immunity News and Research

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Counseling for breast cancer patients means healthier diets, reduced smoking and stronger immune systems

Regular psychological counseling for breast cancer patients may do more than just lower their stress and anxiety. A new study says the right kind of intervention can also mean healthier diets, reduced smoking, and most surprising of all – a stronger immune system.

2 Sep 2004

Major trends in AIDS research that the different research teams throughout the world are pursuing

The science will be presented during the conference which is taking place in Lausanne until September 1, 2004. The advances in fundamental research, notably through a better understanding of the complex processes of immune defence, HIV and the functioning of vaccines, promote the genesis and development of new vaccine candidates.

30 Aug 2004

Regular exercise boosts immune system in older men

As it turns out, judging by the reaction strength of their immune system to an unknown, but harmless, protein antigen, it’s possible for men over 70 to mount an immune response similar to that produced by much younger men -- if they get regular moderate physical activity of about six hours a week.

25 Aug 2004

Surprise finding could lead to hepatitis C vaccine

New research from the University of New South Wales shows some people may repeatedly be able to clear hepatitis C virus from their bodies, without any biological traces of the potentially serious infection.

23 Aug 2004

Hong Kong suspends bird and poultry imports from Malaysia, after deadly H5 avian influenza was found

The Hong Kong Government has suspended the import of live birds and poultry meat from Malaysia, after a strain of the deadly H5 avian influenza was found in Kelantan.

20 Aug 2004

Contract for the production of an investigational vaccine based on an H9N2 strain of avian influenza virus

In 1999 and 2003, an H9N2 influenza strain caused illness in three people in Hong Kong. Scientists are concerned about H9N2 and other emerging types of avian influenza viruses because as they spread—most commonly through poultry—they continually mutate, increasing chances that they may infect humans, evade the body’s immune response and become more lethal.

17 Aug 2004

Immunotherapy and chemotherapy combined, slows tumor progression and extends survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute have found that the combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy significantly slowed tumor progression and extended survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

17 Aug 2004

WHO tackles the parasitic disease Leishmaniasis in Afghanistan

A rapid intervention by the World Health Organization and its partners, the Massoud Foundation and HealthNet International, in Kabul, Afghanistan, made possible by a donation from the Belgian government, should dramatically reduce the incidence of leishmaniasis in less than two years.

10 Aug 2004

Gravity model applicable to disease spread

Tracking the spread of new or re-emergent diseases such as SARS or smallpox is essential in controlling disease epidemics, but horse-and-buggy concepts of how diseases spread have been supplanted by 21st-century realities.

9 Aug 2004

Significant advance in the understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV)

Researchers have made a significant advance in the understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) by identifying new genetic factors associated with clearing the virus spontaneously without the necessity for additional treatment.

9 Aug 2004

Fathers Support Breastfeeding campaign

On August 5, the Office of Minority Health at the Indiana State Department of Health will launch its "Fathers Support Breastfeeding" campaign by hosting the first of six meetings of a support group for fathers in Indianapolis.

5 Aug 2004

Experimental vaccine against ricin

Scientists have developed an experimental vaccine against ricin, a potential biological threat agent, which fully protected mice from aerosol challenge with lethal doses of the toxin.

5 Aug 2004

Successfully cloning mice from an advanced melanoma cell

Nature can reset the clock in certain types of cancer and reverse many of the elements responsible for causing malignancy, reports a research team led by Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch, in collaboration with Lynda Chin from Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

3 Aug 2004

Tetanus protection requires booster shots every 10 years, starting in adolescence

As the final weeks of summer dwindle away, parents are scurrying to provide their kids with all the books, supplies and sports equipment needed to meet this year's upcoming academic and athletic challenges.

29 Jul 2004

Autism antibodies are not genetically determined, as parents do not exhibit them

Autism produces a widespread range of antibodies that act against brain tissue and one protein in particular seems to be the major target of these antibodies claim a group of scientists in the July issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.

23 Jul 2004

Computer modeling method for mapping the evolution of the influenza virus

A University of California scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory with collaborators from the University of Cambridge (England) and the World Health Organization National Influenza Center at Erasmus Medical Center, (Rotterdam, Netherlands) have developed a computer modeling method for mapping the evolution of the influenza virus.

21 Jul 2004

Important milestone for any cancer therapy that will be useful for treating patients

Mayo Clinic researchers have manipulated a human antibody to induce an anti-tumor response in living mice that consistently curbs - and often cures - malignant melanoma, one of the most lethal forms of skin cancer and the most common cancer of young adults.

15 Jul 2004

Genetic mutation is a major contributor to type 1 diabetes

A natural mutation of a gene that helps regulate the reactivity of the immune system is a major contributor to type 1 diabetes, Medical College of Georgia researchers have found.

12 Jul 2004

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AIDS Therapeutic Treatment Now Coalition to unveil ambitious pledge at Bangkok 2004

Plans for advocacy, activism and protests throughout the weeklong AIDS conference to highlight the pressing need for increased access to life-saving anti-retroviral therapy (ARV) worldwide.

8 Jul 2004

The impact of rotavirus on the world’s children

With vaccines against the killer disease of rotavirus almost in hand, government representatives, scientists, public health professionals and vaccine industry representatives will be convened in Mexico City to review progress toward safe, effective rotavirus vaccines and address the question of how to make sure they get to the world’s poorest children

7 Jul 2004