Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Strep throat should be treated with penicillin or amoxicillin: IDSA guidelines

Although people often say they have "strep" throat, most sore throats actually are caused by a virus, not streptococcus bacteria, and shouldn't be treated with antibiotics, suggest guidelines published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses.

11 Sep 2012

Researchers discover small DNA sequence that drives GATA2 protein

The protein GATA2 is known as a "master regulator" of blood cell development. When a mutation occurs in the gene that makes GATA2, serious blood diseases such as acute myeloid leukemia can result.

11 Sep 2012

Flow cytometry renders PCR testing unnecessary for most AML patients

Early treatment response is a powerful predictor of long-term outcome for young patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The information can help physicians decide whether a more intensive approach is needed. Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators has identified the best test for measuring that response and guiding therapy.

11 Sep 2012

Oxyphenbutazone can kill drug resistant TB

An off-patent anti-inflammatory drug that costs around two cents for a daily dose in developing countries has been found by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College to kill both replicating and non-replicating drug resistant tuberculosis in the laboratory -- a feat few currently approved TB drugs can do, and resistance to those is spreading.

11 Sep 2012

Pathogens identified in majority of childhood CAP hospitalizations

A comprehensive investigation of childhood community-acquired pneumonia in Taiwan has identified at least one pathogen in 85% of previously healthy children.

10 Sep 2012

HIV viruses with two genetic 'footprints' associated with greater vaccine efficacy

Scientists used genetic sequencing to discover new evidence that the first vaccine shown to prevent HIV infection in people also affected the viruses in those who did become infected. Viruses with two genetic "footprints" were associated with greater vaccine efficacy. The results were published today in the online edition of the journal Nature.

10 Sep 2012

Atox Bio AB103 for Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections granted FDA Fast Track designation

Atox Bio, a clinical stage biotechnology company engaged in the development of novel immunemodulators for severe infections in critically ill patients, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to AB103, its lead product, currently in development for the treatment of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections (NSTI).

10 Sep 2012

Data from BioLineRx’s BL-7010 pre-clinical studies on celiac disease

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that BL-7010, an orally available treatment for celiac disease, was found to be safe and well tolerated in pre-clinical studies conducted to date.

10 Sep 2012

Study measures cost-effectiveness of on-site rapid HIV testing in drug abuse treatment programs

Less than half of community-based substance abuse treatment programs in the United States currently make HIV testing available on-site or through referral. A new study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College shows the cost-effectiveness of integrating on-site rapid HIV testing into drug treatment programs.

10 Sep 2012

New oral antiseptic spray effective in killing 99.9% of infectious airborne germs

University Hospitals Case Medical Center clinical researchers will present findings about a one-two punch to prevent colds and flu in San Francisco at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) on Sept. 9.

10 Sep 2012

Dynamic mapping could potentially help fill gaps in influenza research

Influenza outbreaks in the United States typically begin with the arrival of cold weather and then spread in seasonal waves across geographic zones. But the question of why epidemics can vary from one season to the next has baffled scientists.

10 Sep 2012

Researchers, policymakers to gather at AIDS Vaccine 2012 conference in Boston

"With a completed trial in Thailand that offered evidence a vaccine could be developed to protect people from HIV, emerging science identifying antibodies against HIV, and a current trial testing a novel vaccine combination against the virus potentially producing more information in the next year, this is an exciting time to hold a conference, organizers of AIDS Vaccine 2012 say," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

7 Sep 2012

Gates foundation blog examines challenges to global TB response

"[O]ver the past month, [tuberculosis (TB)] has captured high-profile attention from the Washington Post, the New York Times, TIME, NPR, [Agence France-Presse] and other major media, generating big headlines about the rising challenge we face in tackling one of humanity's oldest and most resilient infectious diseases," Jan Gheuens, interim director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's TB Program, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

7 Sep 2012

Outbreak of autoimmune disease with AIDS-like symptoms in Southeast Asia

There has been an outbreak of an adult-onset immunodeficiency syndrome in Southeast Asia. The autoimmune disease causes AIDS-like symptoms but is not associated with HIV and is not contagious.

7 Sep 2012

Rigid gas-permeable lenses correct vision after ocular trauma

Fitting a rigid gas-permeable contact lens into the eyes of patients treated surgically for ocular trauma can improve their visual acuity and are well tolerated, report researchers from China.

7 Sep 2012

Prompt treatment urged for bleeding intracranial aneurysms

Patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage have an increased chance of being discharged with minimal or no disability if the culprit aneurysm is promptly treated, suggests US research.

7 Sep 2012

Children and young patients with chronic HBV infection do have a protective immune response

Scientists from A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), together with clinical collaborators from London , discovered for the first time that children and young patients with chronic Hepatitis B Virus infection (HBV carriers) do have a protective immune response, contrary to current belief, and hence can be more suitable treatment candidates than previously considered.

7 Sep 2012

RSV virus selectively kills cancer cells

RSV, a virus that causes respiratory infections in infants and young children, selectively kills cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone, researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio said.

7 Sep 2012

Boston researchers develop neonatal mouse model of sepsis

Sepsis, or bacterial infection of the bloodstream, is a grave, hard-to-diagnose threat in premature newborns in the NICU. Even when it's detected and treated with antibiotics, its inflammatory effects can harm fragile babies' development. Now, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have modeled the effects of sepsis on the unique newborn immune system, using mice.

7 Sep 2012

Durata completes target enrollment in dalbavancin Phase 3 trials for abSSSI

Durata Therapeutics today announced that it has completed its target enrollment for DISCOVER 1 ("Dalbavancin for Infections of the Skin COmpared to Vancomycin at an Early Response"), one of two ongoing, global, Phase 3 clinical trials of Durata's lead product candidate, dalbavancin, under investigation for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (abSSSI).

7 Sep 2012