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Gilead Sciences gets FDA approval for once-daily single tablet HIV-1 regimen Complera

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the single tablet HIV-1 regimen Complera (emtricitabine/rilpivirine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for use in certain virologically-suppressed (HIV RNA <50 copies/mL) adult patients on a stable antiretroviral regimen in order to replace their current antiretroviral treatment regimen. Complera was first approved in 2011 for patients new to therapy and is now one of the most widely-prescribed HIV regimens in the United States.

13 Dec 2013

Climate change may lead to decline in snail fever

The dangerous parasite Schistosoma mansoni that causes snail fever in humans could become significantly less common in the future a new international study led by researchers from the University of Copenhagen predicts. The results are surprising because they contradict the general assumption that climate change leads to greater geographical spread of diseases. The explanation is that the parasite's host snails stand to lose suitable habitat due to climate change.

13 Dec 2013

Moberg announces positive results from phase ll study of MOB-015 for treatment of nail fungus

Moberg Pharma AB today announced positive interim results from its ongoing phase ll study of MOB-015. After six months of treatment with MOB-015, 40 per cent of the patients were mycologically cured and no safety concerns were identified.

13 Dec 2013

JHI released epic3 guidelines on infection prevention and control for range of healthcare professionals

The Journal of Hospital Infection (JHI) has just released the awaited epic3 guidelines on infection prevention and control for a range of healthcare professionals. They are freely available online on ScienceDirect and on the journal's website.

13 Dec 2013

Vaccines for whooping cough contain 3 to 5 protective antigens

Vaccines for whooping cough contain three to five protective antigens, the presence of which are critical to the vaccine's effectiveness. But one of the antigens, pertactin, which had been present in almost all isolates of Bordetella pertussis in the US as late as 2010, is now absent from more than half of them, according to a paper published ahead of print in Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

13 Dec 2013

WHO hands over management of world's largest public collection of TB strains to ITM in Antwerp

The World Health Organisation handed over the management of the world's largest public collection of tuberculosis strains to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. These TB-strains play a key role in supporting scientific research into infectious diseases, particularly towards a better understanding of the TB bacterium's drug resistance.

13 Dec 2013

UCSF receives $15M grant to help three dozen countries eliminate malaria

UC San Francisco's Global Health Group has received a $15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a pioneering effort to help nearly three dozen countries eliminate malaria within their borders.

13 Dec 2013

Research: Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease might be transmitted by blood transfusion

Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare but fatal disease in humans. For the first time, the presence of infectivity[1] in the blood of patients affected by sporadic and the new variant of CJD was established by scientists from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the French National Veterinary School (ENVT), in collaboration with European partners.

12 Dec 2013

New strategy for fighting infection targets patient's cells rather than invading pathogens

As more reports appear of a grim "post-antibiotic era" ushered in by the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, a new strategy for fighting infection is emerging that targets a patient's cells rather than those of the invading pathogens.

12 Dec 2013

Wolfberries appear to interact with vaccine to offer protection against flu virus in older mice

In a study of older mice, wolfberries appear to interact with the influenza vaccine to offer additional protection against the flu virus. The research, led by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, suggests the wolfberry may increase the activity of dendritic cells, which play an important role in the ability of the immune system to defend against viral infections.

12 Dec 2013

Understanding long-term clinical stability in hemophilia patients living with HIV

People with the genetic blood clotting disorder hemophilia who have been infected with HIV for decades have an increased proportion of immune cells in their blood that specifically target HIV. This protective immune response helps chronically infected hemophilia patients survive, even during periods of HIV activity, according to a study published in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

12 Dec 2013

New assay allows rapid and sensitive detection of Chlamydia trachomatis

Researchers have developed a new assay for rapid and sensitive detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in humans.

12 Dec 2013

Medivir initiates phase IIa trial to evaluate efficacy of simeprevir combination therapy in HCV-infected patients

Medivir AB (STO:MVIR-B) (OMX: MVIR), announces the initiation of a phase IIa trial in chronic genotype 1 hepatitis C infected patients to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a 12-week combination therapy of simeprevir, TMC647055 and JNJ56914845, a NS5A replication complex inhibitor.

