Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Round-the-clock ICU intensivists could reduce mortality rates, length of stay

Implementing 24-hour intensivists at medical intensive care units could reduce patient mortality rates, and significantly reduce patients' length of stay, indicate study results.

5 Nov 2012

Smoke-free laws lead to fewer heart attacks

A recent decline in the incidence of myocardial infarction in Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA, could be due to the implementation of smoke-free laws, researchers suggest.

5 Nov 2012

Imaging-based therapy benefits ‘wake-up stroke’ patients

Undertaking thrombolysis on the basis of magnetic resonance imaging findings in patients with stroke of unknown onset time may double their chances for a good outcome, say researchers.

5 Nov 2012

'Details of implementation' critical to reaching goal of AIDS-free generation

Noting the progress made since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the upcoming recognition of World AIDS Day on December 1, Ronald Valdiserri, deputy assistant secretary for health, infectious diseases at the Department of Health and Human Services, writes in a Public Health Reports opinion piece, "We would do well to keep in mind the following caution. No matter the elegance of the controlled trial, the statistical significance of the results, or the superiority of the science, we must confront this inevitable reality: We will never be able to take full advantage of our progress in HIV clinical and prevention science until we develop and sustain the human, organizational, and structural capacities necessary to implement these new scientific breakthroughs."

3 Nov 2012

Weill Cornell researchers awarded Grand Challenges Explorations grants

Weill Cornell Medical College announced today that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

3 Nov 2012

Pregnant women in rural Ghana are now getting health information via mobile phone

Pregnant women in rural Ghana are now getting health information via mobile phone. The pilot project is part of an international initiative to employ mobile technology to improve the health of people in developing countries.

3 Nov 2012

Intensified antibiotic treatment can improve prognosis of patients with TB meningitis

Researchers from the Radboud UMC have conducted the first study globally to show that intensified antibiotic treatment can improve the prognosis of patients with tuberculous (TB) meningitis, the most severe form of TB which carries a mortality of up to 50%.

3 Nov 2012

Mass spectrometry can help visualize how drugs work inside living cells to kill infectious microbes

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers report that mass spectrometry, a tool currently used to detect and measure proteins and lipids, can also now allow biologists to "see" for the first time exactly how drugs work inside living cells to kill infectious microbes.

3 Nov 2012

Phase II study to evaluate Medivir/Janssen's simeprevir and Vertex against HCV

Medivir AB, announced today plans for a phase II proof-of-concept study of an all-oral regimen for the treatment of hepatitis C containing of Medivir/Janssen's protease inhibitor simeprevir and Vertex's nucleotide analogue hepatitis C virus (HCV) polymerase inhibitor VX-135.

3 Nov 2012

Janssen, Vertex to evaluate TMC435 and VX-135 in Phase 2 HCV study

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated to evaluate in a Phase 2 study the safety and efficacy of an all-oral regimen for the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV).

2 Nov 2012

Novartis resumes distribution of two seasonal influenza vaccines in Canada

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. has announced it is resuming distribution of two seasonal influenza vaccines in Canada, Fluad and Agriflu, following the announcement by Health Canada earlier today that it has completed its review of safety information for Agriflu and Fluad and is releasing the two vaccines for immediate use.

1 Nov 2012

Advaxis updates preliminary data from ADXS-HPV Phase 2 trial on cervical cancer

Advaxis, Inc., a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, updated preliminary data from an ongoing randomized 110 patient Phase 2 trial of ADXS-HPV being conducted in India in women with recurrent/refractory cervical cancer who have failed previous cytotoxic therapy.

1 Nov 2012

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason wins Grand Challenges Explorations grant

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) announced today that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

1 Nov 2012

Integra Holdings, a biopharmaceutical holding company, announced by Yissum

Yissum Research and Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University, announced today the inception of its subsidiary, Integra Holdings, a holding company focusing on biopharmaceutical companies based on inventions of researchers from the Hebrew University.

31 Oct 2012

Pins made of single atoms to fight cancer

Answers are often elusive in the fight against cancer, and Rice University chemist Zachary Ball is hoping to pin one down -- with pins made of single atoms. The work, which aims to create a drug that's effective against an "undruggable" protein, is one of the first 50 proposals funded under the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Provocative Questions Project.

31 Oct 2012

Race and income impacts rate of bystander-initiated CPR in communities

Individuals who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are most likely to receive bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation if they live in a predominantly White, high-income neighborhood, study results show.

30 Oct 2012

Exercise not to blame for sudden cardiac death

Exercise is not to blame for sudden cardiac death in young and seemingly fit people, say researchers.

29 Oct 2012

Sedation interruption does not reduce mechanical ventilation duration

Daily sedative interruption of mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care units does not reduce the time they are on ventilation or improve their clinical outcomes, report researchers in JAMA.

29 Oct 2012

New HIV test for babies differs from conventional test, delivers diagnosis in less than an hour

Today, mothers in Africa sometimes walk more than 10 miles to a clinic only to learn that conventional HIV test results for their babies are not available yet.

29 Oct 2012

Scientists hope to unravel mystery of how Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease

Investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have accelerated the search for the bacterial genes that make the Lyme disease bacterium so invasive and persistent. The discovery could advance the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, which affects an estimated 30,000 Americans each year.

29 Oct 2012