Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Quest Diagnostics launches AccuType IL28B test for HCV

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced the availability of its AccuType® IL28B test for aiding in the prediction of patient response to peginterferon alpha-based therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

From Quest Diagnostics 18 Apr 2011

Transgene, Inovio and ChronTech collaborate for novel vaccine phase I trial in HCV

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today it has signed a collaboration agreement with Transgene S.A. and ChronTech Pharma AB to evaluate a novel therapeutic vaccination strategy against genotype 1 hepatitis C virus in a phase I clinical study.

18 Apr 2011

Measles alert issued in Tasmania

Tasmanian health authorities have issued an alert over a measles case. They issued a statement revealing that a woman who travelled to Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania on Monday has been diagnosed with the infectious disease. She was one of four people to contract measles while on board an Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne.

17 Apr 2011

Drug resistant bug plaguing the meat industry: Study

It has been found that nearly half of the meat and poultry (47 percent) sold in U.S. grocery stores is contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (“Staph”), a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, and this bacteria is resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics in more than half (52 percent) of contaminated samples. This comes from a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

17 Apr 2011

Probiotic may reduce rate of recurrent urinary tract infections in women

Urinary tract infections are common in women, costing an estimated $2.5 billion per year to treat in 2000 in the United States alone. These infections frequently recur, affecting 2 to 3 percent of all women.

16 Apr 2011

Abbott submits ARCHITECT 25-OH Vitamin D assay application to FDA for clearance

According to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a third of Americans have vitamin D levels that are either inadequate or deficient. While many people know that vitamin D is necessary to help the body absorb calcium, which helps create strong bones and muscles, many don't know that insufficient levels of this important vitamin may lead to other health problems.

16 Apr 2011

New JAMA issue focuses on infectious diseases and immunology

Several media outlets report on findings published in this week's issue of JAMA, which focuses on infectious diseases and immunology.

15 Apr 2011

Study finds 47% of meat and poultry samples contaminated with S. aureus

Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates, according to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute.

15 Apr 2011

African genital herpes strains are more infectious than the U.S. virus

Strains of genital herpes in Africa are far more virulent than those in the United States, researchers at Harvard Medical School report, a striking insight into a common disease with important implications for preventing HIV transmission in a region staggered by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

15 Apr 2011

Novartis, Duke sign deal to develop pandemic flu vaccine

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute today announced a collaboration and strategic agreement with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics to enable the rapid development of a vaccine and accelerate preparedness in case of a pandemic virus threat such as pandemic influenza.

15 Apr 2011

Sex in Australian prisons: the facts

We all know what goes on in prison. Or do we? A study examining sexual behaviour and sexual culture in jails in NSW and Queensland suggests that popular beliefs about prison sex are largely myths.

12 Apr 2011

NIAID finding to accelerate Chlamydia infection study

WHAT: In a new study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, scientists describe successfully mutating specific genes of Chlamydia bacteria, which cause the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States as well as a type of blindness common in developing nations.

12 Apr 2011

Study provides new insights into tuberculosis behavior

Patience may be a virtue in a person, but in an infectious disease, it is insidious. Witness tuberculosis, which can lie dormant in a human host for decades before bursting forth into infection. TB's stealthy nature has made it difficult to decipher how it spreads, seriously hampering efforts to control it. The World Health Organization estimates that a third of the people on Earth are infected.

12 Apr 2011

GeoVax Labs expands its HIV/AIDS vaccine program with NIAID, NIH and HVTN

GeoVax Labs, Inc., announced today that it is expanding its preventative HIV/AIDS vaccine development effort in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

11 Apr 2011

Study confirms measles being under-reported

Measles is not always being reported in Germany as required by law, particularly when cases are sporadic. In this edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Annedore Mette's working group presents its conclusions.

11 Apr 2011

Enigma initiates ML system trial in patients with influenza

Enigma Diagnostics announced today that it has commenced clinical trials for its intended point of care Enigma ML Influenza A/B detection assay. Enigma will submit its application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of the assay in 2012.

11 Apr 2011

Study unravels how interferon-induced factors inhibit viruses

When viruses attack, one molecule more than any other fights back. Interferon triggers the activation of more than 350 genes, and despite the obvious connection, the vast majority have never been tested for antiviral properties.

11 Apr 2011

IDSA, U.S. health officials describe ways to respond to global threat of antimicrobial resistance

To coincide with World Health Day on Thursday, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) released a policy paper with nine recommendations for how to control the "ever-growing threat of antimicrobial resistance," CIDRAP News reports.

11 Apr 2011

Cepheid receives FDA clearance for new assay to detect C. difficile infection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today cleared a test called the Cepheid Xpert C. difficile/Epi assay that is designed to rapidly detect the toxin B gene associated with Clostridium difficile infection, a cause of diarrhea that can lead to colitis, other serious intestinal conditions and death in severe cases.

11 Apr 2011

Marking World Health Day, WHO warns misuse of antibiotics undermining global fight against infectious diseases

U.N. officials on Thursday marked World Health Day with a warning that "the misuse and irrational use of antibiotics has undermined the global fight against tuberculosis and malaria, warning of a possible return to the days before the drugs were developed," and called for urgent action to control the spread of drug resistance, Reuters reports.

8 Apr 2011