12 Dec 2013

New drug-resistant strain of bird flu appears to retain ability to cause serious disease in humans

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported that a virulent new strain of influenza - the virus that causes the flu - appears to retain its ability to cause serious disease in humans even after it develops resistance to antiviral medications. The finding was included in a study that was published today in the journal Nature Communications.

12 Dec 2013

GSK's FluLaval Quadrivalent vaccine effective in reducing flu cases in children

GlaxoSmithKline plc announced today that a peer-reviewed study issued online by the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that GSK's FluLaval® Quadrivalent reduced flu cases among children ages 3-8 by 55.4% overall and lowered the risk of developing moderate-to-serious flu illness by 73.1%.

12 Dec 2013

Probe mimics pathogen's amino acids, solving mystery behind Chlamydiae cell wall

Biochemical sleuthing by an Indiana University graduate student has ended a nearly 50-year-old search to find a megamolecule in bacterial cell walls commonly used as a target for antibiotics, but whose presence had never been identified in the bacterium responsible for the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease in the United States.

12 Dec 2013

Study resolves 50-year 'chlamydial anomaly' using novel method

Researchers studying Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria, which cause the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia as well as infectious blindness, have confirmed that the bacteria contain-and, in fact, cannot function without-the common molecule peptidoglycan, a structural component found in the cell wall of many bacteria. This finding puts an end to years of uncertainty about whether Chlamydia bacteria, like almost all bacterial species, rely on peptidoglycan to reproduce and to maintain their shape and structure. In addition, the novel method the investigators used may be adapted to further examine the molecule's role in the structure and function of other bacteria.

12 Dec 2013

Scientists use new method to map response of every salmonella gene to conditions in human body

Scientists have used a new method to map the response of every salmonella gene to conditions in the human body, providing new insight into how the bacteria triggers infection.

12 Dec 2013

Women with HER2+ breast tumors who receive combination therapy unlikely to have cancer recur

In a new study, women with relatively small, HER2-positive breast tumors who received a combination of lower-intensity chemotherapy and a targeted therapy following surgery or radiation therapy were very unlikely to have the cancer recur within a few years of treatment, investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other research centers will report at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

12 Dec 2013

HIV stigma: an interview with Dr. Vargas-Jackson, M.D. Howard University Hospital

Stigma has been defined as a social opportunistic disease that attaches to many illnesses and increases morbidity and mortality rates. Stigma is the shame or disgrace attached to illnesses and diseases regarded as socially unacceptable.

11 Dec 2013

Disease/Infection News

Gilead Sciences gets FDA approval for once-daily single tablet HIV-1 regimen Complera

Climate change may lead to decline in snail fever

Moberg announces positive results from phase ll study of MOB-015 for treatment of nail fungus

JHI released epic3 guidelines on infection prevention and control for range of healthcare professionals

Vaccines for whooping cough contain 3 to 5 protective antigens

WHO hands over management of world's largest public collection of TB strains to ITM in Antwerp

UCSF receives $15M grant to help three dozen countries eliminate malaria

Research: Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease might be transmitted by blood transfusion

New strategy for fighting infection targets patient's cells rather than invading pathogens

Wolfberries appear to interact with vaccine to offer protection against flu virus in older mice

Understanding long-term clinical stability in hemophilia patients living with HIV

New assay allows rapid and sensitive detection of Chlamydia trachomatis

Medivir initiates phase IIa trial to evaluate efficacy of simeprevir combination therapy in HCV-infected patients

New drug-resistant strain of bird flu appears to retain ability to cause serious disease in humans

GSK's FluLaval Quadrivalent vaccine effective in reducing flu cases in children

Probe mimics pathogen's amino acids, solving mystery behind Chlamydiae cell wall

Study resolves 50-year 'chlamydial anomaly' using novel method

Scientists use new method to map response of every salmonella gene to conditions in human body

Women with HER2+ breast tumors who receive combination therapy unlikely to have cancer recur

HIV stigma: an interview with Dr. Vargas-Jackson, M.D. Howard University Hospital

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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