Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Infectious disease rates are high among homeless people

Rates of the infectious diseases HIV, Hepatitis C and tuberculosis among the world’s homeless people are many times higher than in the general population, according to a new systematic review of existing data published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

20 Aug 2012

New birth-control strategy for mosquitoes can combat malaria

Using information about the unique mating practices of the male malaria mosquito ― which, unlike any other insect, inserts a plug to seal its sperm inside the female ― scientists are zeroing in on a birth-control drug for Anopheles mosquitoes, deadly carriers of the disease that threatens 3 billion people, has infected more than 215 million and kills 655,000 annually.

20 Aug 2012

New book on malaria tells story of Plasmodium falciparum Genome Project

Few infectious diseases can rival malaria's ability to kill and cripple. Each year the disease causes hundreds of millions of people to be sickened and more than a million - mostly African children under the age of five - die.

18 Aug 2012

Two Johns Hopkins scientists receive NCI grant for Provocative Questions project

Two Johns Hopkins scientists are among the first recipients of grants geared to answer "Provocative Questions" in cancer research, a new project funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Cynthia Sears, M.D., and Peter Searson, Ph.D., will receive more than $500,000 combined in the first of five years of funding.

17 Aug 2012

Curcumin shows promise in fighting devastating viruses

The popular spice turmeric packs more than just flavor - it shows promise in fighting devastating viruses, Mason researchers recently discovered.

17 Aug 2012

Medicago, IDRI receive FDA approval to commence Phase 1 H5N1 vaccine trial

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), announce that they have been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate.

16 Aug 2012

Special device provides evidence of how bloodstream infections begin

New research may help explain why hundreds of thousands of Americans a year get sick - and tens of thousands die - after bacteria get into their blood. It also suggests why some of those bloodstream infections resist treatment with even the most powerful antibiotics.

16 Aug 2012

Genocea commences GEN-003 Phase 1/2a study in moderate-to-severe HSV-2 infection

Genocea Biosciences announced today that it has initiated a Phase 1/2a clinical study with its lead candidate, GEN-003. GEN-003 is an investigational vaccine designed to stimulate T cell and B cell immune responses to potentially reduce the frequency and severity of clinical outbreaks associated with moderate-to-severe Herpes Simplex Virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection.

16 Aug 2012

CD4 T cells orchestrate inflammatory attack on the artery wall

Most people probably know that heart disease remains the nation's No. 1 killer. But what many may be surprised to learn is that cholesterol has a major accomplice in causing dangerous arterial plaque buildup that can trigger a heart attack. The culprit? Inflammatory cells produced by the immune system.

15 Aug 2012

Insurance status affects survival after cardiac event

Patients admitted to hospital with an acute cardiac event have higher rates of mortality if they are underinsured compared with those who have private insurance, show US study results.

14 Aug 2012

Abdominal pain duration influences appendicitis imaging diagnosis

Clinicians should not rely on ultrasonography for diagnosing pediatric appendicitis early in the course of illness, say US researchers.

14 Aug 2012

Streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis recurrence linked to vitamin D deficiency

There is a significant association between recurrent group A streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis and vitamin D deficiency, say Israeli researchers who call for research into whether supplementation could prevent the condition.

13 Aug 2012

NIH awards ADi Phase II SBIR grant to scan Plasmodium falciparum proteome for protective antigens

Antigen Discovery, Inc. today announced that it has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation and Research award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. The three-year award, totaling approximately $ 2.5 million, is a continuation of a Phase I SBIR grant to scan the Plasmodium falciparum proteome for protective antigens.

13 Aug 2012

New 3-D view of the body's response to infection

A new 3-D view of the body's response to infection - and the ability to identify proteins involved in the response - could point to novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents for infectious diseases.

13 Aug 2012

Insight into ubiquitin system

A faulty gene linked to a rare blood vessel disorder has led investigators to discover a mechanism involved in determining the fate of possibly thousands of proteins working inside cells.

13 Aug 2012

Breakthrough vaccine against deadly Nipah virus

A major breakthrough in the development of a highly effective vaccine against the deadly Nipah virus has been reported by a team of federal and university scientists. The results of their study, "A Hendra virus G glycoprotein subunit vaccine protects African green monkeys from Nipah virus challenge," will appear in Science Translational Medicine online.

10 Aug 2012

Accurate vaccination needed to protect children

This year the U.S. has seen the worst outbreak of whooping cough in more than 50 years. In fact, it has reached epidemic levels in many states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the numbers of cases reported is already twice as many as last year. With kids getting ready to head back-to-school, the numbers of children impacted or killed by this disease could continue to rise if children aren't accurately vaccinated.

10 Aug 2012

Hydrocephalus dictates age-related SAH outcomes

Age is only predictive of poor outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage because of its association with hydrocephalus, say researchers.

10 Aug 2012

$Thoracolumbar vertebrae fracture may be ‘silent’$

Thoracolumbar vertebrae fracture may be ‘silent’

Imaging is essential to avoid missing fractures to the thoracolumbar vertebrae in patients who have sustained blunt injury, UK researchers say.

10 Aug 2012

Anemia prevention in pregnancy: an interview with Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas, WHO

Anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells in the body is lower than normal or these have lower amounts of haemoglobin, a protein that is involved in the oxygen exchange of the body.

10 Aug 2012