Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Locking parasites in host cell could be new way to fight malaria

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that parasites hijack host-cell proteins to ensure their survival and proliferation, suggesting new ways to control the diseases they cause.

6 Apr 2009

New York Times examines use of message placement on TV programs

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is "set to expand its involvement" with the entertainment industry and "spend more money on influencing popular culture" through a new deal with Viacom, the parent company to television networks that include MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and BET, the New York Times reports.

5 Apr 2009

Getting the word out when the need for speed is critical to public health

When the need for speed is critical, how can a public health department communicate with doctors and hospitals, sending alerts to help prevent or stop a public health crisis? How can thousands of health-care providers be notified about disease outbreaks, illness from food borne contaminants or even a possible pandemic?

4 Apr 2009

Link between poorer growth early in life and heart disease and diabetes risk in adulthood

Lower weight at birth may increase inflammatory processes in adulthood, which are associated with chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

1 Apr 2009

Discovery of new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium, have identified a new role for certain lung cells in the immune response to airborne allergens.

30 Mar 2009

Intestinal parasites significantly reduce immune response to the cholera toxin

Cholera patients also infected with parasitic intestinal worms have a significantly reduced immune response to the cholera toxin, according to a report published March 31st in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Mar 2009

Intercell receives FDA approval of IXIARO, novel vaccine for Japanese encephalitis

Intercell AG (VSE: ICLL) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved IXIARO(R), a new vaccine for the prevention of Japanese Encephalitis (JE).

30 Mar 2009

New York Times examines challenges faced by a Minneapolis hospital that treats many Somali, Hispanic patients

The New York Times on Sunday profiled the Hennepin County Medical Center, a Minneapolis-based hospital that "offers an extraordinary vantage point on the ways immigrants are testing the American medical establishment."

30 Mar 2009

AP/Google.com examines efforts to address drug-resistant tuberculosis in China, other countries

The AP/Google.com on Monday examined efforts to prevent and control the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis in China and other countries.

30 Mar 2009

Cepheid announces new TB test for use in developing countries

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company Cepheid on Tuesday announced it has developed a rapid diagnostic test for tuberculosis that it will sell at a reduced cost in developing countries, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The test was developed in partnership with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

30 Mar 2009

Discovery of tuberculosis bacterium enzyme paves way for new TB drugs

A team of University of Maryland scientists has paved the way for the development of new drug therapies to combat active and asymptomatic (latent) tuberculosis infections by characterizing the unique structure and mechanism of an enzyme in M. tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes the disease.

29 Mar 2009

Discovery of protein that reactivates latent herpes simplex virus

Research in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens appears to solve a long standing medical mystery by identifying a viral protein, VP16, as the molecular key that prompts herpes simplex virus (HSV) to exit latency and cause recurrent disease.

29 Mar 2009

New discovery could lead to new methods to block the transmission of HIV

A team of researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the UC Davis Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology have for the first time captured on video the transfer of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from infected to uninfected T cells through structures called virological synapses.

29 Mar 2009

Male circumcision reduces risk of herpes simplex virus type 2 and human papillomavirus

Heterosexual men who undergo medical circumcision can significantly reduce their risk of acquiring two common sexually transmitted infections - herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the cause of genital herpes, and human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cancer and genital warts, according to a report in the March 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

26 Mar 2009

Rockefeller neuroscientist applies basic science to health care reform

A self-described "molecular sociologist" is extending his basic research to the national policy debate on health care reform. Bruce McEwen, head of the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, led a panel of scientific experts last month at the Institute of Medicine's Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public. The Institute is the most prominent independent medical advisory board in the country and will release a report from the conference in November, as Congress is likely to be considering major health care legislation.

25 Mar 2009

FDA approves new indication for Wyeth's Tygacil (tigecycline)

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Tygacil (tigecycline), for the treatment of adult patients with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) caused by susceptible strains of indicated pathogens.

24 Mar 2009

U.S., South African scientists launch $60 million HIV/TB research initiative

Scientists from the U.S. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and South Africa's University of KwaZulu Natal on Wednesday announced the launch of a $60 million, 10-year initiative to establish a new research facility to examine the associations between HIV and tuberculosis, the Boston Globe reports.

23 Mar 2009