Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Penn scientist tracks attitudes and H1N1 vaccination rates on Twitter

A unique and innovative analysis of how social media can affect the spread of a disease has been designed and implemented by a scientist at Penn State University studying attitudes toward the H1N1 vaccine. Marcel Salath-, an assistant professor of biology, studied how users of Twitter -- a popular microblogging and social-networking service -- expressed their sentiments about a new vaccine.

14 Oct 2011

Four companies receive NIAID contracts to develop broad-spectrum therapeutics

Four companies are to develop broad-spectrum therapeutics-antibiotics, antivirals and an antitoxin-to prevent or treat diseases caused by multiple types of bacteria or viruses, under contracts awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

14 Oct 2011

SWHR hosts Capitol Hill briefing, The War Within: Women and Autoimmunity

50:1, 9:1, 2:1 these are just some ratios of autoimmune disease disparities between women and men. The Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR) hosted the Capitol Hill briefing, The War Within: Women and Autoimmunity, on Tuesday, October 11 to address these concerns.

13 Oct 2011

U of U researchers receive NIH grant to uncover viral cause of MS

A team of investigators from the University of Utah has received a two-year, $275,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund novel research that may help to uncover a viral cause for the most acute and severe form of multiple sclerosis.

13 Oct 2011

Specific MIF gene variant plays a crucial role against bacterial infections

Why are some people prone to severe infections, while others handle them with less difficulty? A new research report appearing online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) attempts to answer this question by shedding light on the genetic differences that influence our ability to fight off bacterial infections.

13 Oct 2011

Genetic mystery of bacterium causing ‘Black Death’ revealed

Between 1347 and 1351 - a period of just five years, Europe's Black Death wiped out about 30 million people - 30 to 50% of the population on the continent. Now geneticists have reconstructed the genome of the bacterium that caused the plague. It is found to be an ancient strain of a bacterium called Yersinia pestis very similar to the strain the exists today.

13 Oct 2011

NanoString introduces nCounter Analysis System

NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held provider of life science tools for translational research and developer of molecular diagnostics, today announced the launch of its second generation nCounter Analysis System.

From NanoString Technologies 13 Oct 2011

TB rates decline for the first time: WHO report

According to Mario Raviglione, director of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Stop TB program, for the first time, the number of people infected with tuberculosis (TB) each year is declining. He was speaking at a press conference to release Global Tuberculosis Control 2011, WHO's 16th annual report on TB, which summarizes advances made and challenges ahead. The report features data on TB in nearly 200 countries with treatment results and financing trends.

12 Oct 2011

Cholera epidemic in Africa: Largest yet

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has announced in a statement that the cholera epidemic in West and Central Africa is one of the worst the area has ever seen. So far this year more than 85,000 cases have been reported in the region, including 2,466 deaths.

12 Oct 2011

Study finds experimental vaccine protects monkeys from blinding trachoma

"An attenuated, or weakened, strain of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria can be used as a vaccine to prevent or reduce the severity of trachoma, the world's leading cause of infectious blindness, suggest findings from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study in monkeys," an NIH press release reports.

12 Oct 2011

FDA grants Advaxis pre-IND meeting for ADXS-HER2 cancer immunotherapy

Advaxis, Inc., a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, has been granted a pre-Investigational New Drug meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on November 22nd, 2011 to discuss the initial clinical development plan for ADXS-HER2, a construct for the treatment of HER2 expressing cancers.

12 Oct 2011

Smoking could cause 18M more cases of TB worldwide over next 40 years

Smoking could cause 18 million more cases of tuberculosis worldwide over the next 40 years and 40 million additional deaths.

12 Oct 2011

Vitamin D plays an essential role in the body's fight against TB

Not just important for building strong bones, an international team of scientists has found that vitamin D also plays an essential role in the body's fight against infections such as tuberculosis.

12 Oct 2011

NIH awards United Therapeutics $45 million contract to develop potential oral treatment for viruses

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded United Therapeutics Corporation a contract for up to $45 million over five years "to help develop a potential oral treatment for viruses like influenza and the mosquito-borne tropical fever dengue," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

12 Oct 2011

Isis designates ISIS-AATRx candidate in collaboration with GSK

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has designated the second development candidate, ISIS-AATRx, in its collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline

12 Oct 2011

Furiex announces publications and presentations about antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced recent and upcoming publications and presentations about the novel investigational antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2.

12 Oct 2011

New robust technique holds promise for identifying trace mutant DNA sequences

Molecular DNA testing methods offer clinicians powerful tools that serve to confirm or identify disease diagnoses. High sensitivity and high specificity, however, are frequently a challenge to achieve with these methods. In a study scheduled for publication in the November issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, researchers describe a new, robust technique that holds promise for identifying trace mutant DNA sequences in an overwhelming population of unmutated DNA.

12 Oct 2011

Novel link between cell surface sugars, Darwinian sexual selection, and immune function

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say that losing the ability to make a particular kind of sugar molecule boosted disease protection in early hominids, and may have directed the evolutionary emergence of our ancestors, the genus Homo.

11 Oct 2011

Coridon demonstrates 100% protection using DNA HSV-2 vaccine

DNA vaccine development company Coridon Pty Ltd. today announced that it had successfully completed pre-clinical efficacy testing of its prototype Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2) vaccine, with outstanding results. The company will now look to progress the program into clinical studies.

10 Oct 2011

Potential vaccine against trachoma

An attenuated, or weakened, strain of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria can be used as a vaccine to prevent or reduce the severity of trachoma, the world's leading cause of infectious blindness, suggest findings from a National Institutes of Health study in monkeys.

10 Oct 2011