immunity News and Research

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Directly observed HIV therapy for children is promising

Directly observed antiretroviral therapy is a promising strategy to ensure that HIV-infected children in developing countries take life-saving medications, new research from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University shows.

3 Jun 2007

Human antibodies protect mice from H5N1 avian influenza

An international team of scientists, including researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), report using antibodies derived from immune cells from recent human survivors of H5N1 avian influenza to successfully treat H5N1-infected mice as well as protect them from an otherwise lethal dose of the virus.

30 May 2007

H5N1 influenza virus survivors' antibodies effective at neutralising H5N1 strain

Adults who have recovered from the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza may hold the key to future treatments for the virus, according to an international team of researchers.

30 May 2007

Significant breakthrough in the search for an effective malaria vaccine

One person dies of it every 30 seconds, it rivals HIV and tuberculosis as the world's most deadly infection and the vast majority of its victims are under five years old.

28 May 2007

Significant breakthrough in the search for an effective malaria vaccine

One person dies of it every 30 seconds, it rivals HIV and tuberculosis as the world's most deadly infection and the vast majority of its victims are under five years old.

24 May 2007

Natural immune-control system may aid treatment of autoimmune disease and tissue rejection

The immune system's ability to police itself may offer a new method of arresting the cells responsible for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and for the rejection of transplanted organs and tissues, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report in a study in the May issue of the journal Immunity.

18 May 2007

Antibody-based therapies effective at controlling malaria

Passive immunization through the development of fully human antibodies specific to Plasmodium falciparum may be effective at controlling the disease, report researchers led by Dr. Richard S.

18 May 2007

Quest for effective HIV vaccines present new possibilities, challenges

A vaccine that prevents HIV infection remains an important goal in the fight against AIDS, but the current top HIV vaccine candidates may not work in this way, say scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

17 May 2007

Medical marijuana advocate back in court

Ed Rosenthal the so-called 'Ganja Guru' is back in court in the United States for his second trial over the illegal sale of marijuana plants.

16 May 2007

Single dose of vitamin D may be enough to boost the immune system to fight against tuberculosis

Their findings came from a study that identified an extraordinarily high incidence of vitamin D deficiency amongst those communities in London most at risk from the disease, which kills around two million people each year.

16 May 2007

Drugs users increasingly more cautious about using needles

Even though HIV can be well treated these days, drug users are still more cautious about using needles than they used to be.

15 May 2007

Health workers to get mumps booster in battle against the spread of the disease

The outbreak of mumps which is currently rife in parts of Canada has prompted Health officials to make 40,000 doses of a mumps booster available to health workers across Nova Scotia.

14 May 2007

Breakthrough on cytomegalovirus transmission

Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have shown that cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the salivary glands can be reduced , and in some cases eliminated , through the use of antibodies to enhance the disease-fighting power of the immune system.

11 May 2007

Opossum DNA provides new insight into natural selection

Study of the DNA of a South American marsupial called the opossum has revealed that a gene's location influences whether or not it is likely to gather changes that could lead to disease.

10 May 2007

Molecule that destroys bone also protects it

An immune system component that is a primary cause of bone destruction and inflammation in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis actually protects bone in the oral cavity from infectious pathogens that play a major role in periodontal disease in humans, research at the University at Buffalo has shown.

7 May 2007

US control strategies may make flu epidemics worse

Regular as clockwork, the flu arrives every year. And, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population on average will come down with it. About 36,000 people will die.

4 May 2007

Nutrient "floodgate" protects against inflammatory immune response

After every meal, the body must prevent the immune system from launching an all-out fight against food.

4 May 2007

1758 cases of malaria reported in UK travellers in 2006

1386 of the cases were due to the potentially fatal Plasmodium falciparum which is a major international health risk and which kills more than a million people a year in Africa. 219 were due to Plasmodium vivax which causes a debilitating disease, but is rarely fatal.

2 May 2007

Mechanisms of glucose homeostasis and early diabetes

Glucose homeostasis, the appropriate balancing of blood sugar levels, is impaired early in patients who become diabetic, causing life-threatening complications such as kidney failure and heart attacks.

1 May 2007

Cellular protein found that interferes with hepatitis C virus replication

Biomedical researchers have identified a cellular protein that interferes with hepatitis C virus replication, a finding that ultimately may help scientists develop new drugs to fight the virus.

30 Apr 2007