Infectious Diseases News and Research

RSS

Tests of bird flu vaccine on humans show good results

Experts have been concerned that the bird flu strain, currently prevalent in Asia, could engender a worldwide pandemic, but apparently human tests of an experimental vaccine show it is effective at stimulating the immune system to fight the virus.

7 Aug 2005

Progress to develop vaginal microbicides

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced an agreement with the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) to share information and expertise in an effort to develop vaginal microbicides

4 Aug 2005

More than fifty percent of the U.S. population tested positive to one or more allergens

The new findings, based on data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), shows that 54.3% of individuals aged 6-59 years old had a positive skin test response to at least one of the 10 allergens tested.

4 Aug 2005

Discovery may lead to new diagnostic tests for immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID)

Defects in a single gene can result in two immune system disorders that leave affected individuals vulnerable to frequent or unusually severe infections, according to new findings reported in the August issue of Nature Genetics.

4 Aug 2005

Flu medication VIRA 38 inhibits SARS virus

PRB Pharmaceuticals and Lee's Pharmaceuticals have announced that a recent study by Taiwan researchers from the National Health Research Institutes demonstrates TF2b and TF3, two components of v38 AMF-1, inhibit the 3C-like protease encoded by SARS-CoV. v38 AMF-1, a fraction of the flu medication VIRA 38, is best known for its ability to inhibit bird flu virus (H5N1) infections.

4 Aug 2005

Containment of a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans may be possible

Though quick to caution about the many things that could go wrong, researchers say that it may be possible to contain a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans, buying precious time for the production of a vaccine.

3 Aug 2005

Antibiotics "to go" may stop STD spread

Giving men with STDs antibiotics to take to their partner(s) is an effective way to stop the spread of STDs says Tulane University epidemiologist Patricia Kissinger.

2 Aug 2005

Relationship between allergies and mold spores in lawns

"Have you ever driven down the road and seen someone mowing the lawn wearing a mask? This is an example of the relationship between allergies and mold spores in lawns. Dr. Phil Colbaugh, research plant pathologist at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Dallas, cites a common image seen in Texas throughout the warm weather months.

2 Aug 2005

Pig fever added to notifiable disease list

Secretary for Hong Kong's Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow said today the move will enable the Government to strengthen surveillance, and aid early detection and implementation of health control measures.

2 Aug 2005

People with HIV in developing countries do just as well on antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs as do people with HIV on ART programs in developed countries

It also shows that people with HIV who are given free ART drugs will do "significantly" better at fighting the disease compared to those who must pay for the drugs.

1 Aug 2005

Two studies reveal how plague disables immune system

Two studies by researchers at the University of Chicago show how the bacteria that cause the plague manage to outsmart the immune system and how, by slightly altering one of the microbe's tools, the researchers produced what may be the first safe and effective vaccine.

1 Aug 2005

Combination antiretroviral drug therapy may reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

Two new studies support the hypothesis that combination antiretroviral drug therapy may reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission through breastfeeding, findings that could have significant implications in the developing world.

29 Jul 2005

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health. Today, experts addressed key developments to the current and future outlook of infectious diseases, highlighting adolescent immunizations, outbreaks and epidemics of infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and new developments in HIV medicine, at a press conference sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

27 Jul 2005

Export of all pork products from Ziyang and Neijiang in Sichuan have been suspended amid reports of mysterious pig-related deaths

Export of all pork products from Ziyang and Neijiang in Sichuan have been suspended amid reports of mysterious pig-related deaths in the area, the Health, Welfare & Food Bureau says.

26 Jul 2005

First large-scale effort to sequence the flu genome

Multiple strains of the flu virus, circulating in a population at the same time, can reshuffle their genes and create a new virus, one capable of infecting many more people, according to a new study in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.

26 Jul 2005

New program will help fill a drug-discovery void as pharmaceutical companies have largely abandoned natural products research

The natural world has been medicine's most effective arsenal, providing life-saving antibiotics and our most potent anti-cancer drugs.

20 Jul 2005

Moraxella catarrhalis found to be responsible for 10 percent of exacerbations of COPD

A ubiquitous bacterial strain thought to be uninvolved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in fact is responsible for 2-4 million flare-ups of the condition that occur annually in the United States, researchers from the University at Buffalo have shown.

20 Jul 2005

For influenza experts, the question is not whether the world is going to have a new flu pandemic, but when

This isn't easy to communicate to the public. Bird flu and the potential for a human flu pandemic have been making headlines in recent weeks, but the subject presents more uncertainties than certainties.

19 Jul 2005

U.S. stockpile of anti-flu drugs is "totally inadequate"

The United States does not have nearly enough antiviral drugs on hand to fight a coming influenza pandemic, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

19 Jul 2005

Results demonstrate the safety and tolerability of ABthrax treatment for Anthrax infection

Human Genome Sciences has announced that results published in the current issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases demonstrate that the first investigational agent against anthrax infection to be evaluated in a clinical study since the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, is safe, well tolerated and achieves the blood levels predicted by relevant animal models as necessary to afford significant protection from the lethal effects of the anthrax toxin

19 Jul 2005

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Tests of bird flu vaccine on humans show good results

Progress to develop vaginal microbicides

More than fifty percent of the U.S. population tested positive to one or more allergens

Discovery may lead to new diagnostic tests for immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID)

Flu medication VIRA 38 inhibits SARS virus

Containment of a Southeast Asian outbreak of avian influenza in humans may be possible

Antibiotics "to go" may stop STD spread

Relationship between allergies and mold spores in lawns

Pig fever added to notifiable disease list

People with HIV in developing countries do just as well on antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs as do people with HIV on ART programs in developed countries

Two studies reveal how plague disables immune system

Combination antiretroviral drug therapy may reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the nation's public health

Export of all pork products from Ziyang and Neijiang in Sichuan have been suspended amid reports of mysterious pig-related deaths

First large-scale effort to sequence the flu genome

New program will help fill a drug-discovery void as pharmaceutical companies have largely abandoned natural products research

Moraxella catarrhalis found to be responsible for 10 percent of exacerbations of COPD

For influenza experts, the question is not whether the world is going to have a new flu pandemic, but when

U.S. stockpile of anti-flu drugs is "totally inadequate"

Results demonstrate the safety and tolerability of ABthrax treatment for Anthrax infection

eBook: Advancing infectious disease vaccine development eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

Latest News