Infectious Diseases News and Research

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TB testing: today as good as 2-day

Same-day sputum smear microscopy is as effective as standard smear microscopy for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis, according to a review commissioned by the World Health Organization.

26 Oct 2012

Universal approach to MRSA-prevention in ICU is most effective

Universal decolonization of all patients admitted to intensive care units using chlorhexidine baths and mupirocin treatment for 5 days significantly reduces the risk for infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , report researchers.

26 Oct 2012

Loyola and Hines VA announce accreditation of Dermatopathology Fellowship Program by ACGME

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital Pathology and Dermatology Divisions have announced the accreditation of a Dermatopathology Fellowship Program by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

26 Oct 2012

Researchers figure out 3D shape of promising TB drug target

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have figured out the three-dimensional shape of the protein responsible for creating unique bonds within the cell wall of the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. The bonds make the bacteria resistant to currently available drug therapies, contributing to the alarming rise of these super-bacteria throughout the world.

26 Oct 2012

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

Allergies occur when the body overreacts to substances in our environment, such as pollen, dust mites and so forth. What happens is that when we are exposed to these potential threats, the immune system should react, deal with it, and then shut down.

26 Oct 2012

Simple approach results in low rates of MRSA infections

High compliance with hand hygiene and focusing on other simple infection control measures on medical, surgical and neuroscience intensive care units resulted in reduced rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection by 95 percent in a nine-year study, according to research findings by Virginia Commonwealth University physicians presented during IDWeek 2012.

26 Oct 2012

Durata completes target enrollment in dalbavancin Phase 3 trial for ABSSSI

Durata Therapeutics today announced that it has completed its target enrollment for DISCOVER 2 ("Dalbavancin for Infections of the Skin COmpared to Vancomycin at an Early Response"), the second global, Phase 3 clinical trial of Durata's lead product candidate, dalbavancin, under investigation for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) caused by susceptible gram-positive bacteria.

26 Oct 2012

Global Health Service Partnership 'could be the start of something big'

Writing in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, Claire Panosian Dunavan, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, reflects on the Global Health Service Partnership, a new public-private partnership launched by Vanessa Kerry, daughter of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) "to boost the education of doctors and nurses in sub-Saharan Africa."

25 Oct 2012

Communicable diseases responsible for majority of deaths in Africa, WHO official says

Speaking on Monday in Luanda, Angola, at the opening session of the inaugural meeting on Medical Education, sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine of Agostinho Neto University, WHO Regional Director for Africa Luis Gomes Sambo said communicable diseases account for 63 percent of deaths in Africa, with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) responsible for the majority of those, the Angola Press reports.

25 Oct 2012

BioLineRx intends to conduct interim analysis of BL-1020 Phase II/III trial for schizophrenia

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it intends to conduct an interim analysis of the Phase II/III CLARITY trial of BL-1020, a first in class, orally available, GABA-enhanced antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia.

25 Oct 2012

Scientists unravel physical properties of lung mucus

Mucus coats our airways' internal surfaces. The viscous gel humidifies the lungs and prevents viruses and other small particles like diesel soot from entering the body unchecked. Previously unclear was the extent to which such nanoparticles are able to move through the lungs' mucus. Here, the research evidence was contradictory. Scientists could not explain why, in inhaled medication development, drug nanoparticles often simply got stuck in the mucus never making it to their target destination inside the lung cells.

25 Oct 2012

New method of testing for West Nile virus

While the United States has largely been spared the scourge of mosquito-borne diseases endemic to the developing world-including yellow fever, malaria and dengue fever-mosquito-related illnesses in the US are on the rise. One pathogen of increasing concern in the U.S. is an arbovirus known as West Nile.

24 Oct 2012

Flu protection: an interview with Dr Gillian SteelFisher of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA

In 2009, a new strain of influenza, or flu, virus emerged and spread rapidly to many countries around the world. It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in June 2009.

24 Oct 2012

NEJM report on best options for safe, effective patient treatment against fungal meningitis

As the number of fungal meningitis cases continues to rise, physicians across the country are faced with how best to provide the early treatment that can save lives.

24 Oct 2012

Warning against colloids in fluid resuscitation

Hydroxyethyl starch offers no benefits over saline for fluid resuscitation in critically ill patients and may have renal consequences, shows a randomized trial.

23 Oct 2012

Up to 10% of acute lung injuries may be drug-related

A population-based study has found that drug-induced acute lung injury accounts for around 9.5% of all acute lung injury cases.

23 Oct 2012

Almost all children on intensive care units given ‘off-label’ drugs

Study results show that a very high proportion of children admitted to intensive care units are treated with “off-label” drugs that have not been tested for the specific age or condition of the patient.

23 Oct 2012

Examining ethics surrounding Taliban's ban on polio vaccination in Pakistan

Writing in the Global Bioethics Blog, Stuart Rennie, a bioethics researcher and professor, notes another polio worker was killed in Pakistan last week and describes Taliban opposition to U.S.-supported polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan.

23 Oct 2012

Glioblastoma multiforme can originate from cortical neurons

Scientists have long believed that glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, begins in glial cells that make up supportive tissue in the brain or in neural stem cells. In a paper published October 18 in Science Express, however, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that the tumors can originate from other types of differentiated cells in the nervous system, including cortical neurons.

23 Oct 2012

Sanofi presents overview of Phase II and III trials for quadrivalent influenza vaccine

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, presented today an overview of Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for its investigational quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV).

23 Oct 2012