immunity News and Research

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Gut microbiome and IBD – the connection maybe in diet says study

A new study has shown conclusive evidence that inflammatory bowel disease or IBD is intimately associated with the gut microbial environment which can be altered with prescription diet. The microbiome within the human gut is a collection of healthy and helpful bacteria that help in several functions of the body including development and maintenance of immunity.

10 Sep 2019

Research shows link between genetic mutation and flu-related heart complications

People with severe flu sometimes develop life-threatening heart problems, even when their hearts have been previously healthy, but the reason for that has been poorly understood.

10 Sep 2019

It’s safe to feed raw food to pets, finds new study

A large multinational study shows that pet owners don’t think feeding raw food increases the risk of infection to household members. Raw food includes all uncooked meat and other parts of a dead animal. In fact, an infection in humans could be traced to raw pet food in just 0.24% of all surveyed households.

9 Sep 2019

Microbiome loss from antibiotic use affects response to flu vaccine

Every living person has trillions of microbes living in their digestive tract, and more than 400 species of bacteria in the gut, more than the number of cells in the body. The normal gut flora is important to maintain eubiosis, the microbial balance in the body.

9 Sep 2019

Fat-filled immune cells found in victims of vaping illness

The frightening outbreak of mysterious respiratory illness linked to the use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, have shaken the medical community.

9 Sep 2019

Oral antibiotics that kill gut microorganisms can alter immune response to flu vaccines

The normal human gut microbiome is a flourishing community of microorganisms, some of which can affect the human immune system. In a new paper published this week in Cell, researchers found that oral antibiotics, which can kill gut microorganisms, can alter the human immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination.

8 Sep 2019

Serotonin and anti-depressants can have a major effect on the gut's microbiota

A new study in mice led by UCLA biologists strongly suggests that serotonin and drugs that target serotonin, such as anti-depressants, can have a major effect on the gut's microbiota -- the 100 trillion or so bacteria and other microbes that live in the human body's intestines.

6 Sep 2019

How tuberculosis progresses: genetic factors play a major role

There are almost 1.8 billion people with tuberculosis bacilli in their body, but only about 5% to 15% develop overt infection, usually within 18 months of initial exposure. The reason behind this selective progression has been sought for decades by scientists from a variety of fields.

5 Sep 2019

As measles outbreak fades, N.Y. sets in motion new rules on school vaccinations

As children head to school this fall, the number of measles cases in New York has slowed to a trickle, and officials this week declared that the outbreak in New York City, which largely affected Orthodox Jewish families who avoided immunizations, is over.

5 Sep 2019

Large-scale study maps the genetic underpinnings of early TB progression

While the vast majority of the 1.8 billion people infected with the TB bacterium never experience active disease, an estimated 5 to 15 percent do develop full-blown infections--roughly half of them within 18 months of exposure.

4 Sep 2019

Starving seniors: How America fails to feed its aging

Army veteran Eugene Milligan is 75 years old and blind. He uses a wheelchair since losing half his right leg to diabetes and gets dialysis for kidney failure.

3 Sep 2019

Study highlights the need to better understand immunity against mumps virus

Immunity against mumps virus appears insufficient in a fraction of college-aged people who were vaccinated in childhood, research from Emory Vaccine Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates.

3 Sep 2019

Pneumonia uses hydrogen peroxide to weaken the immune system

Pneumonia is a lung infection, filling up the alveoli with pus and fluid. At present, it’s the leading cause of death among children. The lung infection accounts for 15 percent of all deaths in children below five years old, killing more than 800,000 children in 2017 alone.

3 Sep 2019

Microbes linked to heart attacks finds study

A study revealed at the ESC Congress 2019 held in Paris last weekend reveals that abnormal microbe population in the body may lead to impairment of the stable coronary plaques and lead them to be dislodged leading to a heart attack. The abstract titled, “A different microbial signature in plaque and gut of patients presenting with ACS: a possible role for coronary instability” was presented on the 31st of August 2019.

1 Sep 2019

ATS publishes clinical guideline on laboratory diagnosis of fungal infections

The American Thoracic Society has published an official clinical guideline on laboratory diagnosis of fungal infections in pulmonary and critical care medicine in the Society's Aug. 30 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

30 Aug 2019

DNA vaccine for tick-borne disease ‘SFTS’ confers protection against lethal infection in ferrets

A KAIST research team reported the development of a DNA vaccine for Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus (SFTSV) which completely protects against lethal infection in ferrets.

29 Aug 2019

Researchers find a weak spot in cancer cells

Cancer cells form tumors. This statement, simple as it seems, hides a complex failure of normal immune responses that should eliminate tumor cells from the body before they ever form viable cancer masses.

28 Aug 2019

Promising vaccine may protect against the Klebsiella superbug

A powerful superbug, a hypervirulent form of the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae, is a very difficult to curb infection. It causes a variety of infections including rare but life-threatening liver, respiratory tract, bloodstream and other infections.

28 Aug 2019

Novel immunotherapy method could overcome tumor immunity

Cancer immunotherapy is a form of treatment in which the body’s own immune cells are recruited to overcome the tumor. However, it is only useful in a few tumors, because of tumor immunity where tumor-associated immune cells work to protect the tumor against attack.

28 Aug 2019

Scientists reveal cancer cells' immune weak spot

Scientists have found a vulnerability in cancer cells that could make them more susceptible to being destroyed by the immune system, according to a new report in eLife.

27 Aug 2019