Pathogen News and Research

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AJMS journal provides research update on new infectious pathogens

Newly recognized disease-causing viruses, bacteria, and other infections are continually emerging around the world, posing difficult challenges for patient diagnosis and treatment and for public health responses. A special symposium section of the September issue of The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (AJMS), official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, provides a research update on important new infectious pathogens.

24 Sep 2010

Scientists develop humanized mouse model to study typhoid fever

Better treatments and prevention for typhoid fever may emerge from a laboratory model that has just been developed for the disease. The model is based on transplanting human immune stem cells from umbilical cord blood into mice that are susceptible to infections.

23 Sep 2010

Researchers to develop vaccine for plague

Given the many pressing concerns of the day, fear of plague probably isn't what causes most Americans to lose sleep. But for those whose responsibility it is to combat bioterrorism, plague is among the highest priorities. Those charged with that mission include scientists like medical researcher Steve Smiley, whose lab at the Trudeau Institute is working to develop a vaccine that will protect the public against weaponized forms of plague.

21 Sep 2010

Study suggests older people may not benefit from new tuberculosis vaccines

Elderly people might not benefit from some of the tuberculosis vaccines currently in development, recent research suggests.Some vaccines under study are designed to activate a specific molecule that is an early participant in the immune response against TB in young people. But a recent Ohio State University study suggests that in older people, this molecule remains relatively inactive, even in the face of TB infection.

21 Sep 2010

New anti-pathogenic drugs render MRSA harmless without killing bacteria

Menachem Shoham, PhD, associate professor and researcher in the department of biochemistry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has identified new anti-pathogenic drugs that, without killing the bacteria, render Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) harmless by preventing the production of toxins that cause disease.

17 Sep 2010

Advanced Life Sciences participates as exhibitor in 50th ICAAC

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, today participated in the 50th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

16 Sep 2010

Atox Bio doses first subject in AB103 Phase 1 study for severe bacterial infections and sepsis

Atox Bio Inc. today announced that it successfully completed the dosing of the first subject in its phase 1 clinical study of AB103, a novel therapy for the treatment of severe bacterial infections and sepsis.

15 Sep 2010

Arizona State University receives grant to protect warfighters from infectious diseases

Scientists at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have received a 2-year, $5.3 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to protect warfighters in the event of exposure to infectious diseases during deployment.

15 Sep 2010

Trius Therapeutics reports torezolid antibiotic resistance mechanism for MRSA strains

Trius Therapeutics, Inc. today reported new findings on torezolid phosphate (TR-701), a second generation oxazolidinone antibiotic now in Phase 3 clinical development. The data elucidate the mechanism by which torezolid retains full activity against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) carrying the cfr gene which confers resistance to first generation oxazolidinones such as linezolid, marketed by Pfizer as Zyvox.

14 Sep 2010

Scientists find low levels of bacteria in fields sprayed with swine manure

That swine manure sprayed on to fields adds valuable nutrients to the soil is well known. But what is not known is whether all that manure is bringing harmful bacteria with it.

13 Sep 2010

Myconostica presents data of MycAssay for Pneumocystis detection

Myconostica Ltd, the UK-based medical diagnostic company developing and commercialising rapid and highly specific tests for life-threatening fungal infections, today presented positive data from a multi-centre prospective evaluation of MycAssay Pneumocystis, the Company's CE marked diagnostic product for detection of Pneumocystis DNA in respiratory samples.

13 Sep 2010

Scientists discover sensor in dendritic cells that recognizes HIV

Dendritic cells are the grand sentinels of the immune system, standing guard 24/7 to detect foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, and bring news of the invasion to other immune cells to marshal an attack. These sentinels, however, nearly always fail to respond adequately to HIV, the virus causing AIDS. Now a team of scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center has discovered a sensor in dendritic cells that recognizes HIV, spurring a more potent immune response by the sentinels to the virus.

9 Sep 2010

miacom diagnostics presents rapid detection method for pneumonia causing pathogens

miacom diagnostics specializes on the development and production of medical tests for the detection of acute infectious diseases. In addition to its existing sepsis kits miacom, diagnostics is now presenting a further CE-marked product based on the same proprietary technology. It is targeted at the rapid detection of clinically most relevant pneumonia causing pathogens.

7 Sep 2010

Neutralizing key toxin associated with Staph aureus bacteria reduces severity of skin and soft-tissue damage

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health and University of Chicago have found a promising treatment method that in laboratory mice reduces the severity of skin and soft-tissue damage caused by USA300, the leading cause of community-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections in the United States.

2 Sep 2010

U-M researchers explore prevention measures, treatments for C. difficile infection

Clostridium difficile, a wily, familiar bacterium, causes a growing number of serious infections in U.S. hospitals and nursing homes. With a $7.5 million, five-year award from the National Institutes of Health, University of Michigan researchers plan to discover what factors in the microbe and in patients make C. difficile a formidable, costly problem.

27 Aug 2010

Pathogens can delay entry into cells to ensure their survival, say researchers

Pathogens make themselves feel at home in the human body, invading cells and living off the plentiful amenities on offer. However, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, together with colleagues at Harvard University, reveal an opposite strategy used to ensure infection success. Pathogens can actually delay their entry into cells to ensure their survival.

26 Aug 2010

EPA selects Precision Antibody to develop monoclonal antibodies for 'Crypto' intestinal parasite

Precision Antibody™ announced today its selection by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop monoclonal antibodies to two species of Cryptosporidium, an intestinal parasite that has emerged over the past 20 years as one of the most common causes of waterborne illness in the United States.

24 Aug 2010

Policies, practices concerning MRSA differ among acute-care hospitals in the U.S.: Researchers

Hospitals vary in how they detect and treat drug-resistant staph infections, but most follow national guideline recommendations, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

18 Aug 2010

Researchers discover sugars that fight body's natural defenses, vaccines

A special set of sugars found on some disease-causing pathogens helps those pathogens fight the body's natural defenses as well as vaccines, say two Iowa State University researchers.This discovery may be a first step in understanding a disease family that includes tuberculosis for which there are currently no good vaccines or cures.Nicola Pohl, professor of chemistry, and Christine Petersen, assistant professor of veterinary pathology, discovered that a natural coating of sugar interacts with the body's defense cells to dampen its own immune response.