Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Scientists use climate variables and vegetation indices to predict and mitigate Dengue epidemics

Dengue Fever (DF) and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) are the most important vector-borne viral diseases in the World. Around 50-100 million cases appear each year putting 2.5 billion people at risk of suffering this debilitating and sometimes fatal disease.

5 Jun 2009

Drug-resistant tuberculosis a very real threat in the Pacific region

Health officials in the Pacific are concerned about two new strains of tuberculosis - multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) - both strains have been found to be resistant to the two most powerful drugs that have been used to treat tuberculosis (TB) for the past five decades.

5 Jun 2009

Experimental drug five times more effective against MDR-TB than conventional therapy

A Johnson & Johnson-run study found that its experimental drug TMC207 could make conventional tuberculosis treatment five times more effective against multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) because it cleared traces of the TB bacteria in the sputum of 48 percent of study volunteers after eight weeks, Reuters reports (Emery, Reuters, 6/3). The results were published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

4 Jun 2009

Discovery of new genetic immune disorder in children

Your immune system plays an important function in your health - it protects you against viruses, bacteria, and other toxins that can cause disease. In autoinflammatory diseases, however, the immune system goes awry, causing unprovoked and dangerous inflammation.

4 Jun 2009

Soap-sniffing sensors that monitor health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes

Call it a breathalyzer for the hands. Using sensors capable of detecting drugs in breath, new technology developed at University of Florida monitors health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes given off from their hands.

3 Jun 2009

Discovery of new arenavirus associated with hemorrhagic fever – first identified in nearly four decades

Scientists at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases of National Health Laboratory Service (NICD-NHLS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Roche's 454 Life Sciences Corporation have discovered the new virus responsible for a highly fatal hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Zambia and South Africa in late 2008.

2 Jun 2009

Study to evaluate ‘Active Hexose Correlated Compound’ and the swine flu virus

A study evaluating the effect of AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) on supporting the immune system in response to the swine flu virus will be conducted at the Southern China Agricultural University, one of the few research centers in China that have been approved to conduct studies on highly infectious diseases such as the swine flu. This controlled study will examine the effects of AHCC when supplemented to a group of mice infected with the virus.

1 Jun 2009

Inflammatory bowel disease on the rise in specific populations

Researchers are making great strides in understanding the development and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the digestive tract that affects more than a half million Americans, according to several studies being presented at Digestive Disease Week® 2009 (DDW®). DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

1 Jun 2009

Experts say let swine flu run its course

With the number of influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) cases in Australia now over 300 federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the government is considering whether to elevate the nation's response to the disease from the contain to sustain phase, as it may be impossible to keep quarantining people.

1 Jun 2009

A broken trust: lessons from the vaccine–autism wars

Researchers long ago rejected the theory that vaccines cause autism, yet many parents don't believe them. Can scientists bridge the gap between evidence and doubt?

27 May 2009

Australian swine flu toll climbs but expert says threat is over-hyped

According to the World Health Organisation's latest update, # 39, as of the 26th of May the latest figures in the influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak are 12,954 confirmed cases in 46 countries, including 92 deaths.

26 May 2009

Australian scientist finds two new animal viruses

An Australian scientist has discovered two new animal viruses, one in cattle and the other in mosquitoes - the unknown viruses were found in isolated regions of northern Australia - neither of the viruses cause disease in livestock.

26 May 2009

Ancient skeletal evidence for leprosy in India

A biological anthropologist from Appalachian State University working with an undergraduate student from Appalachian, an evolutionary biologist from UNC Greensboro, and a team of archaeologists from Deccan College (Pune, India) recently reported analysis of a 4000-year-old skeleton from India bearing evidence of leprosy. This skeleton represents both the earliest archaeological evidence for human infection with Mycobacterium leprae in the world and the first evidence for the disease in prehistoric India.

26 May 2009

Economic recession, emerging diseases should not replace efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, IAS President says

Concerns regarding the H1N1 flu strain or the current global economic recession should not take attention away from the long-term fight against HIV/AIDS, Julio Mantaner, head of the International AIDS Society, said recently, VOA News reports.

26 May 2009

Unvaccinated children 23 times more likely to get infected with whooping cough

Children of parents who refuse vaccines are 23 times more likely to get whooping cough compared to fully immunized children, according to a new study led by a vaccine research team at Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research.

26 May 2009

Researchers unlock mystery of potentially fatal reaction to smallpox vaccine

Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have pinpointed the cellular defect that increases the likelihood, among eczema sufferers, of developing eczema vaccinatum, a severe and potentially fatal reaction to the smallpox vaccine.

25 May 2009

Toddler’s mysterious meningitis trumps cancer threat

Brooklynn Spencer's mother Samantha knew something wasn't right. The 8 month old had the flu recently, but it had been four weeks. She should have been better. The Elmira mother of four pushed for blood tests in early October 2007. A few hours later, there was a knock at the door.

21 May 2009

Methylene blue in combo with new malaria drugs curbs the spread of malaria parasites

New combinations of agents based on the oldest synthetic malaria drug, the methylene blue stain, can curb the spread of malaria parasites and make a significant contribution to the long-term eradication called for by the international "Roll Back Malaria Initiative."

20 May 2009

'Swift action driven by courage needed' to remove ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs, letter to editor says

"The Obama administration's budget dealt a serious blow to those who support syringe exchange programs to prevent the transmission of HIV, hepatitis C and other infectious diseases," Paola Barahona, senior global health policy analyst for Physicians for Human Rights and founding executive director of Prevention Works!, writes in a Washington Post letter to the editor.

19 May 2009

Study shows decreased risk of death from opportunistic infections with earlier antiretroviral treatment

HIV-positive people with opportunistic infections who receive earlier antiretroviral treatment lower their risk of death compared with people who delay treatment, according to a new study conducted by the Stanford University School of Medicine and published in PLoS One, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

19 May 2009

Infectious Diseases News and Research

Scientists use climate variables and vegetation indices to predict and mitigate Dengue epidemics

Drug-resistant tuberculosis a very real threat in the Pacific region

Experimental drug five times more effective against MDR-TB than conventional therapy

Discovery of new genetic immune disorder in children

Soap-sniffing sensors that monitor health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes

Discovery of new arenavirus associated with hemorrhagic fever – first identified in nearly four decades

Study to evaluate ‘Active Hexose Correlated Compound’ and the swine flu virus

Inflammatory bowel disease on the rise in specific populations

Experts say let swine flu run its course

A broken trust: lessons from the vaccine–autism wars

Australian swine flu toll climbs but expert says threat is over-hyped

Australian scientist finds two new animal viruses

Ancient skeletal evidence for leprosy in India

Economic recession, emerging diseases should not replace efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, IAS President says

Unvaccinated children 23 times more likely to get infected with whooping cough

Researchers unlock mystery of potentially fatal reaction to smallpox vaccine

Toddler’s mysterious meningitis trumps cancer threat

Methylene blue in combo with new malaria drugs curbs the spread of malaria parasites

'Swift action driven by courage needed' to remove ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs, letter to editor says

Study shows decreased risk of death from opportunistic infections with earlier antiretroviral treatment

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 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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