Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Scientists develop novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks

A team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks several weeks before they occur.

24 Mar 2013

Salk scientists discover how brain keeps track of similar but distinct memories

Ever find yourself racking your brain on a Monday morning to remember where you put your car keys? When you do find those keys, you can thank the hippocampus, a brain region responsible for storing and retrieving memories of different environments-such as that room where your keys were hiding in an unusual spot.

22 Mar 2013

HIV home tests: an interview with Dr Nitika Pant Pai, McGill University

30 years into the HIV epidemic, there is no vaccine in sight. Yet, even though there are fantastic and effective cheap and universally available drugs, and a treatment as prevention strategy is known to work, people do not wish to get tested for HIV! If everyone got tested, and treated, we could have brought the infection under control a long time ago!

21 Mar 2013

Lancet to launch new global health journal

The Lancet on Monday announced the launch of a new journal, Lancet Global Health, according to a press release (3/18).

21 Mar 2013

New class of anti-malarial compounds discovered

A group of researchers from 16 institutions around the world has identified a new class of anti-malarial compounds that target multiple stages of the malaria parasite's life cycle.

21 Mar 2013

Estrogen provides long-term relief for post-menopausal women suffering from joint pain

Post-menopausal women, who often suffer from joint pain, could find some long-term relief by taking estrogen-only medication, according to a new study based on the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) that was released online today by the journal, Menopause.

21 Mar 2013

Hepatitis C and HIV co-infection treatment: an interview with Prof Boecher, Boehringer Ingelheim

Chronic hepatitis C infection is one of the most frequent chronic infectious diseases worldwide. The WHO estimates that 150 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

20 Mar 2013

Prevalence of acute hepatitis C virus infection is nearly 1% among newly incarcerated inmates

study published in the March issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, estimates that the prevalence of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is nearly one percent among newly incarcerated inmates with a history of recent drug use.

20 Mar 2013

WHO, Global Fund call for additional $1.6M a year to fight TB in low-, middle-income countries

"Low and middle-income countries need an additional $1.6 billion a year to fight tuberculosis, threatening progress made against the world's second-deadliest infectious disease," the WHO and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said in a joint statement released Monday, Bloomberg reports (Bennett, 3/18).

20 Mar 2013

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients and Médecins Sans Frontières medical staff call for urgent action

If measures to tackle multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are not significantly stepped up, including addressing barriers that prevent both research into better drug combinations and treatment scale up, MDR-TB rates will continue to increase worldwide and a historic opportunity to improve abysmal cure rates will have been squandered, medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières warned today.

20 Mar 2013

HCV screening of IV drug users new to the prison system could identify thousands of new HCV cases annually

A study published in the March issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, estimates that the prevalence of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is nearly one percent among newly incarcerated inmates with a history of recent drug use. Findings suggest that systematic screening of intravenous (IV) drug users who are new to the prison system could identify more than 7,000 cases of HCV across the U.S. annually—even among asymptomatic inmates.

19 Mar 2013

Hepatitis C virus rarely transmitted through sex between monogamous heterosexuals

Individuals infected by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have nothing to fear from sex in a monogamous, heterosexual relationship. Transmission of HCV from an infected partner during sex is rare according to new research published in the March issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

19 Mar 2013

A Map of 'Shortcuts' simplifies the hunt for disease-causing genes

Some diseases are caused by single gene mutations. Current techniques for identifying the disease-causing gene in a patient produce hundreds of potential gene candidates, making it difficult for scientists to pinpoint the single causative gene.

19 Mar 2013

Global efforts to address malnutrition should factor in immunization

"On Red Nose Day, we are reminded of the famine in Ethiopia that triggered the first Comic Relief, over 25 years ago," and "as we reflect, we now know that the link between malnutrition and infectious disease makes for a particularly vicious circle," Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, writes in an opinion piece in the Guardian's "Global Development Professionals Network."

19 Mar 2013

Nanomix announces allowance of patent application for carbon nanotube technology

Nanomix Inc., a leading nanotechnology company focused on development of next generation point of care diagnostic tests to enable earlier and more accurate testing in hospital and pre-hospital settings, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed a patent application relating to flexible nanostructure electronic devices, such as nanotube sensors and transistors, and method for fabricating the same.

19 Mar 2013

Bill Gates says capitalism funnels more resources into minor ailments than infectious diseases

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "has declared capitalism 'flawed' because it channels more resources to curing minor ailments such as male baldness than to addressing the diseases that destroy millions of lives every year," The Independent reports.

19 Mar 2013

Importance of choosing correct catheter placement in hospitalized children

Location, location, location. A new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study shows the real-estate mantra also holds true when it comes to choosing correct catheter placement in children.

19 Mar 2013

Study shows widespread use of antiretroviral drugs would increase prevalence of MDR HIV

One of the most widely advocated strategies for dealing with HIV/AIDS could double the number of multi-drug-resistant HIV cases in the population of men who have sex with men in LA County over the next 10 years, cautions a new study.

19 Mar 2013

UCLA researchers predict hotspots for future outbreaks of influenza virus

This year's unusually long and rocky flu season would be nothing compared to the pandemic that could occur if bird flu became highly contagious among humans, which is why UCLA researchers and their colleagues are creating new ways to predict where an outbreak could emerge.

17 Mar 2013

Cytomegalovirus employs a novel trick to hide from immune detection

A virus that most people have probably never heard of, yet most of us carry, is the number 1 infectious cause of congenital birth defects. One in 750 children are born with, or develop, permanent disabilities such as hearing loss or brain damage as a result of CMV (cytomegalovirus) infection in the womb.

17 Mar 2013

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Scientists develop novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks

Salk scientists discover how brain keeps track of similar but distinct memories

HIV home tests: an interview with Dr Nitika Pant Pai, McGill University

Lancet to launch new global health journal

New class of anti-malarial compounds discovered

Estrogen provides long-term relief for post-menopausal women suffering from joint pain

Hepatitis C and HIV co-infection treatment: an interview with Prof Boecher, Boehringer Ingelheim

Prevalence of acute hepatitis C virus infection is nearly 1% among newly incarcerated inmates

WHO, Global Fund call for additional $1.6M a year to fight TB in low-, middle-income countries

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients and Médecins Sans Frontières medical staff call for urgent action

HCV screening of IV drug users new to the prison system could identify thousands of new HCV cases annually

Hepatitis C virus rarely transmitted through sex between monogamous heterosexuals

A Map of 'Shortcuts' simplifies the hunt for disease-causing genes

Global efforts to address malnutrition should factor in immunization

Nanomix announces allowance of patent application for carbon nanotube technology

Bill Gates says capitalism funnels more resources into minor ailments than infectious diseases

Importance of choosing correct catheter placement in hospitalized children

Study shows widespread use of antiretroviral drugs would increase prevalence of MDR HIV

UCLA researchers predict hotspots for future outbreaks of influenza virus

Cytomegalovirus employs a novel trick to hide from immune detection

NGS for Infectious Disease Surveillance eBook

The Critical Role of Sample Storage in Drug Discovery and Development

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

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