Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Scientists validate oral vaccine delivery system to combat global health threats

Scientists at The Forsyth Institute and Tufts University have succeeded in describing and validating a unique system of oral vaccine delivery using a common bacteria found in the mouth.

16 Dec 2014

Simple assessments can help prevent risk of passing Ebola virus disease from organ donor

While serious infections can be transmitted from donated organs, the risk of passing Ebola virus disease from an organ donor to a recipient is extremely small. In a new editorial published in the American Journal of Transplantation, experts explain how simple assessments of donors can help ensure that the organ supply is safe, while having little impact on the donor pool.

16 Dec 2014

Roche announces launch of cobas Liat System for on-demand testing in different settings

Roche today announced the launch of the cobas Liat System—a fast, compact , easy to use, molecular diagnostic platform, designed for on-demand testing in physician clinics, pharmacies and hospital lab settings.

16 Dec 2014

New study helps identify public health needs relating to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C in Massachusetts

A new study from epidemiologists at Tufts University School of Medicine helps to identify communities with the greatest public health need in Massachusetts for resources relating to HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

14 Dec 2014

Penn researchers find effective way to inhibit inflammatory response during kidney dialysis

Frequent kidney dialysis is essential for the approximately 350,000 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in the United States. But it can also cause systemic inflammation, leading to complications such as cardiovascular disease and anemia, and patients who rely on the therapy have a five-year survival rate of only 35 percent. Such inflammation can be triggered when the complement cascade, part of the body's innate immune system, is inadvertently activated by modern polymer-based dialysis blood filters.

14 Dec 2014

Zylast selected as a winner of USAID Fighting Ebola Grand Challenge

Zylast products have been selected as one of only three initial winners of the USAID Fighting Ebola Grand Challenge. The announcement, made from the White House, introduces Zylast as a solution to "help healthcare workers on the front lines provide better care and stop the spread of Ebola."

14 Dec 2014

FDA approves Fluzone Intradermal Quadrivalent vaccine to prevent four strains of influenza virus

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for Fluzone Intradermal Quadrivalent vaccine.

13 Dec 2014

Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

Growing resistance to malaria drugs in Southeast Asia is caused by a single mutated gene inside the disease-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite, according to a study led by David Fidock, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology and of medical sciences (in medicine) at Columbia University Medical Center.

12 Dec 2014

New interoperability standards for diabetes devices

JDRF and the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the University Health Network in Toronto announced publication of interoperability standards for diabetes devices. The work is the result of JDRF Canadian Clinical Trial Network funding to Dr. Joseph Cafazzo at UHN to pilot the development of standard communication protocols that define how diabetes devices, such as insulin pumps, blood glucose meters, and continuous glucose monitors, communicate with one another and with other devices.

12 Dec 2014

Research finding could lead to development of effective vaccines against microbial infections

The diverse functions of a special cell-recognition lipoprotein, LOX-1, weren't always fully understood. However, Baylor Research Institute investigators gained better insight into LOX-1's role in immune responses through a study recently published in Immunity. Investigators found that the lipoprotein promotes humoral responses, which could allow researchers to design effective vaccines against microbial infections, including influenza viruses and HIV.

11 Dec 2014

Stem cells from healthy eye could one day be used to repair scarred cornea

Treating the potentially blinding haze of a scar on the cornea might be as straightforward as growing stem cells from a tiny biopsy of the patient's undamaged eye and then placing them on the injury site, according to mouse model experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

11 Dec 2014

Simple tips to keep families safe from flu

The flu, or seasonal influenza virus, is extremely unpredictable. Its severity can vary widely from one season to the next depending on many things, including the strains of flu spreading, availability of vaccines, how many people get vaccinated and how well the flu vaccine is matched to the flu viruses circulating each season.

