Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Detecting transmissibility of avian influenza virus in human households

Recent outbreaks of emerging diseases such as SARS and H5N1 avian influenza have underlined the fact that animal pathogens may acquire the ability to spread efficiently in humans but as yet have not.

26 Jul 2007

Children with HIV early antiretroviral therapy study

Hundreds of thousands of babies around the world are born each year with HIV--more than half a million in 2006 alone.

26 Jul 2007

New studies emphasize need for influenza and measles vaccinations in HIV-infected patients

Two new studies emphasize the importance of delivering measles and influenza vaccines to HIV-infected individuals.

24 Jul 2007

Experts say world on the brink of beating AIDS

Leading AIDS experts speaking at an international conference in Sydney, Australia say the world is on the brink of beating the deadly virus.

23 Jul 2007

A ban on domestic travel could delay the spread of a flu pandemic

A near total ban on domestic travel could delay the spread of a flu pandemic by a week or more, particularly if the outbreak originates in a regional town or small city such as Darwin, according to new modelling by Australian researchers.

23 Jul 2007

Three gene variants discovered that help fight HIV

An international team of researchers has identified three gene variants in the DNA of 486 people infected with HIV that appear to have helped some of the patients fight off the virus and delay the onset of full-blown AIDS.

20 Jul 2007

Clearer picture of host responses to HIV virus

The first genome-wide association study of an infectious disease, conducted by an international group of researchers through the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), has yielded a new understanding of why some people can suppress virus levels following HIV infection.

20 Jul 2007

Prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency

Boston, MA:In a review article to appear in the July 19th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Michael Holick, an internationally recognized expert in vitamin D, provides an overview of his pioneering work that expounds on the important role vitamin D plays in a wide variety of chronic health conditions, as well as suggesting strategies for the prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency.

19 Jul 2007

Protecting HIV patients from Hep B

Since the transmission of HIV and Hepatitis B virus (HBV) are so similar, individuals infected with one of these viruses are at a significantly increased risk for contracting the other.

19 Jul 2007

Progress in infectious disease surveillance but gaps remain

The key to control any pandemic is early identification and rapid response.

18 Jul 2007

HIV-infected children may require repeat measles vaccination

The researchers found that only half of the HIV-infected children who survived without antiretroviral therapy maintained protective antibody levels 27 months after receiving measles vaccine.

18 Jul 2007

$900 million for public health emergency response

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced that the department has provided another $896.7 million to the states, territories, and four metropolitan areas to improve and sustain their ability to respond to public health emergencies.

18 Jul 2007

Lab-grown disease-free mosquito

A decade ago, scientists announced the ability to introduce foreign genes into the mosquito genome.

18 Jul 2007

Consortium to fight malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax

The CRESIB has presented the research programme on malaria by Plasmodium vivax, a parasite causing over 70 million yearly cases of malaria in the world.

18 Jul 2007

Biota and MedImmune announce clinical trial for respiratory syncytial virus antiviral drug

Biota Holdings Limited and MedImmune Inc. today announced the start of a Phase Ia clinical trial for their respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antiviral drug, BTA9881, with the goal of providing a treatment for RSV-infected infants and adults.

17 Jul 2007

Latest in HIV/TB research

With HIV infection driving a deadly resurgence of tuberculosis (TB), a new publication provides up-to-date recommendations for clinicians facing the many challenges of treating patients with both of these two complex diseases.

17 Jul 2007

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells suppress anti-tumor response to cancer

Scientists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere say they have mapped out an escape route that cancers use to evade the body's immune system, allowing the disease to spread unchecked.

17 Jul 2007

A challenge to the ancient origin of SIVagm based on African Green Monkey mitochondrial genomes

Monkey viruses related to HIV may have swept across Africa more recently than previously thought, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.

17 Jul 2007

Paint helps surgeons see where a tumor begins and ends

A tumor paint developed by researchers at Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center will help surgeons see where a tumor begins and ends more precisely by illuminating the cancerous cells.

16 Jul 2007

Key mechanism to emergence of deadly strep bacteria discovered

The incidence of serious strep infections has risen dramatically in the last three decades, and this increase is largely attributed to the spread around the globe of a single strain of strep known as the invasive M1T1 clone.

16 Jul 2007