Measles News and Research

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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains a leading cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 197 000 people died from measles in 2007, mostly children under the age of five.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. The measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs. It is a human disease not known to occur in animals.

Scientists find ADAR1 enzyme protect against measles virus

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found that a known enzyme in cells protects against measles virus, likely by altering the virus's genetic material, RNA. Cells lacking the enzyme become highly vulnerable to the virus's destructive effects. The enzyme also protects against several other respiratory viruses, including influenza A.

21 Jan 2011

New study reveals measles viral gene plays key role in development of PD

A gene from the measles virus plays a key role in the development of Paget's disease of bone, according to a team of researchers led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

18 Jan 2011

Airborne prions can induce mad cow disease: Research

Airborne prions are also infectious and can induce mad cow disease or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disorder. This is the surprising conclusion of researchers at the University of Zurich, the University Hospital Zurich and the University of Tübingen. They recommend precautionary measures for scientific labs, slaughterhouses and animal feed plants.

14 Jan 2011

Viewpoints: Health law repeal; Individual mandate; Essential benefits package; Arizona transplant program

If the government fails, then costs will rise inexorably. Nothing in the law guarantees success: The law embodies almost every idea anyone has offered and hopes a couple of them will work.

14 Jan 2011

New discovery has brought dream of transforming measles virus against cancer

When most people in the developed world think of measles, what comes to mind is only a dim memory of a vaccination at a pediatrician's office. But while childhood vaccination has virtually eliminated measles from North America and much of Europe, researchers remain interested in the virus.

13 Jan 2011

Herpes zoster vaccine reduces risk of developing shingles by 55%

Receiving the herpes zoster vaccine was associated with a 55 percent reduced risk of developing shingles, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of 300,000 people that appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

12 Jan 2011

Less than 7% of U.S. seniors get shingles vaccination

Although a vaccine to prevent shingles has been available since 2006, less than 7 percent of U.S. seniors — the demographic most frequently affected by the disease — chose to receive the vaccination as of 2008, finds a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

11 Jan 2011

Aid groups, U.N., U.S. discuss response to Haiti's earthquake as year anniversary approaches

On Friday, the Office of the U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti said that 63.6 percent of the aid international donors "pledged to Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake nearly one year ago" has been disbursed, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports (1/7).

11 Jan 2011

Researchers describe crucial initial steps taken by measles virus attachment proteins with receptors

Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that proteins on the surface of a cell twist a viral protein into position, allowing the virus to start infection and cause disease, all in a movement as graceful as a ballroom dance. The findings appear in the current online issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

10 Jan 2011

Autism-vaccine link study – Complete fraud

There has been a controversy regarding the causative link of vaccines with autism. A report appeared in the British Medical Journal this Wednesday that stated that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the lead author of a major study to imply such a link had falsified the medical histories of all 12 patients in his study and that he was “hoping to sue vaccine manufacturers and to create a vaccine scare.”

9 Jan 2011

Two doses of varicella vaccine provide higher antibody levels than one

When vaccinating children against varicella, researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found, two doses are better than one. In fact, the odds of developing chicken pox were 95 percent lower in children who had received two doses of the vaccine compared with those who had received only one dose.

5 Jan 2011

Lancet editorial highlights similarities between current health challenges, those from 1911

"After a century of progress, the issues that medicine must tackle in the coming year aren't that different from the ones that faced doctors at the start of 1911, according to the observations" published Jan. 1 in a Lancet editorial, LiveScience reports (Parry, 12/30).

4 Jan 2011

University of Adelaide researcher leads collaboration for universal flu vaccine

A University of Adelaide researcher is leading a collaboration between Australia and Indonesia on the production of a universal flu vaccine. The frequent arising of new influenza strains represents the greatest challenge to health authorities as it renders currently available vaccines ineffective, says Dr Mohammed Alsharifi, the Head of the Vaccine Research Group at the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide.

30 Nov 2010

U.S. falling short of its goals to improve access to clean water, sanitation worldwide, report says

The U.S. is falling short on its goal of improving conditions for the 2.6 billion people worldwide without access to clean water and sanitation despite the fact the Water for the Poor Act became law in 2005, according to a report released Thursday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), WaterAid, CARE and 11 other organization, Food Safety News reports.

19 Nov 2010

Nanotrope assay receives U.S. patent for diagnosing influenza and viral infections

Nanotrope, Inc. announced today that it has been issued United States patent #7,829,272 covering its ground-breaking diagnostic test for influenza and other viral infections.

17 Nov 2010

Sinovac third quarter sales decrease 7% to $9.6 million

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today its unaudited financial results for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2010.

15 Nov 2010

Pneumonia Report Card shows prevention, treatment tools not widely adopted in countries where disease kills most children

In advance of World Pneumonia Day, the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on Thursday released a report card showing that pneumonia prevention and intervention targets are not being met in the 15 countries where three-quarters of deaths in children under age 5 from the disease occur each year, IRIN reports.

14 Nov 2010

Urgent action needed to prevent and treat childhood pneumonia

A Pneumonia Report Card released today by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on behalf of the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia reveals where urgent efforts are needed to reach target levels of coverage for the life-saving interventions that can prevent, protect against and treat pneumonia in children.

12 Nov 2010

Anti-TNF therapy increases risk of varicella zoster virus infections

Anti tumor necrosis factor therapy increases the risk of developing varicella zoster virus infections, including shingles and chicken pox, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

9 Nov 2010

Experts develop tools to educate people about health risks associated with global travel

More than 30 million people in the United States travel to resource-limited areas of the world each year. This global mobility may contribute to the spread of infectious diseases such as influenza, measles, and meningitis and may also put individual travelers at risk for malaria, typhoid, dengue fever and hepatitis.

4 Nov 2010