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Danish researchers working on new type of vaccine that targets disease causing bacterium

When we acquire diarrhea on a vacation, it is often caused by a bacterial infection. Now a Danish research team is working on a new type of vaccine design targeting the disease causing bacterium - if it works it may very well revolutionize not only the prevention of this disease, but also offer protection against other pathogens with a heavy disease burden such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

12 Dec 2014

Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

Growing resistance to malaria drugs in Southeast Asia is caused by a single mutated gene inside the disease-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite, according to a study led by David Fidock, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology and of medical sciences (in medicine) at Columbia University Medical Center.

12 Dec 2014

Study examines benefits of IS technique in assessing effect of pollution on urban asthmatic children

For the firefighters and rescue workers conducting the rescue and cleanup operations at Ground Zero from September 2001 to May 2002, exposure to hazardous airborne particles led to a disturbing "WTC cough" -- obstructed airways and inflammatory bronchial hyperactivity -- and acute inflammation of the lungs. At the time, bronchoscopy, the insertion of a fiber optic bronchoscope into the lung, was the only way to obtain lung samples. But this method is highly invasive and impractical for screening large populations.

11 Dec 2014

KU, WHO researchers partner to develop case studies to better understand new cases of Ebola

In the midst of the chaos that is the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, a small group of University of Kansas researchers is quietly partnering with their colleagues in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Regional Office. Together, they are developing case studies to help understand what has worked in those areas of Liberia where the spread of Ebola Virus Disease has waned.

11 Dec 2014

Pitt researcher receives NSF grant to explore how long Ebola virus survives in environment

The Ebola virus travels from person to person through direct contact with infected body fluids. But how long can the virus survive on glass surfaces or countertops? How long can it live in wastewater when liquid wastes from a patient end up in the sewage system? In an article published Dec. 9 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, Kyle Bibby of the University of Pittsburgh reviews the latest research to find answers to these questions.

11 Dec 2014

Scientists report new family of selective molecules to combat causal agent of malaria

Malaria is one of the most serious health problems worldwide, registering 200 million clinical cases and more than 600,000 attributable deaths per year, according to information from the World Health Organization in 2013. Given the emerging resistance to the standard treatment most widely used throughout the world, which is based on artemisinin and its analogs, there is a need for new antimalarial compounds.

11 Dec 2014

UT Southwestern microbiologists identify key gut bacteria that promotes foodborne infections

UT Southwestern Medical Center microbiologists have identified key bacteria in the gut whose resources are hijacked to spread harmful foodborne E. coli infections and other intestinal illnesses.

11 Dec 2014

Research finding could lead to development of effective vaccines against microbial infections

The diverse functions of a special cell-recognition lipoprotein, LOX-1, weren't always fully understood. However, Baylor Research Institute investigators gained better insight into LOX-1's role in immune responses through a study recently published in Immunity. Investigators found that the lipoprotein promotes humoral responses, which could allow researchers to design effective vaccines against microbial infections, including influenza viruses and HIV.

11 Dec 2014

New study investigates Ebola protein

A new study by Robert Stahelin, an adjunct associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame and an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, as well as a member of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health, investigates how the most abundant protein that composes the Ebola virus, VP 40, mediates replication of a new viral particle.

11 Dec 2014

Potential new active substances for treating dengue virus

Researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg are proposing potential new active substances for treating the dengue virus. Just like Ebola, dengue fever is also caused by a virus for which there is currently no cure and no vaccine and can be fatal.

11 Dec 2014

Added benefit of daclatasvir drug not proven for chronic hepatitis C infection

The drug daclatasvir (trade name Daklinza) has been available since August 2014 for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care examined in a dossier assessment whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy.

11 Dec 2014

Simple tips to keep families safe from flu

The flu, or seasonal influenza virus, is extremely unpredictable. Its severity can vary widely from one season to the next depending on many things, including the strains of flu spreading, availability of vaccines, how many people get vaccinated and how well the flu vaccine is matched to the flu viruses circulating each season.

