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Implementing harm reduction interventions among PWID to prevent HIV epidemic in Colombia

In the early 1990s, drug production in Colombia diversified to include heroin as well as cocaine, and since then the country's role in the heroin trade has substantially increased. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Colombia produced approximately 70 to 100 metric tons of heroin between 1998 and 2004. Studies have found an increase in local heroin use since the mid-1990s. This is a strong cause for concern, given the potential for HIV to spread through networks of injection drug users and disseminate to the general public.

15 Feb 2016

Shift from huts to cities has dramatically changed human exposure to certain microbes

The shift from living in jungle huts to cities has dramatically changed human exposure to certain microbes, which could have implications for healthy immune function, according to a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published online Feb. 12, 2016 in Science Advances.

15 Feb 2016

Australian researchers identify genetic map of human parasitic scabies mite

Australian researchers have used cutting-edge genome technologies to reveal the genetic makeup of a widespread skin parasite causing serious health problems in Aboriginal communities.

15 Feb 2016

New experimental method could help detect Lyme disease at the earliest time of infection

When it comes to early diagnosis of Lyme disease, the insidious tick-borne illness that afflicts about 300,000 Americans annually, finding the proverbial needle in the haystack might be a far easier challenge--until now, perhaps. An experimental method developed by federal and university researchers appears capable of detecting the stealthy culprit Lyme bacteria at the earliest time of infection, when currently available tests are often still negative.

15 Feb 2016

Protein Sciences, UNIGEN agree to supply Flublok influenza vaccine for the U.S. market from Japan

Protein Sciences Corporation (Meriden, CT and Pearl River, NY) and UMN Pharma Inc. (Akita, Akita prefecture, Japan) announced today that Protein Sciences and UNIGEN Inc., a joint venture of UMN and IHI Corporation (Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan), entered into an agreement to source bulk Flublok influenza vaccine from Japan for the U.S. market.

12 Feb 2016

Distinctive gene 'signature' may lead to new way to diagnose Lyme disease

Researchers at UC San Francisco and Johns Hopkins may have found a new way to diagnose Lyme disease, based on a distinctive gene "signature" they discovered in white blood cells of patients infected with the tick-borne bacteria.

12 Feb 2016

Mechanistic understanding of sneezing can help map spread of infections

Here's some incentive to cover your mouth the next time you sneeze: New high-speed videos captured by MIT researchers show that as a person sneezes, they launch a sheet of fluid that balloons, then breaks apart in long filaments that destabilize, and finally disperses as a spray of droplets, similar to paint that is flung through the air.

12 Feb 2016

Humans can tolerate parasites responsible for sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis

Humans can tolerate the parasites responsible for the sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis for many years.

12 Feb 2016

Researchers find new way to increase patients’ recruitment, retention in clinical trials

By seeking the advice of patients, families and other stakeholders in designing a clinical trial investigating pediatric appendicitis, researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital found a way to significantly increase the number of people recruited and retained in the trial.

12 Feb 2016

Tick genome study sheds light on occurrences of Lyme disease

After a decade-long research effort the genome of the deer tick has been sequenced by an international team of scientists, including researchers from the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.

12 Feb 2016

Leading global health bodies share data related to Zika crisis

Leading global health bodies including academic journals, NGOs, research funders and institutes, have committed to sharing data and results relevant to the current Zika crisis and future public health emergencies as rapidly and openly as possible.

12 Feb 2016

Leeds scientists to start computer drug research to find cure for Ebola virus

Scientists at the University of Leeds will run the equivalent of password cracking software to find the chemical keys to defeating the Ebola virus.

11 Feb 2016

Zika: an update

Since the Zika outbreak in Brazil early last year, the virus has spread to 20 countries across the Americas. As of February 3rd, 35 cases of Zika have been reported in the U.S., all of which have been associated with international travel.

11 Feb 2016

UW-Madison research team starts work on Zika virus infection

In October, when David O'Connor last visited Brazil as part of a decade-long research program studying drug-resistant strains of HIV, one of his Brazilian collaborators had a request.

11 Feb 2016

Zika virus can have substantial economic impact in Americas

"Zika virus isn't going anywhere," says Frank Esper, MD, infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. "If it's anything near what happened with SARS or with Ebola, people are going to be very hesitant to travel to those areas.

11 Feb 2016

First case of Zika virus found in Ohio

"This is not unexpected," says Frank Esper, MD, infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, after learning of the first case of Zika virus in Ohio, found in a Cleveland woman who traveled to Haiti. "We know people are going to come back and they're going to have the Zika virus."

11 Feb 2016

Vinegar could help fight ulcerative colitis

Vinegar is the perfect ingredient for making tangy sauces and dressings. Now, researchers report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that the popular liquid could also help fight ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that research suggests is related to the gut microbiome.

11 Feb 2016

Johns Hopkins becomes first center in the U.S. to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants

Johns Hopkins recently received approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing to be the first hospital in the U.S. to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants. The institution will be the first in the nation to do an HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant and the first in the world to execute an HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant.

11 Feb 2016

Five researchers named winners of 2016 Elsevier Foundation Awards

Five researchers have been named winners of the 2016 Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World, in recognition of research that has strong potential health and economic benefits.

10 Feb 2016

Cranberry capsules more effective in lowering UTI risk than juice

A UTI is an infection in any part of the urinary system, kidneys, bladder or urethra. They are more common in women and affect more than 3 million Americans per year. Many in the population will turn to sipping on a cranberry juice cocktail to alleviate their symptoms, but, according to a Texas A&M Health Science Center urologist, drinking cranberry juice to treat a UTI is little more than an old wives' tale.

10 Feb 2016