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Previously unknown family of plague virulence factors identified

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified a previously unknown family of virulence factors that make the bacterium responsible for the plague especially efficient at killing its host.

28 Aug 2005

Ways to avoid hazards of heart bypass under study

The heart-lung bypass machine that stills the heart while surgeons bypass an adult’s clogged arteries or repair a baby’s malformed heart can also trigger a potentially deadly inflammatory response.

28 Aug 2005

Immunity - another important function of the mitochondria

Researchers have discovered a surprise lurking inside mitochondria, the power plants that are present in every cell. It turns out that these powerhouses also contain a protein that triggers the immune system to attack viral invaders.

28 Aug 2005

New strategy to turn off the function of a special group of T cells to suppress immune response to tumors

A special stretch of genetic material may turn off the immune suppression that stymies attempts to fight cancer with a vaccine, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) at Houston.

26 Aug 2005

First study to test the role of RNA chemical modifications on immunity

The investigators published their findings in the August issue of Immunity. "We think this study will open a new area of research in understanding how our immune systems protect us," says Weissman.

23 Aug 2005

Experimental vaccine can prime the immune system to help fight an aggressive form of lymphoma

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute have found that an experimental vaccine can prime the immune system to help fight an aggressive form of lymphoma, even though prior therapy had eliminated virtually all of the B cells thought necessary to mount such a defense.

22 Aug 2005

Novel vaccine strain with high efficacy against tuberculosis

Tuberculosis remains a major global health threat. Although more than 3 billion doses of the BCG vaccine have been administered to fight tuberculosis, the ability of the BCG vaccine to protect adults is very limited, as is its efficacy against newly emerging isolates.

22 Aug 2005

Body's own defense mechanism causes some of the most serious asthma symptoms

McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) scientists have discovered that our body's own defense mechanism causes some of the most serious asthma symptoms.

13 Aug 2005

Researchers develop new diagnostic methods to better detect future monkeypox or smallpox outbreaks

The research also sheds new light on the 2003 monkeypox outbreak in the Midwest - monkeypox is closely related to smallpox. This new information suggests that the 2003 outbreak was larger than the 72 cases reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

9 Aug 2005

Supplements of multivitamins and minerals don't prevent infections in the elderly

Researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, say giving daily supplements of multivitamins and minerals do not prevent respiratory, stomach, skin and other types of infections in the elderly.

8 Aug 2005

One jab could in future protect against all flu strains

Scientists are apparently working on producing a vaccine that could give lifelong protection against all types of flu in one single injection.

7 Aug 2005

Multivitamins don't prevent infections in older people

Multivitamin and mineral supplements don't appear to prevent infections in older people living at home, finds a study in this week's British Medical Journal (BMJ).

4 Aug 2005

Significant step forward in the search for a vaccine against Group B meningococcal disease

For a long time, doctors and scientists have suspected that Neisseria lactamica, a harmless germ carried mostly by children under the age of five years, is the key to the development of natural immunity to meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning).

2 Aug 2005

Two studies reveal how plague disables immune system

Two studies by researchers at the University of Chicago show how the bacteria that cause the plague manage to outsmart the immune system and how, by slightly altering one of the microbe's tools, the researchers produced what may be the first safe and effective vaccine.

1 Aug 2005

Specialized immune-system B cells play dual role in triggering both kinds of immunity - innate and acquired

A specialized subpopulation of the antibody-producing B cells of the immune system plays a "double-barreled" role in triggering both kinds of immunity - innate and acquired, Duke University Medical Center immunologists have discovered.

26 Jul 2005

Research sets foundation for new generation of vaccines for HIV, influenza

Scientists have taken a major step toward the goal of altering viruses, bacteria and tumor cells so that they demand attention from immune cells designed to destroy them.

26 Jul 2005

Investigational vaccine against Clostridium difficile

Acambis has announced that earlier this month it started a Phase I clinical trial of its investigational vaccine against Clostridium difficile (C. difficile).

26 Jul 2005

Sunscreens may play an increasingly important role in defending the skin

The benefits of using sunscreen when heading outdoors are well established - protection from overexposure to the harmful effects of the sun, prevention of prematurely aging skin and defense against future skin cancer.

21 Jul 2005

Reliable research about the benefits and harms of treatments for malaria in pregnant women is scarce

Few studies compare the effects of different drug regimes in pregnant women, and many of the best studies were conducted in Southeast Asia, where malaria transmission rates are low, says researcher Lois Orton of the University of York in England.

20 Jul 2005

Results demonstrate the safety and tolerability of ABthrax treatment for Anthrax infection

Human Genome Sciences has announced that results published in the current issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases demonstrate that the first investigational agent against anthrax infection to be evaluated in a clinical study since the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, is safe, well tolerated and achieves the blood levels predicted by relevant animal models as necessary to afford significant protection from the lethal effects of the anthrax toxin

19 Jul 2005

immunity News and Research

Previously unknown family of plague virulence factors identified

Ways to avoid hazards of heart bypass under study

Immunity - another important function of the mitochondria

New strategy to turn off the function of a special group of T cells to suppress immune response to tumors

First study to test the role of RNA chemical modifications on immunity

Experimental vaccine can prime the immune system to help fight an aggressive form of lymphoma

Novel vaccine strain with high efficacy against tuberculosis

Body's own defense mechanism causes some of the most serious asthma symptoms

Researchers develop new diagnostic methods to better detect future monkeypox or smallpox outbreaks

Supplements of multivitamins and minerals don't prevent infections in the elderly

One jab could in future protect against all flu strains

Multivitamins don't prevent infections in older people

Significant step forward in the search for a vaccine against Group B meningococcal disease

Two studies reveal how plague disables immune system

Specialized immune-system B cells play dual role in triggering both kinds of immunity - innate and acquired

Research sets foundation for new generation of vaccines for HIV, influenza

Investigational vaccine against Clostridium difficile

Sunscreens may play an increasingly important role in defending the skin

Reliable research about the benefits and harms of treatments for malaria in pregnant women is scarce

Results demonstrate the safety and tolerability of ABthrax treatment for Anthrax infection

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