Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Scientists decipher molecular causes of life-threatening candida fungal infections

With infectious diseases, it is often not the pathogen itself, but rather an excessive inflammatory immune responses death, for instance as a result of organ damage. On intensive care units, sepsis is the second-most common cause of death worldwide. In patients with a severely compromised immune system specially, life-threatening candida fungal infections represent a high risk of sepsis.

30 Jul 2012

Fruit flies help pinpoint genetic changes that spell cancer

By studying fruit flies, scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have successfully devised a fast and cost-saving way to uncover genetic changes that have a higher potential to cause cancer. With this new approach, researchers will now be able to rapidly distinguish the range of genetic changes that are causally linked to cancer (i.e. "driver" mutations) versus those with limited impact on cancer progression.

30 Jul 2012

Early ART treatment delays AIDS-related health events in HIV-infected individuals

Further analyses of the landmark NIH-funded treatment-as-prevention study (HPTN 052) have found that providing antiretroviral treatment to HIV-infected individuals earlier, when their immune systems are healthier, delays AIDS-related health events, such as chronic herpes simplex virus and tuberculosis, as well as death. Additionally, researchers found that earlier HIV treatment is also cost-effective because it increases survival, prevents costly opportunistic infections and averts transmission of the virus to uninfected individuals.

30 Jul 2012

Economist articles, blog examine research presented at AIDS 2012 conference

The Economist on Friday published two articles from Saturday's print edition regarding the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012). One article states that "few areas of international affairs have seen more recent success than the fight against AIDS," and discusses advancements in HIV treatment research and availability.

28 Jul 2012

Discrepancies in ICU use identified

An analysis of intensive care unit use in the USA reveals that many patients admitted to this specialist department are at low risk for mortality, while more than half of patients with a high mortality risk are admitted to other departments.

27 Jul 2012

‘Narrow therapeutic window’ for oxygen in brain injury

Hyperoxia, as well as hypoxia, early after hospital admission is associated with poor outcomes and mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury, report researchers in the Archives of Surgery.

27 Jul 2012

New platform for detecting substandard and counterfeit medicines using microfluidics

A new platform for detecting substandard and counterfeit medicines using microfluidics has been recognized with a grant from Saving Lives at Birth's "Grand Challenge through Development." Dubbed PharmaCheck, the technology is a portable, field-based tool for assessing the quality of medicines in developing countries with increased accuracy, sensitivity and reliability.

27 Jul 2012

Viral evolution and host protein levels predict rapid disease progression in hepatitis C patients

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have identified several factors in people infected with the hepatitis C virus that may predict whether the unusually rapid progression of disease from initial infection to severe liver conditions, such as cirrhosis, will occur. Knowing whether a patient's condition is likely to deteriorate quickly could help physicians decide on the best course of treatment.

27 Jul 2012

TB combination drug: an interview with Mel Spigelman, MD, CEO and President of TB Alliance

TB is a leading global killer. It is the second leading infectious disease in the world, behind HIV. TB is spread through the air, so it can affect anyone, but has its worst impact on impoverished communities and those people with HIV.

27 Jul 2012

Vaccine complex delivered safely by piggybacking onto 3D DNA nanostructures

In a quest to make safer and more effective vaccines, scientists at the Biodesign Institute- at Arizona State University have turned to a promising field called DNA nanotechnology to make an entirely new class of synthetic vaccines.

27 Jul 2012

Lymphoma drug dislodges hidden virus in HIV patients

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have published pioneering research showing that a drug used to treat certain types of lymphoma was able to dislodge hidden virus in patients receiving treatment for HIV.

27 Jul 2012

HIV drug resistance: an interview with Dr. Silvia Bertagnolio

Sexual intercourse is the major mode of HIV transmission. HIV may also be transmitted through sharing of needles or contaminated blood products (although this is rare).

27 Jul 2012

Bone marrow transplant eradicates traces of HIV in men

Two men with longstanding HIV infections no longer have detectable HIV in their blood cells following bone marrow transplants. The virus was easily detected in blood lymphocytes of both men prior to their transplants but became undetectable by eight months post-transplant. The men, who were treated at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), have remained on anti-retroviral therapy.

27 Jul 2012

Rate of new HIV infections among young U.S. black MSM is high: Study

The rate of new HIV infections among black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, particularly younger men, is high and suggests the need for prevention programs specifically tailored to this population, according to initial findings from the HPTN 061 study.

27 Jul 2012

HPTN study results show additional benefits of early ART in HIV clinical outcomes

Study results released today by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) show additional benefits of early antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV clinical outcomes.

27 Jul 2012

Skin microbiota may help protect the body from infection

A research team at the National Institutes of Health has found that bacteria that normally live in the skin may help protect the body from infection. As the largest organ of the body, the skin represents a major site of interaction with microbes in the environment.

27 Jul 2012

Vitamin A insufficiency linked to hand, foot and mouth disease

Vitamin A status is associated with immunity to, and pathogenic condition of, hand, foot, and mouth disease in children, say researchers whose study results show that the majority of those with the infectious disease also had vitamin A insufficiency.

26 Jul 2012

Injury risk increased in patients with serious mental illnesses

People with serious mental illnesses are significantly more likely to experience injuries than the general population, US study results show.

26 Jul 2012

Congenital long QT syndrome guidelines ‘too restrictive’

Athletes who choose to continue competing after being diagnosed with long QT syndrome have a low rate of LQTS-triggered cardiac events, US researchers report.

26 Jul 2012

Researchers develop piglet model to study infant brain development

Events that take place early in life almost certainly have consequences for later cognitive development. Establishing the connections is difficult, however, because human infants cannot be used as laboratory subjects. Rodney Johnson and his collaborators have developed an alternative model for studying infant brain development. "Assistant professor Ryan Dilger and I became interested in establishing the neonatal piglet as a model of human brain and cognitive development 3 or 4 years ago," he said.

26 Jul 2012