Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Viewpoints: Ebola myths; Sen. McCain's 'opportunistic alarmism'; Gov. Jindal on CDC's misspent resources

Hubris is the greatest danger in wealthy countries - a sort of smug assumption that advanced technologies and emergency-preparedness plans guarantee that Ebola and other germs will not spread. It was hubris that left Toronto's top hospitals battling SARS in 2003, long after the virus was conquered in poorer Vietnam. It was hubris that led the World Health Assembly in 2013 to cut the WHO's outbreak-response budget in favor of more programs to treat cancer and heart disease.

14 Oct 2014

GenCell Biosystems acquired by Becton, Dickinson and Company

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, announced today that it has acquired GenCell Biosystems, a privately-held Irish biotech company that has developed proprietary technologies that address key biological analysis protocols – from library preparation of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to genotyping for agricultural applications.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 13 Oct 2014

Pharmaceutical industry withdraws from the antibiotic space

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that at least 2 million Americans are sickened by antibiotic resistant infections each year and survive.

13 Oct 2014

HIV-infected users of stimulants derive benefits from antiretroviral therapy

New clinical research from UC San Francisco shows that 341 HIV-infected men who reported using stimulants such as methamphetamine or cocaine derived life-saving benefits from being on antiretroviral therapy that were comparable to those of HIV-infected men who do not use stimulants.

13 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Effects of health law; conquering Ebola

In case you don't follow me on Twitter, here it is: The Affordable Care Act has already helped slow the rate of growth in health-care costs across the board, putting more money in Americans' pockets and bringing down projected deficits even as millions more people sign up for health insurance and receive access to Medicaid.

13 Oct 2014

Molecular diagnostics and blood screening systems: an interview with Dr Bos and Dr Koppelman

Screening blood donations and molecular diagnostics for patients started in the nineties. At the beginning, the level of automation in molecular diagnostic testing was limited; most of the work had to be done manually.

12 Oct 2014

Social networking strategies encourage more at risk people to get tested for HIV

Old-school face-to-face social networking is a more effective way to identify people with HIV than the traditional referral method, suggests research being presented at IDWeek 2014.

12 Oct 2014

Pneumococcal vaccine prevents illness, reduces severe antibiotic-resistant infections in young children

The pneumococcal vaccine recommended for young children not only prevents illness and death, but also has dramatically reduced severe antibiotic-resistant infections, suggests nationwide research being presented at IDWeek 2014.

12 Oct 2014

Ebola screening and education stepped up amid fears of spiralling epidemic

The recent occurrences of Ebola cases outside Africa has led to fears of a global epidemic. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that the number of infections could rise to up to 1.4 million people by early next year without a massive global intervention to contain the virus.

10 Oct 2014

BIDMC scientists uncover new class of molecules that protects against diabetes

Scientists at the Salk Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston have discovered a new class of molecules—produced in human and mouse fat—that protects against diabetes.

10 Oct 2014

Views on giving flu shot to younger children

It's a common question parents ask themselves this time of year: Does my child really need a flu shot? Though the flu may seem harmless, the truth is on average 20,000 children age 5 and younger are hospitalized due to flu symptoms each year.

10 Oct 2014

Vancomycin drug still effective in treating Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections

A University of Nebraska Medical Center research team has determined that a longtime antibiotic, vancomycin, is still effective in treating Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections and that physicians should continue to use the drug even though several newer antibiotics are now available in the marketplace.

10 Oct 2014

First study of promising Ebola vaccine commenced in West Africa

Professor Myron M. Levine, MD, Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that the CVD, in conjunction with its sister institution, The Center for Vaccine Development of Mali and the Ministry of Health of Mali, have begun a clinical trial in health care workers (and other front-line workers) to evaluate a promising experimental Ebola vaccine.

10 Oct 2014

Study suggests that college athletes who play contact sports more likely to carry MRSA

Even if they don't show signs of infection, college athletes who play football, soccer and other contact sports are more likely to carry the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), suggests a study on MRSA and athletes, which is being presented at IDWeek 2014-.

10 Oct 2014

MSH mobilizes resources to strengthen Liberia’s health system, limit spread of Ebola

Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a Massachusetts-based global health nonprofit organization, today announced it is mobilizing its expertise and resources at the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia to help the Ministry of Health develop community care centers for Ebola separate from the health facilities; restore essential health services for non-Ebola patients; and, improve the detection and containment of active Ebola cases in Liberian communities.

9 Oct 2014

Antibiotic stewardship programs reduce length of stay and hospital readmission in children

Hospitalized children go home sooner and are less likely to be readmitted when the hospital has an antibiotic stewardship program that's dedicated to controlling antibiotic prescriptions and treatment, according to a study being presented at IDWeek 2014-. The study is the first to show the benefits of such programs on children's health.

9 Oct 2014

RBX2660 drug candidate highly effective against recurrent Clostridium difficile infection

Rebiotix Inc. announced today that results of the Phase 2 PUNCH CD Study found that the overall efficacy of RBX2660 in the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection was 87.1%. The study also found that administration of RBX2660 was well-tolerated and demonstrated satisfactory safety in the 60-day interim analysis.

9 Oct 2014

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Viewpoints: Ebola myths; Sen. McCain's 'opportunistic alarmism'; Gov. Jindal on CDC's misspent resources

GenCell Biosystems acquired by Becton, Dickinson and Company

Pharmaceutical industry withdraws from the antibiotic space

HIV-infected users of stimulants derive benefits from antiretroviral therapy

Viewpoints: Effects of health law; conquering Ebola

Molecular diagnostics and blood screening systems: an interview with Dr Bos and Dr Koppelman

Social networking strategies encourage more at risk people to get tested for HIV

Pneumococcal vaccine prevents illness, reduces severe antibiotic-resistant infections in young children

Ebola screening and education stepped up amid fears of spiralling epidemic

BIDMC scientists uncover new class of molecules that protects against diabetes

Views on giving flu shot to younger children

Vancomycin drug still effective in treating Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections

First study of promising Ebola vaccine commenced in West Africa

Study suggests that college athletes who play contact sports more likely to carry MRSA

MSH mobilizes resources to strengthen Liberia’s health system, limit spread of Ebola

Antibiotic stewardship programs reduce length of stay and hospital readmission in children

RBX2660 drug candidate highly effective against recurrent Clostridium difficile infection

RPS Diagnostics receives CE mark for FebriDx test

NanoBio to highlight prophylactic NE HSV-2 vaccine candidate at The Keystone Symposia Conference

KNCV becomes prime partner for USAID's flagship tuberculosis program

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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