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FDA approves Astellas' CRESEMBA for treatment of invasive aspergillosis, invasive mucormycosis

Astellas today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its New Drug Application (NDA) for the use of CRESEMBA (isavuconazonium sulfate), the prodrug for isavuconazole, for patients 18 years of age and older in the treatment of invasive aspergillosis and invasive mucormycosis (also known as zygomycosis).

8 Mar 2015

Garlic compound can help fight lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis

A chemical found in garlic can kill bacteria that cause life-threatening lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis, research suggests.

25 Feb 2015

Case Western dental researcher discovers new way to model how T cells cause inflammation in mice

Case Western Reserve University dental researcher Pushpa Pandiyan has discovered a new way to model how infection-fighting T cells cause inflammation in mice.

23 Feb 2015

New NIH grant to support development of rapid method for diagnosing mucormycosis

Speed is essential in treating deadly mucormycosis fungal infections, but a quick diagnosis is difficult because no routine blood test exists.

19 Feb 2015

Fungal infections rarely develop resistance to combination drug therapy

Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered that Candida albicans -- a leading cause of potentially fatal hospital-acquired infections -- rarely develops resistance to combination drug therapy and, when it becomes resistant, it also becomes less dangerous.

9 Feb 2015

New study helps explain how booster shots trigger immune 'memory' to improve

The last time you were in the doctor's office for a vaccine booster shot, did you wonder why you needed one? Exactly how booster shots offer long-term protection from viruses has long been a mystery to scientists.

3 Feb 2015

Researchers examine how terpenes can inhibit growth of liver cancer cells

As main component of essential oils, terpenes can inhibit the growth of different cancer cells. Researchers from the Ruhr-University Bochum headed by Prof Dr Dr Dr Hanns Hatt have analysed this process in liver cancer cells in detail.

19 Jan 2015

Leading microbiologist warns of killer fungi’s increasing threat

A leading microbiologist has warned of the increasing threat that killer fungi poses to humans and the environment.

15 Jan 2015

Fast-track diagnostics releases CE-labelled Real-time PCR kit to detect Zaire Ebolavirus

Fast-track diagnostics, a global leader in the design, development and manufacture of infectious disease detection kits, has released a CE labelled Real-time PCR kit for the detection of the Zaire Ebolavirus – the strain responsible for the current outbreak in West Africa.

8 Jan 2015

Fat cells below skin help protect from bacteria, say researchers

When it comes to skin infections, a healthy and robust immune response may depend greatly upon what lies beneath. In a new paper published in the January 2, 2015 issue of Science, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report the surprising discovery that fat cells below the skin help protect us from bacteria.

2 Jan 2015

Conference raises concerns regarding lack of scientific data on products containing botanicals

The challenges related to assessing the safety of botanicals in foods and food supplements and regulating their use were highlighted at a conference held in Denmark in November 2014.

23 Dec 2014

Study offers insights into mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides are a distinctive class of potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics produced by the body's innate immune system--the first line of defense against disease-causing microbes.

18 Dec 2014

Heat-shock protein 90 enables ER+ breast cancers to develop resistance to hormonal therapy

Long known for its ability to help organisms successfully adapt to environmentally stressful conditions, the highly conserved molecular chaperone heat-shock protein 90 (HSP90) also enables estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers to develop resistance to hormonal therapy.

10 Dec 2014

Research findings may lead to new ways to thwart drug resistance

Penicillin, the wonder drug discovered in 1928, works in ways that are still mysterious almost a century later. One of the oldest and most widely used antibiotics, it attacks enzymes that build the bacterial cell wall, a mesh that surrounds the bacterial membrane and gives the cells their integrity and shape. Once that wall is breached, bacteria die -- allowing us to recover from infection.

6 Dec 2014

Garmatex, Diagnomics partner to develop healthcare products to prevent hospital-acquired infections

Garmatex Technologies, Inc., a leading inventor of performance fabric and apparel solution-focused technologies, has signed a Letter of Intent ("LOI") for a five year term with Diagnomics Inc., a biotech company that provides next-generation healthcare solutions from personal genomics.

3 Dec 2014

Managing food security after global catastrophe

If it were the end of the world as we know it, we'd be fine, according to Michigan Technological University professor Joshua Pearce.

21 Nov 2014

Novel approach may help detect invasive aspergillosis

Many different microbes can cause pneumonia, and treatment may be delayed or off target if doctors cannot tell which bug is the culprit. A novel approach—analyzing a patient's breath for key chemical compounds made by the infecting microbe—may help detect invasive aspergillosis, a fungal infection that is a leading cause of mortality in patients with compromised immune systems, according to a proof-of-concept study now online in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

23 Oct 2014

Identifying infections rapidly: an interview with Dr. David J. Ecker

Current methods for diagnosing infectious diseases are based on the 150-year-old culture method, where physicians collect a sample of a patient’s tissue, such as blood, mucus or urine, and transfer it onto media bottle to allow the pathogens to grow.

From Abbott Diagnostics 20 Oct 2014

Longer looks: Limits on doctor training; a woman's campaign for end-of-life choices

Dr. Dino Terzic got lucky the other day. In his seventh and final year as a neurosurgery resident at the University of Minnesota, the 32-year-old Bosnian got to operate on a rare type of brain aneurysm that required a special approach through the patient's forehead. As Terzic prepared to slice into the patient's scalp, he was asked if he'd ever seen this type of flaw in an artery, which occurs in just 2 to 3 percent of aneurysm cases. "On a video," Terzic replied with a chuckle. Terzic's hands-on experience shows why the nation's medical schools are beset by a nagging controversy over rules that limit the number of hours residents can work (Dan Browning, 10/8).

10 Oct 2014

Isavuconazole demonstrates successful outcomes in treatment of mucormycosis

Astellas reported today that isavuconazole demonstrated successful outcomes in the treatment of mucormycosis according to data from the phase 3 isavuconazole VITAL study being presented at IDWeek on October 10, 2014, in Philadelphia, Pa.

8 Oct 2014