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Whitehead Institute scientists discover insidious nature of influenza virus

Revealing influenza's truly insidious nature, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered that the virus is able to infect its host by first killing off the cells of the immune system that are actually best equipped to neutralize the virus.

21 Oct 2013

Researchers identify C. perfringens type B bacteria believed to trigger multiple sclerosis

A research team from Weill Cornell Medical College and The Rockefeller University has identified a bacterium it believes may trigger multiple sclerosis, a chronic, debilitating disorder that damages myelin forming cells in the brain and spinal cord.

18 Oct 2013

Research findings point the way to new class of antibiotics for skin and heart infections

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a new mechanism by which the deadly Staphylococcus aureus bacteria attack and kill off immune cells. Their findings, published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, explain a critical survival tactic of a pathogen that causes more skin and heart infections than any other microbe, and kills more than 100,000 Americans every year.

17 Oct 2013

New type of antibiotic kills multidrug-resistant germ common to health care settings

A new type of antibiotic called a PPMO, which works by blocking genes essential for bacterial reproduction, successfully killed a multidrug-resistant germ common to health care settings, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

16 Oct 2013

Researchers develop potential new tool for speedier detection of food pathogens

Researchers have developed a system that concentrates foodborne salmonella and other pathogens faster than conventional methods by using hollow thread-like fibers that filter out the cells, representing a potential new tool for speedier detection.

16 Oct 2013

Researchers re-invented class of popular antimicrobial drugs by altering their chemical structures

By tinkering with their chemical structures, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have essentially re-invented a class of popular antimicrobial drugs, restoring and in some cases, expanding or improving, their effectiveness against drug-resistant pathogens in animal models.

8 Oct 2013

Parasites in patients who relapse after leishmaniasis treatment may have greater infectivity

Relapses after treatment for Leishmania infection may be due to a greater infectivity of the parasite rather than drug resistance, as has been previously thought, according to a study published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

8 Oct 2013

Modern strains of MRSA have become broadly resistant to antibiotics: Study

University of Notre Dame researchers Shahriar Mobashery and Mayland Chang and their collaborators in Spain have published research results this week that show how methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) regulates the critical crosslinking of its cell wall in the face of beta-lactam antibiotics.

5 Oct 2013

Moderna Therapeutics Scores Up To $25M DARPA Grant

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2 Oct 2013

Researchers develop new approach to combat tubercle bacillus

A new approach to combating the tubercle bacillus, the microorganism that kills some 1.5 million people in the world each year, has been developed by a French-British team including scientists from CNRS, Inserm, the Institut Curie and Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier.

2 Oct 2013

Virginia Tech faculty receives NIH New Innovator Award to research on influenza transmission

Influenza strikes five to 15 percent of the population and is estimated to cost the U.S. economy a hefty $90 million per year. If researchers can improve the understanding of how environmental conditions affect the ability of the influenza virus to survive and infect others while it is airborne, they may be able to help improve prediction and control of its spread.

1 Oct 2013

MD Anderson-developed aerosol triggers innate immunity to squelch infections

Research on an aerosol that jump-starts a rapid immune response to stifle viral respiratory infections before they can provoke asthma attacks has earned major funding from the National Institutes of Health.

1 Oct 2013

New animal model may help study immune responses to H. pylori infection

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have developed a new large animal model to study how the immune system interacts with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the leading cause of peptic ulcer disease.

26 Sep 2013

Study shows how deadly Candida albicans might be rendered harmless

Candida albicans is a double agent: In most of us, it lives peacefully, but for people whose immune systems are compromised by HIV or other severe illnesses, it is frequently deadly. Now a new study from Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical School shows how targeting a specific fungal component might turn the fungus from a lion back into a kitten.

25 Sep 2013

New blood test accurately differentiates viral and bacterial infections

A blood test developed by researchers at Duke Medicine showed more than 90-percent accuracy in distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections when tested in people with respiratory illnesses.

19 Sep 2013

Scientists develop experimental vaccine against human CMV infection

An experimental vaccine against human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, which endangers the developing fetus, organ transplant recipients, patients with HIV and others who have a weakened immune system, proved safe and more effective than previous vaccines developed to prevent infection by the ubiquitous virus.

19 Sep 2013

Researchers identify starting points for preventing diarrheal disease outbreaks in remote Africa

Using a simple survey tool, a team of researchers has done what complex studies have failed to do -- provide data that identifies starting points for preventing diarrheal disease outbreaks in at least one region of Africa.

18 Sep 2013

Microbiologist finds breakthrough herbal medicine treatment for common human fungal pathogen

A Kansas State University microbiologist has found a breakthrough herbal medicine treatment for a common human fungal pathogen that lives in almost 80 percent of people.

13 Sep 2013

Scientists discover that copper alloys shut down highly infectious norovirus

Scientists from the University of Southampton have discovered that copper and copper alloys rapidly destroy norovirus - the highly-infectious sickness bug.

12 Sep 2013

New technology to diagnose influenza quickly

A new technology is showing promise as the basis for a much-needed home test to diagnose influenza quickly, before the window for taking antiviral drugs slams shut and sick people spread the virus to others, scientists reported here today. In a presentation at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), they described how it also could determine the specific strain of flu virus and help select the most effective drug for treatment.

10 Sep 2013