Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Sickle cell trait link with sudden athlete death ‘confirmed’

Researchers say they have definitively confirmed that there is a link between the sickle cell trait and sudden cardiac death in African–American athletes.

2 Aug 2012

Emergency diverticulitis surgery victim of the ‘weekend effect’

Patients who have emergency surgery at weekends for acute diverticulitis have worse outcomes than those admitted on weekdays, the results of a US study show.

2 Aug 2012

Possible molecular link between circadian rhythm disturbances and increased inflammatory response

Scientists have known for some time that throwing off the body's circadian rhythm can negatively affect body chemistry. In fact, workers whose sleep-wake cycles are disrupted by night shifts are more susceptible to chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.

2 Aug 2012

Scientists decode stability blueprint of rhomboid enzyme

Johns Hopkins scientists have decoded for the first time the "stability blueprint" of an enzyme that resides in a cell's membrane, mapping which parts of the enzyme are important for its shape and function.

1 Aug 2012

Médecins Sans Frontières help fight Ebola outbreak in Uganda

An emergency team from the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières is in Kigadi, in western Uganda’s Kibaale district, to help fight an outbreak of the Ebola virus. Other Médecins Sans Frontières teams in Uganda are closely monitoring the situation.

1 Aug 2012

Study: 150 million adults suffer from sleep-related problems across developing world

Levels of sleep problems in the developing world are approaching those seen in developed nations, linked to an increase in problems like depression and anxiety.

1 Aug 2012

Brain injury patterns predict outcomes in oxygen-starved infants

Patterns of brain injury in babies with neonatal hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy predict survival and disability in late infancy, show study findings.

31 Jul 2012

Working outside 9-5 shifts vascular risk

People who undertake shift work may be at a higher risk for vascular events than those who do not, researchers say in the BMJ.

31 Jul 2012

CT angiography use ‘unwarranted’ in chest pain patients

Using coronary computed tomography angiography to triage patients with chest pain reduces time to discharge from the emergency department by nearly a third, researchers report in The New England Journal of Medicine.

31 Jul 2012

Mapping rhomboid enzymes could eventually lead to drugs to treat malaria

31 Jul 2012

Two new targets could enhance the body's defenses against West Nile and hepatitis C

Two new targets have been discovered for antiviral therapies and vaccines strategies that could enhance the body's defenses against such infectious diseases as West Nile and hepatitis C. The targets are within the infection warning system inside living cells.

31 Jul 2012

Views on AIDS: More funding will be needed for new attack on HIV; The epidemic hits hard in the South

The international AIDS conference in Washington has already made two points clear. There is no prospect that scientists will any time soon find the ultimate solutions to the AIDS epidemic, namely a vaccine that would prevent infection with the AIDS virus or a "cure" for people already infected with the virus.

31 Jul 2012

A touch may go a long way for preterm babies

Therapeutic touch may have a protective effect on the autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in preterm neonates in response to pain, report researchers.

30 Jul 2012

Study sheds light on complexities of cancer genetics

30 Jul 2012

Nurse burnout leads to higher healthcare-associated infection rates

Nurse burnout leads to higher healthcare-associated infection rates (HAIs) and costs hospitals millions of additional dollars annually, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

30 Jul 2012

Advaxis reports continued positive patient survival pattern in ADXS-HPV Phase 2 cervical cancer trial

Advaxis, Inc.,, a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, presented updated preliminary data from an ongoing randomized Phase 2 trial of ADXS-HPV being conducted in India in women with recurrent/refractory cervical cancer who have failed previous cytotoxic therapy.

30 Jul 2012

Scientists decipher molecular causes of life-threatening candida fungal infections

With infectious diseases, it is often not the pathogen itself, but rather an excessive inflammatory immune responses death, for instance as a result of organ damage. On intensive care units, sepsis is the second-most common cause of death worldwide. In patients with a severely compromised immune system specially, life-threatening candida fungal infections represent a high risk of sepsis.

30 Jul 2012

Fruit flies help pinpoint genetic changes that spell cancer

By studying fruit flies, scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have successfully devised a fast and cost-saving way to uncover genetic changes that have a higher potential to cause cancer. With this new approach, researchers will now be able to rapidly distinguish the range of genetic changes that are causally linked to cancer (i.e. "driver" mutations) versus those with limited impact on cancer progression.

30 Jul 2012

Early ART treatment delays AIDS-related health events in HIV-infected individuals

Further analyses of the landmark NIH-funded treatment-as-prevention study (HPTN 052) have found that providing antiretroviral treatment to HIV-infected individuals earlier, when their immune systems are healthier, delays AIDS-related health events, such as chronic herpes simplex virus and tuberculosis, as well as death. Additionally, researchers found that earlier HIV treatment is also cost-effective because it increases survival, prevents costly opportunistic infections and averts transmission of the virus to uninfected individuals.

30 Jul 2012

Economist articles, blog examine research presented at AIDS 2012 conference

The Economist on Friday published two articles from Saturday's print edition regarding the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012). One article states that "few areas of international affairs have seen more recent success than the fight against AIDS," and discusses advancements in HIV treatment research and availability.

28 Jul 2012