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World TB Day: Aeras releases new animated video to help raise awareness about TB

Aeras, a non-profit biotechnology organization developing new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines for the world, is launching a new 90-second animated video in honor of World TB Day to help raise awareness about TB’s devastating toll and the need for new tools, including vaccines, to fight this epidemic.

22 Mar 2016

TGen scientists highlight advantages of using RNA-sequencing in precision medicine

Uncovering the genetic makeup of patients using DNA sequencing has in recent years provided physicians and their patients with a greater understanding of how best to diagnose and treat the diseases that plague humanity. This is the essence of precision medicine.

22 Mar 2016

Specialized gene editing system paves way to eventual cure for HIV patients

A specialized gene editing system designed by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University is paving the way to an eventual cure for patients infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

22 Mar 2016

Mycophenolate mofetil drug seems safe, effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis

New research indicates that mycophenolate mofetil, a drug that is usually used to prevent rejection after kidney, heart or liver transplant, seems safe and effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), a serious chronic liver disease that mainly affects women.

22 Mar 2016

Anthim (obiltoxaximab) injection approved for treatment of inhalational anthrax

On Friday, March 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Anthim (obiltoxaximab) injection to treat inhalational anthrax in combination with appropriate antibacterial drugs. Anthim is also approved to prevent inhalational anthrax when alternative therapies are not available or not appropriate.

21 Mar 2016

Researchers disprove previously assumed behavior of macrophage immune cells

What happens when macrophage immune cells are activated in the course of an inflammation to combat pathogens such as bacteria or viruses? Researchers of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine of the University of Luxembourg pursued this very question. The researchers discovered that the immune cells behave differently from what was previously assumed. Their metabolism upholds the production of antimicrobial substances and fatty acids during activation. In this way, they deliver important resources for the immune responses they trigger.

21 Mar 2016

Advanced genomic sequencing tracks deadly blood infection in cancer patients

The Translational Genomics Research Institute, working with international investigators, have discovered the source of a potential deadly blood infection in more than 50 South American cancer patients.

21 Mar 2016

Computer-assisted methods may help as decision support system to combat Zika virus

Global climate change, international travel, and ineffective vector control programs are aiding the emergence of infectious diseases globally. The currently expanding Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic is one such problem.

21 Mar 2016

WHO sends experts to monitor Zika virus in Cabo Verde

Responding to a request from the Ministry of Health in Cabo Verde, the World Health Organization is sending a team to Cabo Verde, with joint participation of experts from WHO AFRO and the Institut Pasteur, Dakar.

21 Mar 2016

Preventing blindness through portable eye examinations: an interview with Dr Mario Ettore Giardini

The number of blind people is high. In 2010, the World Health Organisation estimated that, throughout the world, approximately 39 million people are blind.

21 Mar 2016

Study assesses acceptability of alternative drug to prevent malaria among pregnant women in Kenya

Researchers at LSTM, working with colleagues at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention USA, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, have completed a study to assess the acceptability among pregnant women and health providers in Kenya of a new drug as an alternative to the standard drug used to prevent malaria in pregnancy.

21 Mar 2016

Researchers reveal link between necrotizing enterocolitis and uropathogenic E. coli

Necrotizing enterocolitis is an intestinal disease that afflicts about one in 10 extremely premature infants and is fatal in nearly one-third of cases. The premature infant gut is believed to react to colonizing bacteria, causing damage to the intestinal walls and severe infection.

21 Mar 2016

New ultra-sensitive technique shows promise as diagnostic tool for cancers, HIV

A common theme in medicine is that detecting a disease early on can lead to more effective treatments. This relies partly on luck that the patient gets screened at the right time, but more important is that the testing techniques are sensitive enough to register the minuscule hints that diseases leave in the blood stream.

21 Mar 2016

Simple TB screening and isoniazid can be effective for HIV patients at risk for TB

The number one killer of HIV patients in resource-limited areas, including parts of Africa and India, is tuberculosis (TB), underscoring the need for optimal treatments and effective strategies to address this deadly co-infection. But TB is harder to detect in HIV-infected patients and diagnostic test results take time, so many healthcare providers prescribe multi-drug TB treatments as a precaution.

20 Mar 2016

UCMR researchers discover compounds that can attenuate virulence of Listeria monocytogenes

Scientists at Umea Centre for Microbial Research have discovered chemical compounds which are able to attenuate the virulence of the bacterial human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Their findings are published today in the high impact journal Cell Chemical Biology.

19 Mar 2016

Findings could be final puzzle piece in developing effective dengue vaccine

In a small clinical trial led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers say that a promising single-dose dengue vaccine, developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health, was 100 percent effective in preventing human volunteers from contracting the virus, the most prevalent mosquito-borne virus in the world.

18 Mar 2016

Clinical study finds no added benefit of using four TB drugs to save people with advanced HIV/AIDS

In a report on the so-called REMEMBER (Reducing Early Mortality and Early Morbidity by Empiric Tuberculosis Treatment) study -- a 10-nation, randomized clinical trial of adult outpatients -- investigators concluded that there was no added benefit of using four drugs for TB over just using one drug, isoniazid, to save lives in people with advanced HIV/AIDS.

18 Mar 2016

PneumaCare receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Thora-3DI imaging device

PneumaCare Ltd (Cambridge, UK) announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for its Thora-3DI imaging device.

17 Mar 2016

Automated techniques could dramatically accelerate antimicrobial discovery

The antimicrobial arsenal that we count on to save millions of lives each year is alarmingly thin--and these microbes are rapidly evolving resistance to our weapons. But help may be on the way: In a study posted in the AMB Express, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology show that automated techniques commonly used to screen new drugs for mammalian cell toxicity could also dramatically speed up the challenging task of antimicrobial discovery.

17 Mar 2016

Study: Statin drugs can reduce time to clear tuberculosis infection in mice

In a study using mice, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine infectious disease experts have added to evidence that statin drugs — known primarily for their cholesterol-lowering effects — can significantly reduce the time it takes to clear tuberculosis infection.

17 Mar 2016

Disease/Infection News

World TB Day: Aeras releases new animated video to help raise awareness about TB

TGen scientists highlight advantages of using RNA-sequencing in precision medicine

Specialized gene editing system paves way to eventual cure for HIV patients

Mycophenolate mofetil drug seems safe, effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis

Anthim (obiltoxaximab) injection approved for treatment of inhalational anthrax

Researchers disprove previously assumed behavior of macrophage immune cells

Advanced genomic sequencing tracks deadly blood infection in cancer patients

Computer-assisted methods may help as decision support system to combat Zika virus

WHO sends experts to monitor Zika virus in Cabo Verde

Preventing blindness through portable eye examinations: an interview with Dr Mario Ettore Giardini

Study assesses acceptability of alternative drug to prevent malaria among pregnant women in Kenya

Researchers reveal link between necrotizing enterocolitis and uropathogenic E. coli

New ultra-sensitive technique shows promise as diagnostic tool for cancers, HIV

Simple TB screening and isoniazid can be effective for HIV patients at risk for TB

UCMR researchers discover compounds that can attenuate virulence of Listeria monocytogenes

Findings could be final puzzle piece in developing effective dengue vaccine

Clinical study finds no added benefit of using four TB drugs to save people with advanced HIV/AIDS

PneumaCare receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Thora-3DI imaging device

Automated techniques could dramatically accelerate antimicrobial discovery

Study: Statin drugs can reduce time to clear tuberculosis infection in mice

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

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