immunity News and Research

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Antibiotics could be the cause of many allergies

Allergies making your life miserable? Tired of popping antihistamines like candy? Can't go anywhere without your inhaler? The real problem may not be your stuffed-up head. It could be the microbes in your gut.

27 May 2004

Australian university offers free Chinese medicine treatment

With winter fast approaching, RMIT University is helping people to beat coughs, colds and other winter nasties with a free introductory offer for Chinese medicine treatment.

27 May 2004

Link between oral bacterium and premature babies

For years, scientists have noticed a particular oral bacterium can be found in the amniotic fluid of about 20 percent of women with premature babies.

27 May 2004

$3.5 million grant to develop AIDS vaccinations

Researchers at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) and the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University have received a $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop new methods for vaccinating humans against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.

25 May 2004

Possible new second-generation multiple sclerosis therapy

Scientists from Genencor International, Inc., have demonstrated in an in vivo model that a new variant of recombinant interferon-beta reduces the immunological response to the protein.

25 May 2004

Researchers have isolated a protein receptor in chickens responsible for transferring antibodies from mother to offspring

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have isolated a protein receptor in chickens that is responsible for transferring antibodies from mother to offspring - a function critical to bestowing a temporary immunity that protects the young against infection until their own immune systems begin functioning.

24 May 2004

Network formed to tackle potentially fatal reaction to smallpox vaccine

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), launched the Atopic Dermatitis and Vaccinia Network (ADVN), a nationwide research group that seeks to reduce the risk of eczema vaccinatum (EV), a severe and potentially deadly complication of smallpox immunization.

19 May 2004

New figures suggest Scotland is in the middle of a mumps epidemic

New figures raise public fears of a mumps epidemic by showing there were 370 confirmed cases of mumps in the first four months of 2001. This figure is almost an 800% increase on the total of recorded mumps cases for the whole of 2003.

3 May 2004

New technique to deliver gene therapy to soft-tissue tumors

Using new research and technology that shows bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) will engraft at the site of a tumor and contribute to the growth of stromal fibroblasts (the healthy tissue surrounding a tumor)

2 May 2004

Intranasal influenza vaccine may help induce broader immunity in children than the traditional flu shot

MedImmune, Inc. has announced clinical data showing that a live, attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine (LAIV) may help induce broader immunity in children against drifted influenza strains when compared to the traditional flu shot (TIV).

2 May 2004

Immunization back on agenda as whooping cough increases

Immunization for pertussis, also known as whooping cough, began in the mid-1940s and resulted in a sharp decline of this serious illness over the next 25 years. Over the last two decades, however, as immunity has waned, pertussis has re-emerged in the United States, with the greatest increase seen in adolescents, adults and young infants.

1 May 2004

Researchers find mucus plays key role in cancer

Investigators at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston became intrigued with the thick, slimy stuff when they learned that breast, lung, colon, and other tumor cells make more than 50 times more of a certain type of it than normal cells.

29 Apr 2004

Pennsylvania launches West Nile virus surveillance program

Officials from the state departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Health today joined representatives from Cumberland and Dauphin counties to launch Pennsylvania’s program to detect and control mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus.

28 Apr 2004

Experimental smallpox DNA vaccine

In the first successful study of its kind, scientists have shown that a DNA-based vaccine for smallpox can protect nonhuman primates from monkeypox, a disease that resembles smallpox in humans.

27 Apr 2004

UK vital ageing research

Researchers at the University of Reading are setting up a clinical database of healthy older people willing to take part in a wide range of important research projects which could help shape the future of healthcare for senior citizens.

26 Apr 2004

Protein may help prevent autoimmune conditions like diabetes, lupus, arthritis and multiple sclerosis

A possibly important ally of the immune system that can help with the tricky task of separating friend from foe has been identified by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

23 Apr 2004

Certain cells from a mother can cause immunity illness in children

Certain cells from a mother persist in their children’s bodies and can provoke an immune response in which the child’s body attacks itself, according to Mayo Clinic research published in the current issue of the Journal of Immunology (http://www.jimmunol.org).

23 Apr 2004

Possible breakthrough in AIDS and cancer research

Mayo Clinic researchers have found a way to revive immunity in mice that have abnormal or deficient immune systems. The discovery may lead to a means of restoring immunity to individuals with immunodeficiency diseases such as AIDS and cancer.

20 Apr 2004

Link between iron regulation and the immune system

Patients with chronic inflammatory disorders, including infections, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and cancer, commonly become anemic. The anemia can make them sicker, is sometimes severe enough to require a blood transfusion, and responds only partially to current treatments.

20 Apr 2004

Dietary supplement may improve immune function in the elderly

A recent clinical study has demonstrated that 7-oxo Dehydroepiandrosterone taken orally twice daily by healthy adults over a period of one month augments several key T-cell mediated immune function parameters compared to placebo administration.

20 Apr 2004