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Number of low birth weight infants born in America rose between 1990 and 2000

The number of low birth weight infants born in America’s 100 largest cities and their suburbs rose between 1990 and 2000, placing more babies at greater risk for critical health problems

5 Oct 2004

Berkeley searches for AIDS cure in a Samoan indigenous tree

The University of California, Berkeley, has signed an agreement with the Samoan government to isolate from an indigenous tree the gene for a promising anti-AIDS drug and to share any royalties from sale of a gene-derived drug with the people of Samoa.

30 Sep 2004

Drug-resistant bacteria increasingly causing infections in healthy people

An emerging form of so-called "flesh-eating bacteria" is caused by a strain that is resistant to standard first-line antibiotics. The same type of bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is causing record numbers of less-serious skin infections in children and also is emerging as a cause of pneumonia, which can be deadly

30 Sep 2004

Some New York City stores are selling antibiotics illegally over the counter

In many countries around the world antibiotics are sold without a prescription, a practice that is illegal in the United States.

30 Sep 2004

Bacterium Haemophilus influenza has to secrete a glue-like protein

To stick to cells in the respiratory tract and start an infection, the bacterium Haemophilus influenza has to secrete a glue-like protein. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report this week that a study of the valve that lets out the glue has produced some surprising information.

29 Sep 2004

Master gene that controls the first breath a newborn infant

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have identified a master gene that controls the first breath a newborn infant takes. The findings could have implications for treating premature babies and children and adults with lung disease or lung injury.

28 Sep 2004

Outbreak of whooping cough in South Australia

South Australia's Department of Health is urging parents to make sure their children are immunised against whooping cough as an outbreak is beginning in SA.

28 Sep 2004

Research may lead to alternatives to antibiotic drugs for treating bacterial diseases

UCLA microbiologists report the discovery of a new class of genetic elements, similar to retroviruses, that operate in bacteria, allowing them to diversify their proteins to bind to a large variety of receptors.

23 Sep 2004

Potential new way to control drug-resistant bacteria

The researchers, who encountered this genetic property while working on an unrelated project, believe that this discovery could lead to the use of genetically engineered phages to treat bacterial infections that have become resistant to antibiotics.

23 Sep 2004

Whooping cough at highest levels since 1997 in Western Australia

Western Australia is experiencing the highest level of whooping cough (pertussis) notifications since 1997, when more than 1200 cases were notified.

22 Sep 2004

Edible vaccine for HIV AIDS

Scientists from Novosibirsk are engaged in the development of an unusual vaccine which, apart from being less expensive to produce, safe and painless to administer, is also edible.

22 Sep 2004

Streptococcus bacteria uses sword and shield to fight white blood cells

A single gene called cylE within the important bacterial pathogen Group B Streptococcus (GBS), controls two factors that act together as a “sword” and “shield” to protect the bacteria from the killing effects of the immune system’s white blood cells

21 Sep 2004

New anti-inflammatory strategy for cancer therapy

A new strategy for cancer therapy, which converts the tumor-promoting effect of the immune system’s inflammatory response into a cancer-killing outcome, is suggested in research findings by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

20 Sep 2004

Scientists decipher genetic code of ancient pathogen that causes the horse disease

More than 2,400 years after Hippocrates, the Greek physician born in 460 BC first described the symptoms of glanders, scientists have deciphered the genetic code of the ancient pathogen that causes the horse disease: Burkholderia mallei.

20 Sep 2004

29 percent of California women mistakenly believe a cold or flu should be treated with an antibiotic

Illustrating the extent of Americans’ lack of knowledge about antibiotics, 29 percent of California women queried mistakenly believe a cold or flu should be treated with an antibiotic, according to results of a survey being presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

20 Sep 2004

Study hints at antioxidants being able to prevent and restore hearing loss

In a preliminary study, researchers find that vitamin E may be effective in restoring sudden onset hearing loss of unknown origin (idiopathic sudden hearing loss). These findings suggest that further research may reveal the role of antioxidants in the prevention and restoration of hearing loss.

18 Sep 2004

Mastoidectomy does not decrease the possibility that young patients will develop a middle ear infection

Performing a mastoidectomy, a group of operations on the temporal bone and middle ear to drain, expose, or remove an infectious, inflammatory, or neoplastic lesion, during cochlear implantation for young children does not decrease the possibility that the young patient will develop a middle ear infection.

17 Sep 2004