10 Dec 2014

Treatment guidelines lacking for Ebola patients, say infectious diseases experts

As the Ebola Virus Diseases (EVD) epidemic continues to rage in West Africa, infectious diseases experts call attention to the striking lack of treatment guidelines. With over 16,000 total cases and more than 500 new infections reported per week, and probable underreporting of both cases and fatalities, the medical community still does not have specific approved treatment in place for Ebola, according to an editorial published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

10 Dec 2014

Study: Simeprevir-based therapy proves effective in treating chronic HCV infection

Researchers at Penn Medicine, in collaboration with a multi-center international team, have shown that a protease inhibitor, simeprevir, a once a day pill, along with interferon and ribavirin has proven as effective in treating chronic Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) as telaprevir with interferon and ribavirin, the standard of care in developing countries.

10 Dec 2014

Focus Diagnostics' Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV Direct Kit receive FDA clearance

As the 2014-2015 flu season begins, Focus Diagnostics, the products business of Quest Diagnostics, today announced that its Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV Direct Kit has received FDA clearance for eight additional influenza strains. These strains may pose significant potential health risks and may be circulating this winter.

From Quest Diagnostics 9 Dec 2014

Researchers test new nanopore DNA sequencing technology to detect cause of antibiotic resistance

New nanopore DNA sequencing technology on a device the size of a USB stick could be used to diagnose infection - according to new research from the University of East Anglia and Public Health England.

From Oxford Nanopore Technologies 9 Dec 2014

Researchers develop nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick malaria parasites

Malaria parasites invade human red blood cells, they then disrupt them and infect others. Researchers at the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute have now developed so-called nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick the parasites. This could lead to novel treatment and vaccination strategies in the fight against malaria and other infectious diseases.

9 Dec 2014

Study: Injectable 3D vaccines could help prevent cancer, infectious disease

One of the reasons cancer is so deadly is that it can evade attack from the body's immune system, which allows tumors to flourish and spread. Scientists can try to induce the immune system, known as immunotherapy, to go into attack mode to fight cancer and to build long lasting immune resistance to cancer cells.

9 Dec 2014

Experts launch new interdisciplinary scientific collaboration to improve health in urban areas

Aiming to empower planners and policy-makers to achieve better health for billions of people living in fast-growing urban areas, world health, environmental, behavioural and social science experts today launched a major new interdisciplinary scientific collaboration.

9 Dec 2014

Phase 2 RESONATE-17 study: IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib) improves survival in CLL patients with del 17p

Results from the Phase 2 RESONATE-17 (PCYC-1117) study show IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib) was associated with an 82.6 percent investigator-assessed overall response rate (ORR; the primary endpoint) and a 79 percent progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 12 months in people living with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) who have a genetic mutation known as deletion 17p (del 17p).

9 Dec 2014

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Scientists validate oral vaccine delivery system to combat global health threats

Simple assessments can help prevent risk of passing Ebola virus disease from organ donor

Roche announces launch of cobas Liat System for on-demand testing in different settings

New study helps identify public health needs relating to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C in Massachusetts

Penn researchers find effective way to inhibit inflammatory response during kidney dialysis

Zylast selected as a winner of USAID Fighting Ebola Grand Challenge

FDA approves Fluzone Intradermal Quadrivalent vaccine to prevent four strains of influenza virus

Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

New interoperability standards for diabetes devices

Research finding could lead to development of effective vaccines against microbial infections

Stem cells from healthy eye could one day be used to repair scarred cornea

Simple tips to keep families safe from flu

Treatment guidelines lacking for Ebola patients, say infectious diseases experts

Study: Simeprevir-based therapy proves effective in treating chronic HCV infection

Focus Diagnostics' Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV Direct Kit receive FDA clearance

Researchers test new nanopore DNA sequencing technology to detect cause of antibiotic resistance

Researchers develop nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick malaria parasites

Study: Injectable 3D vaccines could help prevent cancer, infectious disease

Experts launch new interdisciplinary scientific collaboration to improve health in urban areas

Phase 2 RESONATE-17 study: IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib) improves survival in CLL patients with del 17p

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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