Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Allergic reactions prevent people with allergic asthma from generating healthy immune response to influenza

New research from UT Southwestern Medical Center suggests that allergic reactions to pet dander, dust mites and mold may prevent people with allergic asthma from generating a healthy immune response to respiratory viruses such as influenza.

29 May 2010

Study highlights need for earlier diagnosis and treatment of HIV

Despite growing evidence that the earlier people are diagnosed with HIV and get access to care, the better their clinical outcomes, many HIV-infected people in the United States and Canada are not receiving the care they need early enough.

29 May 2010

VaxGen signs definitive agreement to acquire diaDexus in stock-for-stock merger

VaxGen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, and diaDexus, Inc., a privately held diagnostics company focused on the development and commercialization of patent-protected in vitro diagnostic products addressing unmet needs in cardiovascular disease, announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which VaxGen will acquire diaDexus in a stock-for-stock merger.

29 May 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Leading Edge article examines the history of the global efforts to control polio and the challenges associated with targets to globally eradicate the disease. "The eradication of polio seems imminent, but with so few cases, there is a temptation to think an acceptable level of infection has been achieved. Not so.

29 May 2010

Infectious diseases specialist from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute receives Frank Fenner Award

Infectious diseases specialist Dr Marc Pellegrini from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute will today receive the Frank Fenner Award from the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, recognising Dr Pellegrini's efforts to understand human responses to chronic infections.

28 May 2010

Humber River Regional Hospital issued RFQ for new acute care hospital

Infrastructure Ontario and Humber River Regional Hospital today released a request for qualifications to design, build, finance and maintain its new acute care hospital.

28 May 2010

FDA grants Premarket Approval for Roche Diagnostics' Elecsys Antibody to hepatitis C virus assay

Roche Diagnostics announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Premarket Approval for its Elecsys Antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) assay. The Elecsys Anti-HCV assay is an in-vitro diagnostic test for the qualitative detection of total antibodies to hepatitis C virus in human serum or plasma.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 28 May 2010

Small molecule ramps up interferon production in host cells, launching potent immune response

Many disease-causing microbes carry pumps that expel antibiotics, making the bugs hard to kill with standard drugs. Ironically, these same pumps could be the bugs' Achilles heel.

28 May 2010

Progenics presents preclinical data on novel monoclonal antibodies against toxins produced by C. difficile

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of preclinical data on novel monoclonal antibodies against toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). The monoclonal antibodies effectively neutralized the cell-killing activities of the toxins in vitro and significantly improved survival in a stringent animal model of C. difficile infection. C. difficile is the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in the United States and represents a growing global public health challenge.

28 May 2010

ART associated with reduced risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners, study shows

Research published in the Lancet online Thursday "provides the strongest evidence to date" that antiretroviral therapy might also be used to prevent transmission of HIV, Agence France-Presse reports. The observational study found that treating HIV-positive patients with ART reduced the risk of HIV transmission to their sexual partners by 92 percent (5/26).

28 May 2010

Research finding may offer future alternative to antibiotics

A team of scientists from government, academia and private industry has developed a novel treatment that protects mice from infection with the bacterium that causes tularemia, a highly infectious disease of rodents, sometimes transmitted to people, and also known as rabbit fever. In additional experiments with human immune cells, the treatment also demonstrated protection against three other types of disease-causing bacteria that, like the tularemia bacteria, occur naturally, can be highly virulent, and are considered possible agents of bioterrorism.

28 May 2010

National Science Foundation supports PolyMedix with $150,000 grant for development of antimicrobial sutures

PolyMedix, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat serious acute cardiovascular disorders and infectious diseases, has received a grant in the amount of $150,000 from the National Science Foundation to support the development of antimicrobial sutures. PolyMedix has developed a series of novel antimicrobial polymers for device and material applications, which it collectively calls the PolyCides™.

