Infectious Diseases News and Research

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New oral vaccine combats various versions of the plague

A University of Central Florida researcher may have found a defense against the Black Plague, a disease that wiped out a third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages and which government agencies perceive as a terrorist threat today.

31 Jul 2008

Top Doc slams cancer treatment in Australia

One of Australia's top cancer specialists says the standard of treatment for cancer victims in the country leaves a lot to be desired.

30 Jul 2008

ISU researchers find possible alternative adjuvant for alum to boost the effectiveness of vaccines

On the rocky road of cancer research, Indiana State University scientists have made important discoveries.

29 Jul 2008

Canadian pandemic research receives funding boost

Densely populated cities and increased air travel can be factors which create and spread pandemic disease. But a McMaster University researcher is working with isolated Hutterite communities to understand the transmission of pandemic diseases like influenza.

29 Jul 2008

HIV vaccine research needs new ideas more funding

New researchers and innovative ideas are needed to further research on developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine, U.S. scientists wrote in Friday's edition of Science magazine, the AP/Google.com reports.

29 Jul 2008

Lung inflammation from influenza and other infections could be turned off following new discovery

A new discovery could lead to treatments which turn off the inflammation in the lungs caused by influenza and other infections, according to a study published in the journal Nature Immunology.

27 Jul 2008

Researchers disprove long-standing belief about HIV treatment

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have disproved a long-standing clinical belief that the hepatitis C virus slows or stunts the immune system's ability to restore itself after HIV patients are treated with a combination of drugs known as the 'cocktail.'

27 Jul 2008

Sexual taboos hampering HIV/AIDS efforts in Pakistan

Taboos about sex in Pakistan make it difficult to address HIV/AIDS and are hindering efforts to curb the spread of the disease, according to a study published recently in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, the New York Times reports.

24 Jul 2008

UK report casts doubt on pandemic response effectiveness

A new report from the UK says far more needs to be done to protect against outbreaks of infectious diseases.

21 Jul 2008

Trial of new AIDS vaccine bites the dust

Plans to conduct a large-scale human trial of an experimental HIV/AIDS vaccine in the United States have bitten the dust.

21 Jul 2008

NIAID will not conduct the PAVE 100 HIV vaccine study

After soliciting and considering broad input from the scientific and HIV advocacy communities, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has determined that it will not conduct the HIV vaccine study known as PAVE 100.

17 Jul 2008

New British consortium to tackle healthcare associated infections

Just over 8% of all hospital inpatients in England develop a healthcare associated infection, with this figure rising to 23% in intensive care units. Preventing and controlling the transmission of infection is a key priority for those involved in healthcare.

16 Jul 2008

New technology revolutionizing drug discovery

The National Science Foundation has awarded Weill Cornell Medical College researcher Dr. Scott Blanchard its prestigious Career Award, recognizing his groundbreaking work in cell biology -- work that is poised to revolutionize research for the next generation of young scientists.

15 Jul 2008

Tired B cells hamper immune response to HIV

Recent studies have shown that HIV causes a vigorous and prolonged immune response that eventually leads to the exhaustion of key immune system cells--CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells--that target HIV.

14 Jul 2008

Malaria prevention in schools reduces anaemia and improves educational potential in Kenyan school children

Providing preventive treatment for malaria, given once per term, dramatically reduces rates of malaria infection and anaemia among schoolchildren, and significantly improves their cognitive ability, according to new research published today in the Lancet.

10 Jul 2008

Researchers crack final part of the immune system code

A group of researchers at the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen have developed models of neural networks that make it possible to simulate how the body protects itself from disease and predict the immune system's access codes.

10 Jul 2008

Enzyme may explain how hepatitis C infection causes fatty liver

A key enzyme may explain how hepatitis C infection causes fatty liver - a buildup of excess fat in the liver, which can lead to life-threatening diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, report University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and School of Medicine researchers.

10 Jul 2008

Researchers to compare common ARV as a pill and vaginal gel in unique HIV prevention study

In battle with an epidemic that has outpaced nearly all efforts to contain it, researchers are turning to strategies centered on the same antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that have been used successfully to treat HIV in hopes they will be as effective a stronghold for preventing the virus.

9 Jul 2008

The paradox of anti-HIV vaginal microbicides

With no HIV/AIDS vaccine or cure in sight, vaginal microbicides now in clinical trials are one of the most promising weapons that will protect women against HIV infection. Yet these microbicides could be of more benefit to men than to women, according to a new study co-authored by the University of New South Wales' National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR) and UCLA.

7 Jul 2008

Complacency combined with risky behaviour could lead to HIV superinfection

Experts say almost every country in the developed world, including Australia, is experiencing significant and consistent rises in the rate of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM).

7 Jul 2008