Legionella News and Research

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Automated PoCyton cytometer effective for counting cancer cells

Biological and medical scientists have been using flow cytometry to count cancer cells for the past 40 years. But the large instruments are expensive and can only be operated by trained personnel. By contrast the PoCyton cytometer developed by Fraunhofer researchers is cheap to produce, no bigger than a shoebox, and automated.

6 May 2015

Challenges involved in tracing the source of Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

Genetic research helps to explain why tracing the source of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that claimed four lives has proven to be more complicated than scientists hoped.

10 Apr 2015

FDA grants QIDP and Fast Track designation to Nabriva's lefamulin for treatment of CABP, ABSSSI

Nabriva Therapeutics AG, a biotechnology company focused on developing pleuromutilins, a new class of antibiotics for the treatment of serious infections caused by resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens, announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration has granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) as well as Fast Track status designation to Nabriva's lead product lefamulin, for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).

8 Oct 2014

Virginia Tech professor wins Paul L. Busch Award for outstanding work in water quality research

Amy Pruden, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, is the 2014 recipient of the Paul L. Busch Award, including a $100,000 research grant.

1 Oct 2014

Pneumonia in COPD patients has distinct clinical features

The aetiology and clinical features of community-acquired pneumonia are different in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than in those without the lung condition, Spanish research demonstrates.

22 Sep 2014

Findings reveal new way to identify non-antibiotic drugs that could help curb bacterial infections

About 100 drugs already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for other purposes can also prevent the growth of certain bacterial pathogens inside human cells, including those that cause Legionnaires' disease, brucellosis, and Mediterranean spotted fever.

29 Jul 2014

UCB, Dermira enter into licensing agreement for development, commercialization of Cimzia

UCB, a global biopharmaceutical leader, and Dermira, Inc., a privately held US-based dermatology company, announced today that they have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for the development and future commercialization of Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) in dermatology.

3 Jul 2014

Legionnaires may be able to grow in windshield washer fluid

A form of bacteria responsible for respiratory illness, including the deadly pneumonia known as Legionnaire's disease, may be able to grow in windshield washer fluid and was isolated from nearly 75% of school buses tested in one district in Arizona, according to research presented today at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

19 May 2014

UCB announces results from PRECiSE clinical trial of Cimzia in patients with Crohn's disease

UCB announced today results from the PRECiSE 3 7-year open label extension clinical trial of Cimzia (certolizumab pegol), the longest continuous trial of an anti-TNF therapy evaluating long-term safety in Crohn's disease.

6 May 2014

Studies indicate that harvested rainwater frequently harbors pathogens

South Africa has been financing domestic rainwater harvesting tanks in informal low-income settlements and rural areas in five of that nation's nine provinces. But pathogens inhabit such harvested rainwater, potentially posing a public health hazard, especially for children and immunocompromised individuals, according to a team from the University of Stellenbosch.

27 Feb 2014

New technique detects bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease

The bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease remains difficult to track. French researchers have now developed a new technique that should allow living representatives of this dangerous pathogen to be detected much more quickly than with conventional methods. As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, samples are exposed to an azide-modified compound that the pathogen specifically incorporates into its shell, which is made of saccharide units. A fluorescent marker attached to the azide groups is used to identify the pathogen.

24 Jan 2014

Hot water contamination in hospital taps threatens patient safety

New research finds significantly higher levels of infectious pathogens in water from faucet taps with aerators compared to water from deeper in the plumbing system. Contaminated water poses an increased risk for infection in immunocompromised patients.

22 Jan 2014

Protein responsible for excretion of copper in body cells utilizes unique transport mechanism

We are fundamentally dependent on the presence of copper in the cells of the body. Copper is actually part of the body's energy conversion and protective mechanisms against oxygen radicals, as well as part of the immune system, and it also has great importance for the formation of e.g. hormones and neurotransmitters.

28 Dec 2013

New AquaLyse ionization technology prevents legionella and related disease outbreaks

With growing reports of Legionella and related Legionnaires' disease outbreaks in the USA, Canada and around the world, ProCare Water Treatment Inc. today announces its newest "AquaLyse® ICR-820" medical and commercial grade copper-silver ionization chamber cells.

11 Dec 2013

Probiotics may help keep bad germs at bay

Microbes are everywhere - thousands of species are in your mouth, and thousands are in a glass of tap water. The ones in your mouth are mostly harmless - as long as you brush and floss so they don't form a biofilm that allows gum disease a path into the blood stream.

4 Nov 2013

FDA approves Cimzia for treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis

UCB announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis.

18 Oct 2013

FDA approves Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for active psoriatic arthritis

UCB announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis.

30 Sep 2013

AOAC international certification validates Biótica's Legipid Legionella Fast Detection Test

The AOAC international certification has validated Biótica's MP4-Hunter. The system developed by the company settled at the Science Park in the Universitat Jaume I de Castellón (Spain) enables to perform up to 40 Legionella tests per analyst in an hour.

18 May 2013

Cempra demonstrates solithromycin's potential against urogenital infections at ECCMID

Cempra, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiated antibiotics to meet critical medical needs in the treatment of bacterial infections, today announced that it will present data at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Berlin, demonstrating solithromycin's potential to treat urogenital infections and combat challenging pathogens such as enterococci and Legionella pneumophila.

29 Apr 2013

New treatment options for influenza

The flu is caused by an infection with the influenza virus, which mainly attacks the upper respiratory tract - the nose, throat and bronchi and rarely also the lungs. According to the World Health Organization, around five to 15 percent of the population are affected by upper respiratory tract infections during seasonal flu outbreaks, and between 250 000-500 000 people die of the illness every year.