Disease/Infection News

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Bonn scientists identify immune factor partially responsible for chronic viral infection

Many viral diseases tend to become chronic - including infections with the HI virus. In persons affected, the immune response is not sufficient to eliminate the virus permanently.

8 Mar 2016

Researchers discover how E. coli bacteria adhere to urinary tract

Almost every second woman suffers from a bladder infection at some point in her life. Also men are affected by cystitis, though less frequently. In eighty percent of the cases, it is caused by the intestinal bacterium E. coli.

8 Mar 2016

NIHR HPRU announces new round of funding to support Zika virus research

A round of funding to support research on the emerging Zika virus was announced this week by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at the University of Liverpool.

8 Mar 2016

Newly developed app could help combat food poisoning

It's happened to many of us. We eat at a restaurant with less than ideal hygiene and come down with a nasty case of food poisoning.

8 Mar 2016

Bacteria develops multi-drug tolerance with daily antibiotic doses, reveal KU Leuven researchers

Antibiotics do not easily eradicate the gut bacteria Escherichia coli, as some bacteria survive treatment in a dormant state. Once treatment is stopped, these dormant cells can become active again and recolonize the body.

8 Mar 2016

Zika virus can cause a range of abnormalities in pregnant women, study finds

New research presents strong evidence that the Zika virus can indeed cause a range of abnormalities in pregnant women infected with the virus -- with the effects manifesting any time during pregnancy. Some of the abnormalities noted have not been reported in connection with the virus.

7 Mar 2016

Woman's Condom prequalified by WHO/UNFPA

The Woman's Condom, a new female condom designed to be easy to use and more acceptable to women and their partners, has been prequalified by the World Health Organization/United Nations Population Fund. The approval marks a critical step forward in expanding options for female-initiated dual protection from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.

7 Mar 2016

First atomic-scale view of interaction between HIV capsid and host protein cyclophilin A

A new study offers the first atomic-scale view of an interaction between the HIV capsid - the protein coat that shepherds HIV into the nucleus of human cells - and a host protein known as cyclophilin A. This interaction is key to HIV infection, researchers say.

7 Mar 2016

Inherited gene after black plague may help treat HIV patients co-infected with hepatitis C

The Black Death swept Europe in the 14th century eliminating up to half of the population but it left genetic clues that now may aid a University of Cincinnati researcher in treating HIV patients co-infected with hepatitis C using an anti-retroviral drug therapy.

7 Mar 2016

Researchers identify how Zika virus may cause microcephaly in fetuses

Working with lab-grown human stem cells, a team of researchers suspect they have discovered how the Zika virus probably causes microcephaly in fetuses. The virus selectively infects cells that form the brain's cortex, or outer layer, making them more likely to die and less likely to divide normally and make new brain cells.

7 Mar 2016

FSU researchers make major breakthrough in Zika virus research

Florida State University researchers have made a major breakthrough in the quest to learn whether the Zika virus is linked to birth defects with the discovery that the virus is directly targeting brain development cells and stunting their growth.

7 Mar 2016

Antibiotic resistance: A serious threat to human health

The World Health Organization has identified antibiotic resistance as a serious threat to human health across the world. The Journal of Environmental Quality recently published a special section titled "Antibiotics in Agroecosystems" to address the science of this important topic.

4 Mar 2016

Study on DNA scrunching may aid in developing new antimicrobial medicines

A research collaboration that combines novel "big-data" informatics tools with expertise in basic biology has uncovered details of an essential process in life: how a crucial enzyme locates the site on DNA where it begins to direct the synthesis of RNA. This finding may aid in the discovery of new antimicrobial medicines, and the powerful technological approaches developed for this research may shed light on other essential cellular processes.

4 Mar 2016

Study highlights new approach to produce coral snake antivenom from synthetically designed DNA

Coral snake venom carries significant neurotoxicity and human injuries can be severe or even lethal. Despite this, antivenom treatments are scarce due to challenges collecting adequate amounts of venom needed to produce anti-elapidic serum. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases highlights exciting new research from the Butantan Institute in Brazil using synthetically designed DNA to produce coral-snake antivenom.

4 Mar 2016

Scientists track rare potent antibodies in HIV-infected individual

One of the most crucial and elusive goals of an effective HIV vaccine is to stimulate antibodies that can attack the virus even as it relentlessly mutates.

4 Mar 2016

Women need antiviral medication Truvada more than men to prevent HIV infection

Women need daily doses of the antiviral medication Truvada to prevent HIV infection while men only need two doses per week due to the way the drug accumulates in different body tissues, according to a new study from pharmacy researchers the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

4 Mar 2016

Google gives UNICEF $1 million to help fight Zika

Google is providing UNICEF with a $1 million grant to support the charity’s efforts to combat the Zika virus.

3 Mar 2016

Unlocking H5N1 virus replication: an interview with Martin Blackledge

We were able to show that one small domain of the polymerase, the part that is essential for entry of a piece of the polymerase into the cell nucleus, changes its conformation to allow it to interact with the transporter protein than takes it into the nucleus.

3 Mar 2016

State laws increase vaccination rates among health care workers

State laws mandating influenza immunization for people who work in health care increase their vaccination rates, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

3 Mar 2016

Preoperative hip and knee injections may increase risk for infection

Injections received in the months prior to total knee (TKR) or total hip replacement (THR) surgery may increase the risk for infection and related complications, according to two studies--among the largest conducted on this topic--presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

3 Mar 2016