Diphtheria News and Research

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Diphtheria is a disease caused by a bacterium, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, that usually affects the tonsils, throat, nose and/or skin. It is passed from person to person by droplet transmission, usually by breathing in diphtheria bacteria after an infected person has coughed or sneezed. Although diphtheria disease is rare in the U.S., it appears that C diphtheriae continues to circulate in areas of the country with previously endemic diphtheria. Diphtheria also occurs in many other parts of the world.

Could laser-facilitated epicutaneous vaccination for SARS-CoV-2 be an alternative to intramuscular injection?

Scientists at the University of Salzburg and Pantec Biosolutions AG have developed a laser-facilitated epicutaneous immunization against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. The model has induced angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) blocking antibodies in mice.

23 Feb 2021

Vaccinated mothers may pass on SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to newborns

A new study describes the first case of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detected in the cord blood of an infant born to a mother immunized with the first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine three weeks earlier.

9 Feb 2021

India’s COVID-19-related hygiene promotion campaign shows some positive results

A new study explores the results of such hygiene promotion campaigns on handwashing practices in rural Odisha, India.

1 Feb 2021

Routine vaccinations in India disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic

A team of researchers studied the disruptions in the vaccinations across India during the current pandemic.

1 Feb 2021

New polio vaccine is the first to work on mutated form of the virus

A new polio vaccine that could tackle mutated strains of the disease has passed phase II clinical trials, according to two studies published in medical journal The Lancet.

10 Dec 2020

Chemists discover effective inhibitors to block SARS-CoV-2

Some viruses can get inside cells via a mechanism that involves sulfur organic molecules. Chemists at UNIGE have discovered effective inhibitors and blocked the uptake of SARS-CoV-2.

20 Nov 2020

Children's DTP vaccine may provide cross-immunity for COVID-19

He found that the viruses subject to pediatric vaccinations do not have cross-reactive epitopes for SARS-CoV-2, showing they cannot provide protection against COVID-19.

17 Nov 2020

Corralling the facts on herd immunity

For a term that's at least 100 years old, "herd immunity" has gained new life in 2020.

29 Sep 2020

Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 risk

In a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv, researchers from Laval University and McGill University in Canada reviewed evidence from 18 relevant studies on a possible interaction between influenza vaccines on non-influenza respiratory disease (NIRD).

6 Sep 2020

Researchers develop advanced imaging technique to visualize effects of valencies on B cell responses

Designing a vaccine starts with finding the right ingredients. Every infectious agent has molecules, called antigens, that the immune system could potentially recognize and attack. So scientists must carefully consider which antigens should go into a vaccine.

28 Aug 2020

Researchers develop vaccine for human herpesvirus 6B

A research group led by Professor MORI Yasuko (of the Division of Clinical Virology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine) has revealed that the HHV-6B glycoprotein complex gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2 is an effective vaccine candidate for human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B).

20 Aug 2020

Trust, fear and solidarity will determine the success of a COVID vaccine

Thousands of letters stuffed with money flooded Jonas Salk's mailbox the week after his polio vaccine was declared safe and effective in 1955. Everybody wanted his vaccine.

17 Aug 2020

New techniques help replace malfunctioning microglia associated with neurological disorders

Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai, China have developed three different techniques that successfully replace almost all malfunctioning microglia - each technique with its own advantage in application

12 Aug 2020

Iron deficiency during infancy may reduce protective effect of vaccines

Despite the fact that global immunization programmes are now reaching more people than ever, about 1.5 million children still die every year from diseases that vaccination could have prevented. Vaccination is also less effective in low-income countries than in high-income countries, although it is not yet clear why.

28 Jul 2020

New clinical trial to assess safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma to prevent COVID-19

There is only one approved, specific treatment for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, albeit with modest efficacy.

10 Jul 2020

Antibody cocktail with potential to treat COVID-19 identified

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) evaluated several human antibodies to determine the most potent combination to be mixed in a cocktail and used as a promising anti-viral therapy against the virus that causes COVID-19.

16 Jun 2020

Anti-RBD antibodies shown to neutralize active SARS-CoV-2

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 reports the discovery of multiple severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in samples from healthy donors, collected before the pandemic. These antibodies are capable of inhibiting the binding of the spike protein of the virus to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) molecule and can neutralize active infection of cells in culture.

9 Jun 2020