27 May 2010

Physicians diagnose rare parasitic infection in people who consumed raw crayfish

If you're headed to a freshwater stream this summer and a friend dares you to eat a raw crayfish - don't do it. You could end up in the hospital with a severe parasitic infection.

27 May 2010

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Weill Cornell Medical College today celebrated the start of construction on its new Medical Research Building, a state-of-the-art facility that will more than double the institution's existing research space. The 18-story, $650 million building is the centerpiece of Weill Cornell's $1.3 billion Discoveries that Make a Difference Campaign, the country's largest for a medical college. A total of $1 billion has been raised toward this goal in a record time of less than four years.

27 May 2010

Fear of H1N1 appears to be the driving factor behind adoption of preventive behaviors: Study

Fear of the H1N1 virus appears to be the driving factor behind the adoption of preventive behaviors, according to a study published in the June issue of AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

27 May 2010

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers identify novel chemical compounds with anti-malarial activity

As part of a multicenter study, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a series of chemical compounds that might serve as starting points for the identification of new classes of anti-malarial drugs.

26 May 2010

CEVEC, Pevion Biotech sign license option agreement for transient CAP-T cell expression technology

CEVEC Pharmaceuticals, the German developer of a novel human expression system derived from amniocytes, announced today the signing of an exclusive license option agreement with Pevion Biotech, the Swiss vaccine company. The agreement enables Pevion Biotech to exclusively use CEVEC's transient CAP-T™ cell expression technology to manufacture and commercialize a protein antigen for vaccination against a widespread human infectious disease.

26 May 2010

Consequences of secrecy in medicine

No one knows how many mothers' and babies' lives have been saved by the obstetrical forceps. This device has been part of the standard equipment of every maternity room for about 250 years. However, a shadow lies over the success story: after the Chamberlen brothers developed the device at the beginning of the 17th century, the brothers and their descendants used it for 3 generations, but kept it a secret from other obstetricians.

26 May 2010

Vical receives $4.0M grant to support development of novel vaccine for CMV infection

Vical Incorporated announced today that the company is collaborating with leading pediatric infectious disease researchers Stuart P. Adler, M.D., and Michael A. McVoy, Ph.D., of Virginia Commonwealth University under a five-year, approximately $4.0 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

25 May 2010

New research finding may change direction of vaccine research for M. tuberculosis

Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered that the strategy of "immune evasion" common to many viruses, bacteria and parasites, is uncommon to M. tuberculosis where the antigens remain strikingly unchanged and homogenous. The study published in Nature Genetics on May 23, 2010, suggests that M. tuberculosis antigens do not mutate because they hope to be recognized by the body's immune system- perhaps because the host immune mechanism that leads to the typical lung destruction and cough can contribute to the spread of the disease.

25 May 2010

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Allergic reactions prevent people with allergic asthma from generating healthy immune response to influenza

Study highlights need for earlier diagnosis and treatment of HIV

VaxGen signs definitive agreement to acquire diaDexus in stock-for-stock merger

Recent releases in Global Health

Infectious diseases specialist from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute receives Frank Fenner Award

Humber River Regional Hospital issued RFQ for new acute care hospital

FDA grants Premarket Approval for Roche Diagnostics' Elecsys Antibody to hepatitis C virus assay

Small molecule ramps up interferon production in host cells, launching potent immune response

Progenics presents preclinical data on novel monoclonal antibodies against toxins produced by C. difficile

ART associated with reduced risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners, study shows

Research finding may offer future alternative to antibiotics

National Science Foundation supports PolyMedix with $150,000 grant for development of antimicrobial sutures

Physicians diagnose rare parasitic infection in people who consumed raw crayfish

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Fear of H1N1 appears to be the driving factor behind adoption of preventive behaviors: Study

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers identify novel chemical compounds with anti-malarial activity

CEVEC, Pevion Biotech sign license option agreement for transient CAP-T cell expression technology

Consequences of secrecy in medicine

Vical receives $4.0M grant to support development of novel vaccine for CMV infection

New research finding may change direction of vaccine research for M. tuberculosis

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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