10 Dec 2014

Treatment guidelines lacking for Ebola patients, say infectious diseases experts

As the Ebola Virus Diseases (EVD) epidemic continues to rage in West Africa, infectious diseases experts call attention to the striking lack of treatment guidelines. With over 16,000 total cases and more than 500 new infections reported per week, and probable underreporting of both cases and fatalities, the medical community still does not have specific approved treatment in place for Ebola, according to an editorial published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

10 Dec 2014

Bayer, DNDi sign first agreement to develop new oral treatment for onchocerciasis

Bayer HealthCare and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) have signed an agreement under which Bayer will provide the active ingredient emodepside to support DNDi in its effort to develop a new oral drug to treat river blindness (or onchocerciasis). The world's second leading infectious cause of blindness, river blindness is a neglected tropical disease caused by a filarial worm.

10 Dec 2014

Advances in fight against TB, sudden cardiac death

Research projects into two of the biggest killers in worldwide health, tuberculosis and sudden cardiac death, will be the subjects of the University of Leicester Graduate School Doctoral Inaugural Lectures, delivered by two of the winners of this year's PhD prizes in the College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Engineering.

10 Dec 2014

Study: Simeprevir-based therapy proves effective in treating chronic HCV infection

Researchers at Penn Medicine, in collaboration with a multi-center international team, have shown that a protease inhibitor, simeprevir, a once a day pill, along with interferon and ribavirin has proven as effective in treating chronic Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) as telaprevir with interferon and ribavirin, the standard of care in developing countries.

10 Dec 2014

Immunizing school-aged children from flu can protect others as well

Mathematical models predicted it, and now a University of Florida study confirms it: Immunizing school-aged children from flu can protect other segments of the population, as well.

10 Dec 2014

Drug proves effective at inhibiting growth of drug-resistant bacteria

A treatment pioneered at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research is far more effective than traditional antibiotics at inhibiting the growth of drug-resistant bacteria, including so-called "superbugs" resistant to almost all existing antibiotics, which plague hospitals and nursing homes.

10 Dec 2014

Bed nets alone are enough to protect against malaria, study suggests

The combined use of spraying insecticide inside homes and insecticide-treated bed nets is no better at protecting children against malaria than using bed nets alone, a study in The Gambia suggests. The findings, published in The Lancet, should encourage donors to invest their limited resources in additional bed nets, the more cost-effective solution to tackling malaria.

10 Dec 2014

Focus Diagnostics' Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV Direct Kit receive FDA clearance

As the 2014-2015 flu season begins, Focus Diagnostics, the products business of Quest Diagnostics, today announced that its Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV Direct Kit has received FDA clearance for eight additional influenza strains. These strains may pose significant potential health risks and may be circulating this winter.

From Quest Diagnostics 9 Dec 2014

Disease/Infection News

Danish researchers working on new type of vaccine that targets disease causing bacterium

Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

Study examines benefits of IS technique in assessing effect of pollution on urban asthmatic children

KU, WHO researchers partner to develop case studies to better understand new cases of Ebola

Pitt researcher receives NSF grant to explore how long Ebola virus survives in environment

Scientists report new family of selective molecules to combat causal agent of malaria

UT Southwestern microbiologists identify key gut bacteria that promotes foodborne infections

Research finding could lead to development of effective vaccines against microbial infections

New study investigates Ebola protein

Potential new active substances for treating dengue virus

Added benefit of daclatasvir drug not proven for chronic hepatitis C infection

Simple tips to keep families safe from flu

Treatment guidelines lacking for Ebola patients, say infectious diseases experts

Bayer, DNDi sign first agreement to develop new oral treatment for onchocerciasis

Advances in fight against TB, sudden cardiac death

Study: Simeprevir-based therapy proves effective in treating chronic HCV infection

Immunizing school-aged children from flu can protect others as well

Drug proves effective at inhibiting growth of drug-resistant bacteria

Bed nets alone are enough to protect against malaria, study suggests

Focus Diagnostics' Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV Direct Kit receive FDA clearance

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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