Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Ownership of genetic information

We all share our genetic make up with relatives, but should we also share ownership of the results of DNA analysis or should this knowledge be considered private?

9 Jul 2007

Autophagy may accelerate decompensated heart failure

Autophagy, a normal process by which cells eat their own proteins to provide needed resources to the body in times of stress, may paradoxically cause harm to hearts already weakened by disease, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

9 Jul 2007

How the HIV virus mutates to escape the body's immune system

A pioneering collaborative study has discovered how the HIV virus evades the human body's immune system.

9 Jul 2007

Include children in research to make breakthroughs in child medicine

Scientists will only make real breakthroughs in children's medicine if they include children in research programmes as well as adults, according to a leading paediatric expert.

9 Jul 2007

Chronic fatigue: clues in the blood

Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) believe that blood may hold vital insights into what is happening in the brain of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

8 Jul 2007

High cholesterol makes people more prone to tick disease human granulocytic anaplasmosis

People who have high cholesterol levels may be much more susceptible to a particular disease transmitted by the bites of ticks, a new study in mice suggests.

4 Jul 2007

Discovery of two effective antibodies for SARS

An international team of investigators has identified the first human antibodies that can neutralize different strains of the virus responsible for outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

4 Jul 2007

Scientists tackle deadly hospital superbugs

It infiltrates hospitals as microscopic spores. Its defences are so strong it can resist most antibiotics. And it kills three times as many people every year as MRSA. But scientists at The University of Nottingham are amassing an arsenal of weapons in preparation for counter offensive against the most deadly of hospital superbugs.

4 Jul 2007

TB jetsetter not as dangerous as first thought

It seems the jet setting air traveller with tuberculosis (TB) is not quite as dangerous as first thought. According to a federal health official, American lawyer Andrew Speaker has a less severe form of TB than previously diagnosed.

4 Jul 2007

Melaka virus needs a new name

Health officials in Malaysia who had christened a newly discovered bat virus the 'Melaka Virus' will have to come up with another name after a protest from some government ministers.

2 Jul 2007

Prevention and control of zoonoses

Over 180 international scientific experts will meet for the next three days near Lucca, Italy, to discuss state-of-the-art advances in infectious diseases transmitted from animals to man, known as zoonoses.

29 Jun 2007

Call for change in regulations surrounding xenotransplantation

A new article in The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics calls for a change in the regulations surrounding xenotransplantation, the transplanting of animal cells, tissues or organs into humans.

29 Jun 2007

Meningococcal vaccine now recommended for ages 11 to 18

Recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), that all young people aged 11 to 18 should get a shot that protects them from the most dangerous type of meningitis, has been applauded by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

28 Jun 2007

Many needle-stick injuries unreported

A survey of nearly 700 surgical residents in 17 U.S. medical centers finds that more than half failed to report needle-stick injuries involving patients whose blood could be a source of HIV, hepatitis and other infections.

28 Jun 2007

Summer's here so look out for Legionnaires disease

Summer's here and the living isn't always so easy especially if youre in the hospital. Patients who are vulnerable to infection run a greater risk of contracting Legionnaires disease, a severe form of pneumonia, during warm, humid weather, according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

28 Jun 2007

Hib vaccine could save hundreds of thousands of children in Asia

A new study from Bangladesh published online in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal shows that routinely vaccinating infants against H. influenzae type b (Hib), a bacterium that causes deadly Hib pneumonia and meningitis, could save hundreds of thousands of children in Asia.

28 Jun 2007

Emotional state plays a significant role in recovery from hip surgery

A patient's emotional state plays a significant role in his or her recovery from hip surgery, suggests Saint Louis University research published this month.

27 Jun 2007

Canada enhances capacity to fight infectious disease

Today representatives of all three levels of government and the Canada Foundation for Innovation turned the sod to launch construction of the International Vaccine Centre (InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan, a $110.4-million project that will significantly enhance Canada's capacity to fight infectious disease in both animals and humans.

26 Jun 2007

Decline in mental health after SARS

Most patients who survived severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) had good physical recovery, but they or their caregivers often reported a decline in mental health one year later, according to a study in the June 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Jun 2007

Evolutionary dynamics of immune-related genes and pathways in disease vector mosquitoes

The genes that make up the immune system of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which transmits deadly viral diseases to humans have been identified in new research in Science.

23 Jun 2007