Severe Acute Respiratory News and Research

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Survivors of Ebola epidemic donate plasma to tackle disease outbreaks in West Africa

The first donations of plasma, from survivors of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, have been received by an international research team working to help tackle current and future disease outbreaks in West Africa.

23 Apr 2015

Training modules for emergency department staff to treat infectious disease patients available on CDC's website

Four Web-based training modules developed by Johns Hopkins Medicine for emergency department personnel who treat patients with infectious diseases are now available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

18 Feb 2015

New antibody shows promise in increasing survival for patients suffering from influenza, pneumonia

Scientists from NTU Singapore, the world's No. 1 young university, have developed an antibody which boosts the survival chances for patients suffering from influenza and pneumonia.

14 Feb 2015

Outbreaks of infectious diseases offer lessons for critical care providers

Outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as Ebola in West Africa, offer insight for how healthcare professionals can respond more effectively to current and future challenges, according to editors of the American Journal of Critical Care.

5 Jan 2015

Experts focus on key issues impeding delivery of cardiac care in resource-limited settings

Critical care is defined by life-threatening conditions, which require close evaluation, monitoring, and treatment by appropriately trained health professionals. Cardiovascular care bears these same requirements.

14 Nov 2014

Experimental Ebola treatments to be trialled in West Africa next month

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders (MSF) have announced that three trials of Ebola therapies will begin in West Africa this December.

13 Nov 2014

Novel virus could be source of severe respiratory disease in ball pythons

Researchers have identified a novel virus that could be the source of a severe, sometimes fatal respiratory disease that has been observed in captive ball pythons since the 1990s. The work is published this week in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

9 Sep 2014

MERS virus can be transmitted from camel to man

A report published yesterday provided the first solid evidence that the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus (MERS-cov) can be contracted by man through close contact with an infected camel.

9 Jun 2014

Researchers figure out way to disable a part of SARS virus

A Purdue University-led research team has figured out how to disable a part of the SARS virus responsible for hiding it from the immune system; a critical step in developing a vaccine against the deadly disease.

4 Jun 2014

Researchers identify existing drugs that could be "repurposed" to fight MERS-CoV

A team led by a University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) researcher, working as a grantee from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has identified a number of existing drugs that could be "repurposed" to fight outbreaks of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV).

22 May 2014

Existing pharmaceutical drugs may offer effective therapies against MERS

A series of research articles published ahead of print in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy have identified a number of existing pharmaceutical drugs and compounds under development that may offer effective therapies against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

20 May 2014

Scientists identify natural human antibodies against virus that causes MERS

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified natural human antibodies against the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a step toward developing treatments for the newly emerging and often-fatal disease.

29 Apr 2014

Scientists seek broad, versatile countermeasures effective against several kinds of viruses, other pathogens

A group of University of Washington scientists is seeking broad, versatile countermeasures effective against several different kinds of viruses and other pathogens. The investigators are part of a national push for faster responses to unexpected infectious agents.

9 Apr 2014

Upstream interventions may provide options to contain emerging pathogens at source

While many endemic infectious diseases of humans have been largely contained, new microbes continue to emerge to threaten human and animal health.

18 Feb 2014

Eight additional cases of MERS-CoV infection confirmed in Saudi Arabia

WHO has been informed of an additional eight laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in Saudi Arabia.

29 Aug 2013

Researchers uncover how SARS coronavirus uses host cell to reproduce itself

UC Irvine infectious disease researchers have uncovered components of the SARS coronavirus - which triggered a major outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002-03 - that allow it to take over host cells in order to replicate.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists provide insight into emergence of inter-species transmittable viruses

Outbreaks such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) have afflicted people around the world, yet many people think these trends are on the decline.

13 Aug 2013

Saudi and UK scientists provide detailed picture of MERS coronavirus

Saudi and UK scientists provide the most detailed picture yet of the clinical and laboratory characteristics of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, revealing a wide range of clinical symptoms and an extremely high death rate among patients with co-existing medical conditions.

29 Jul 2013

McMaster University researchers identify three factors that influence pandemic influenza

Three waves of the deadliest influenza pandemic in history, known as the Spanish flu, hit England and Wales in 1918, just as World War 1 was coming to an end.

10 Jul 2013

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus currently unlikely to cause a pandemic, finds study

New estimates of the transmissibility of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in humans suggest that it does not yet have pandemic potential, according to research published in The Lancet.

9 Jul 2013