Infectious Diseases News and Research

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New nanotechnology based technique to detect pneumonia within minutes

University of Georgia researchers have developed a technique that can diagnose a common type of pneumonia within minutes, potentially replacing existing tests that can take several days for results.

15 Dec 2010

Profectus' GENEVAX IL-12 pDNA adjuvant improves vaccine-induced response rate in Phase I HIV study

Profectus Biosciences, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers, announced today that its GENEVAX™ IL-12 pDNA adjuvant has significantly improved the vaccine-induced response rate in a Phase I clinical study of an experimental DNA vaccine for the prevention of HIV infection.

15 Dec 2010

Sniffer rats detect TB more accurately than traditional microscopic analysis

Trained giant African rats increased positive TB detection rates by 44 percent over microscopy, the most commonly-used technique for diagnosing TB, according to a new study released in the December issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

15 Dec 2010

Flu vaccination during pregnancy prevents infant hospitalization

A three-year study by Yale School of Medicine researchers has found that vaccinating pregnant women against influenza is over 90 percent effective in preventing their infants from being hospitalized with influenza in the first six months of life.

15 Dec 2010

Program reduces cervical cancer deaths among HIV-infected women in Zambia

A new study undertaken in Zambia shows that, using setting-appropriate human resources and technology, morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer among HIV-infected women can be reduced. The study’s lead author is Dr Groesbeck Parham, Professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia’s Cervical Cancer Prevention Program. The research was published in the December issue of HIV Therapy.

14 Dec 2010

New theory explains spread of infectious diseases

New research using human-networking theory may give a clearer picture of just how, exactly, infectious diseases such as the common cold, influenza, whooping cough and SARS can spread through a closed group of people, and even through populations at large.

14 Dec 2010

Clinical trail shows 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine safe and effective in asthma patients

Results from a government-sponsored clinical trial of inactivated 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine in people with asthma indicate that a single dose of vaccine was safe and induced a strong immune response predictive of protection.

14 Dec 2010

Vical's Vaxfectin adjuvant boosts immune response of DNA-based vaccines against cancer

Vical Incorporated announced today that the company's Vaxfectin® adjuvant has significantly boosted the immune response of DNA-based vaccines against a range of pathogens and cancer in preclinical models from rodents to non-human primates. Vaxfectin® has demonstrated similar effects with protein- and peptide-based vaccines in preclinical models.

13 Dec 2010

Origin of Haiti cholera epidemic traced to South Asia

The strain of cholera currently sweeping through post-earthquake Haiti originated in South Asia, conclude scientists who did a rapid genetic analysis of bacteria collected from Haitian patients. The finding supports the notion that the cholera bacteria fueling the outbreak arrived on the island via recent visitors.

13 Dec 2010

First-ever Prophylactic Cancer Vaccine Conference to be held in Tempe, Arizona

World-leading scientists, ethicists, policymakers, and cancer patient advocates will gather at Arizona State University for the first-ever Prophylactic Cancer Vaccine Conference in Tempe, Ariz., March 16-18, 2011. The conference will be a premier forum to discuss the latest developments in a radical new approach to battling cancer: the development of cancer vaccines aimed at protecting healthy individuals from the disease.

13 Dec 2010

New DNA-based testing technology for tuberculosis treatment

The driving force behind the rapid tuberculosis test that received World Health Organization endorsement this week is Dr. David Alland, chief of the Division of Infectious Disease at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.

13 Dec 2010

Study finds Haitian cholera strain resembles one from South Asia, carries mutation that increases severity

"Detailed genetic tests confirm that the cholera strain that has killed more than 2,000 people in Haiti came from South Asia and most closely resembles a strain circulating in Bangladesh," according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Reuters reports (12/9).

13 Dec 2010

Research programs embody the promise of anti-aging medicine.

Sometimes the value of research lies as much in exposing false remedies as in discovering true breakthroughs. Scientists at the country's first school of gerontology and in laboratories around the University of Southern California do both, mindful of their responsibility to a society focused on healthful aging.

13 Dec 2010

GeoVax's phase 2a trial results indicate excellent safety profile for HIV vaccine

GeoVax Labs, Inc., announced today that early results from part A of an ongoing phase 2a clinical trial indicate an excellent safety profile and highly reproducible immunogenicity.

10 Dec 2010

Haitian cholera pathogen closely related to 'El Tor O1' variant from South Asia

Scientists from Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. and Harvard Medical School have successfully employed single molecule, real-time (SMRT™) DNA sequencing technology to rapidly characterize the pathogen responsible for the recent deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. Published online Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the results provide the first whole genome sequence analysis and most detailed genetic profile to date of the Haitian Vibrio cholerae outbreak strain.

10 Dec 2010

Biovex announces OncoVEXGM-CSF Phase 3 study for head and neck cancer

BioVex Inc, a company developing next generation biologics for the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious disease, announced today that a Phase 3 pivotal study with OncoVEXGM-CSF for the first line treatment of patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head & neck has commenced.

10 Dec 2010

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet.

9 Dec 2010

Cranberry juice consumption does not reduce urinary tract infections

Drinking cranberry juice has been recommended to decrease the incidence of urinary tract infections, based on observational studies and a few small clinical trials. However, a new study published in the January 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, and now available online, suggests otherwise.

9 Dec 2010

Annual survey ranks states on health, health care

An annual survey ranks state's overall health and gives snap shots of specific measures including crime, air pollution and smoking rates.

9 Dec 2010

Lung transplant saves economist from near-lethal bout of swine flu

According to the critical care experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital who treated him, Allen Bagents, 24, of Arlington, Va., is the least likely person anyone ever expects to get sick, let alone suffer a six-week, potentially fatal bout with the swine flu, better known as H1N1 influenza.

8 Dec 2010