Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Novavax's new bird flu vaccine could bolster the arsenal against a pandemic

The drug company Novavax has announced that it's experimental avian flu vaccine has proved to be both safe and effective in Phase I/IIa trials in humans.

20 Dec 2007

Researchers prevent muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis

Severe muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis - a highly debilitating autoimmune disorder - can be prevented or reversed by blocking a key step in the immune response that brings on the disease, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found.

20 Dec 2007

Poultry workers at greater risk of carrying antibiotic-resistant E. coli

Poultry workers in the United States are 32 times more likely to carry E. coli bacteria resistant to the commonly used antibiotic, gentamicin, than others outside the poultry industry, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

18 Dec 2007

Rifapentine is back for tuberculosis

It has no current market, not even a prescription price. Its makers stopped commercial production years ago, because demand was so low.

18 Dec 2007

Research provides new information about the body's immune system

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have uncovered new information about the body's immune system in a study that suggests new strategies may be in order for protecting the country's aging population against disease.

18 Dec 2007

Bacteria that cause urinary tract infections invade bladder cells

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found definitive proof that some of the bacteria that plague women with urinary tract infections (UTIs) are entrenched inside human bladder cells.

18 Dec 2007

12 million cancer deaths worldwide in 2007

A new American Cancer Society report estimates that there will be over 12 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths (about 20,000 cancer deaths a day) worldwide in 2007.

17 Dec 2007

Profound immune system discovery opens door to halting destruction of lupus

A researcher funded by the Lupus Research Institute (LRI) has discovered an entirely new and powerful molecular switch that controls the inflammatory response of the immune system.

14 Dec 2007

First view of synapse in real time

For the first time, scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have observed in real time a cellular mechanism that's crucial to how brain cells communicate.

14 Dec 2007

$1.7 million grant to advance understanding of genetic influences on diabetes

Scientists at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) expect to make big leaps in their understanding of genetic influences on diabetes, thanks to a new $1.7 million grant awarded to Dr. Joanne Curran, the grant's principal investigator.

13 Dec 2007

Odyssey Thera granted U.S. patent for animal imaging

Odyssey Thera, Inc. has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 7,306,914, entitled "Protein-fragment Complementation Assays (PCA) in whole animals: applications to drug efficacy, ADME, cancer biology, immunology, infectious disease and gene therapy.

13 Dec 2007

Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus strips away immune system's defensive measures

When the alert goes out that a virus has invaded the body, cells that have yet to be attacked prepare by "armoring" themselves for combat, attaching specific antiviral molecules to many of their own proteins to help resist the invader.

13 Dec 2007

Can interacting pathogens explain disease patterns?

A new study into the way in which parasites interact with each other could help predict when infectious diseases are likely to break out.

13 Dec 2007

New UK Centre for Zoonosis Research to open in Liverpool

The UK's National Centre for Zoonosis Research, dedicated to the study of animal-borne human diseases, will be opened at the University of Liverpool.

12 Dec 2007

Scientists seek to assess the microbial risks in the water we drink

It is a familiar scenario experienced around the world: an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness suddenly emerges in a community, and no one knows where it came from or how to stop it. At the start of the outbreak, only a few people are affected, most often the very old and the very young.

12 Dec 2007

Vaccine shows promise in preventing glandular fever

A new study suggests that a vaccine targeting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may prevent infectious mononucleosis, commonly known as "mono" or "glandular fever".

10 Dec 2007

Nanogen reaches milestone in influenza project

Nanogen, Inc. has announced that it has delivered the second phase milestone requirements, including the point-of-care prototype device to detect influenza viruses rapidly in clinical samples, to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for their evaluation.

10 Dec 2007

ImmunoVaccine Technologies to acquire Immunotope

ImmunoVaccine Technologies Inc. (IVT), a Nova Scotia-based vaccine enhancement company, has signed a binding memorandum of understanding to acquire Immunotope Inc., a Pennsylvania-based biotechnology company developing immunotherapy products for the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious diseases.

10 Dec 2007

FDA approves trial for SKCC breast cancer vaccine

The Federal Drug Administration announced Friday approval of a Phase 1 clinical trial designed to study a breast cancer vaccine developed at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

10 Dec 2007

HIV-infected infants respond poorly to childhood vaccination

It is known that HIV-infected children who do not receive appropriate antiretroviral drugs experience immune depression, and may become susceptible to infectious diseases that would otherwise be prevented by childhood immunization.

5 Dec 2007