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Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification test for human African trypanosomiasis

The Geneva-based not-for-profit foundation FIND and Japanese diagnostics company Eiken announced today that a next-generation molecular test designed specifically for sleeping sickness - a deadly parasitic disease also known as human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) - is ready to enter accelerated field trials in sites across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

16 Sep 2011

New research aims to control transmission of infectious diseases

New research aimed at controlling the transmission of diseases among humans, other animals and the environment is being made possible by grants from a collaboration among U.S. and U.K. funding agencies.

15 Sep 2011

“Contagion” movie entirely plausible

Hollywood's latest thriller “Contagion” seems to have captured the public’s interest with strong sales at the box office. In the movie tens of millions of people are wiped out by the rapid spread of a killer airborne disease. It's a scenario real-life experts say is entirely plausible.

14 Sep 2011

Positive data from NovaDigm's NDV-3 vaccine program to be presented at ICAAC conference

NovaDigm Therapeutics, a company developing innovative vaccines for fungal and bacterial infections, today announced that the Company will present positive data for its NDV-3 vaccine program at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), taking place September 17-20, 2011 in Chicago, IL.

13 Sep 2011

Duties, role of clinical laboratory microbiologists could change significantly in the future

With the increasing availability of sophisticated technologies to rapidly diagnose and treat infectious diseases, the duties and the role of clinical laboratory microbiologists, who traditionally perform these tests, could see significant changes in the next few years. That is one of the conclusions of a series of reports published in a special supplement to the September 2011 Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

9 Sep 2011

HJF selects three promising USU doctoral students to receive 2011-12 fellowships

The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. has selected three promising Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) doctoral students to receive fellowships for the 2011-12 academic year.

9 Sep 2011

CHEMIE.DE now offers unparalleled access to scientific data

With its new search facility and directories of scientific publications from numerous journals in chemistry, pharma, life science and related disciplines, CHEMIE.DE Information Service GmbH now offers unparalleled access to scientific data, providing convenient filtering options for a unique search experience.

6 Sep 2011

IKEPLUS immunization completely eliminates TB bacteria from infected tissues

A potential vaccine against tuberculosis has been found to completely eliminate tuberculosis bacteria from infected tissues in some mice. The vaccine was created with a strain of bacteria that, due to the absence of a few genes, are unable to avoid its host's first-line immune response.

5 Sep 2011

Freiburg researchers receive European Research Council Starting Grants

Marta Artal Sanz, Thomas Brox, Winfried Römer, and Oliver Schilling from the University of Freiburg have been selected for one of the most prestigious European grants for young researchers: The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded them a total of 5.8 million euros in ERC Starting Grants for new projects.

2 Sep 2011

Hospitalized children with colonized with MRSA more likely to develop full-blown infections

A Johns Hopkins Children's Center study of more than 3,000 hospitalized children shows that those colonized but not sick with the antibiotic-resistant bacterium MRSA are at considerable risk for developing full-blown infections.

31 Aug 2011

Genetic analysis of medieval plague skeletons proves the presence of y. pestis bacteria

Genetic analysis of medieval plague skeletons proves the presence of yersinia pestis bacteria. Collaboration between the University of Tübingen and Canadian scientists proves today's plague pathogen has been around at least 600 years.

30 Aug 2011

Protein that allows Ebola virus to attack cells discovered

A U.S. research team has discovered a protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), which they found was responsible for allowing Ebola virus to enter and replicate within cells.

26 Aug 2011

Researchers trace source of latest cholera pandemic

Researchers have used next generation sequencing to trace the source and explain the spread of the latest (seventh) cholera pandemic. They have also highlighted the impact of the acquisition of resistance to antibiotics on shaping outbreaks and show resistance was first acquired around 1982.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers discover NPC1 protein as crucial for Ebola virus to enter host cells

Although outbreaks are rare, Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is one of the deadliest known viruses affecting humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1,850 EHF cases with more than 1,200 deaths have been documented since the virus was identified in 1976.

25 Aug 2011

Bacteria tweak their genes and proteins to gain strength

Scientists have discovered that bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella have a sneaky way of making minor alterations to their genes to boost their chances for infection.

24 Aug 2011

DTU, TGen researchers pinpoint source of cholera outbreak in Haiti

Employing technology that reads the entire DNA code, researchers led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have pinpointed the source of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed more than 6,000 people and sickened 300,000.

24 Aug 2011

Should we be screening blood for hepatisi G?

Hepatitis G virus was identified in 1995. Some little research was carried out on the virus and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared it a non-harmful virus in 1997. Researchers in Saudi Arabia, writing in the International Journal of Immunological Studies present evidence to suggest that this may have been the wrong decision.

22 Aug 2011