, the idea is that if you can prevent bacteria from entering cells, then you will prevent illness.

From Bruker Nano Surfaces and Metrology 24 Oct 2017

Study offers solution to protect against vaccine-enhanced respiratory disease

Researchers have discovered that a virus-like particle vaccine can prime the body's immune response and prevent the severe respiratory disease that results when patients given an early form of a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are exposed to RSV, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

23 Oct 2017

Discovery of novel mechanism in the gut microbiome has implications for people with IBD

Many people associate the word "bacteria" with something dirty and disgusting. Dr. Pere Santamaria disagrees. Called the microbiome, the bacteria in our bodies have all kinds of positive effects on our health, Santamaria says. "The bacteria we have in our gut actually have many beneficial functions. They help in our digestion, prevent infection by pathogens and educate our immune system on what to fight."

23 Oct 2017

Scientists develop novel antimicrobials to tackle multidrug-resistant bacteria

Scientists at the University of Surrey in collaboration with research partners at the University of Sheffield and University of Würzburg, Germany, have developed novel antimicrobials, which could be used to treat infections, caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria.

23 Oct 2017

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Research suggests asymptomatic infection as source of norovirus outbreaks in Indonesia

Gonorrhea and syphilis cases rise in Australia

Collaborative research identifies broadly cross-protective vaccines for H3N2 influenza

Molecular tests to detect Zika virus should be repeated more than once in pregnant women

Vedantra and Neon Therapeutics extend research alliance to develop impactful cancer therapies

GHIT Fund announces US$16.7 million to support development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics

Researchers caution against using antibodies to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child

Cochrane review provides clarity about safety of mefloquine for preventing malaria in travelers

CureVac begins phase I study to assess intratumoral application of RNAdjuvant technology in patients with solid tumors

Novel consortium aims to create new paradigm of cancer drug discovery

Genome-wide molecular tests can guide treatment in recurrent glioblastoma, study shows

‘Precision Medicine’ may not always be so precise when applied to diverse populations, study says

International initiative led by Vanderbilt aims to develop universal flu vaccine

IBN researchers create DNA technology with two new genetic alphabets

New flu forecasting tool makes better predictions by factoring evolution of virus

New assessment system shows which patients need to be examined for heart valve infection

Measuring biological samples using SNAP

Study offers solution to protect against vaccine-enhanced respiratory disease

Discovery of novel mechanism in the gut microbiome has implications for people with IBD

Scientists develop novel antimicrobials to tackle multidrug-resistant bacteria

NGS for Infectious Disease Surveillance eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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