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New Ebola cases could reach 6,800 in West Africa by September end

New research published today in the online journal PLoS Outbreaks predicts new Ebola cases could reach 6,800 in West Africa by the end of the month if new control measures are not enacted.

22 Sep 2014

MIT engineers find new strategy to combat superbugs

In recent years, new strains of bacteria have emerged that resist even the most powerful antibiotics. Each year, these superbugs, including drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis and staphylococcus, infect more than 2 million people nationwide, and kill at least 23,000. Despite the urgent need for new treatments, scientists have discovered very few new classes of antibiotics in the past decade.

22 Sep 2014

New research identifies novel cellular factors vital for CCHFV infection

New research into the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), a tick-borne virus which causes a severe hemorrhagic disease in humans similar to that caused by Ebolavirus, has identified new cellular factors essential for CCHFV infection.

22 Sep 2014

Mice, shrews are most effective at transferring Lyme disease and anaplasmosis

In the U.S., some 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease annually. Thousands also suffer from babesiosis and anaplasmosis, tick-borne ailments that can occur alone or as co-infections with Lyme disease.

22 Sep 2014

Sequencing the Asian liver fluke genome: an interview with Dr Neil Young

Opisthorchis viverrini is a parasitic flatworm (or liver fluke) endemic throughout Thailand, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Vietnam and Cambodia. Humans are infected with this parasite when they eat a fluke encysted in inadequately cooked/preserved freshwater fish.

21 Sep 2014

UN approves resolutions to create UNMEER to contain ongoing Ebola outbreak

Nearly six months after the first case of Ebola in West Africa was reported to the World Health Organization, the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council have approved resolutions creating the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to contain the ongoing outbreak which has sickened more than 5,500 people and killed over 2,500.

21 Sep 2014

CDC urges all adults to get flu vaccination

Influenza vaccination coverage estimates show an encouraging upward trend overall, but coverage among healthy 18 to 64 year-olds has yet to top 40 percent, according to new data announced at a news conference held today by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

19 Sep 2014

Getting a flu vaccination helps moms help their babies

Only about half of all pregnant women in the U.S. get a flu shot each season, leaving thousands of moms-to-be and their babies at increased risk of serious illness.

19 Sep 2014

European research project develops low-cost, accurate urine test for TB detection

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs. Although it is curable and preventable it remains one of the world's top infectious killers.

19 Sep 2014

Two young Egyptian scientists at TUM win ISS project

Two researchers at Technische Universit-t M-nchen have won the 'International Space Station Research Competition' with their project 'Egypt Against Hepatitis C Virus.' As their prize, the scientists will see the International Space Station crew perform experiments on the space station.

19 Sep 2014

Common type of hospital-associated infections can be prevented with vaccine

The most common type of hospital-associated infection may be preventable with a vaccine, new research in mice suggests.

18 Sep 2014

TSRI scientists devise new vancomycin-based antibiotic to rout resistant bacteria

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have devised a new antibiotic based on vancomycin that is powerfully effective against vancomycin-resistant strains of MRSA and other disease-causing bacteria.

18 Sep 2014

Isis receives $4 million in milestone payment from Achaogen for initiation of plazomicin Phase 3 study

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has earned a $4 million milestone payment from Achaogen, Inc. associated with the initiation of a Phase 3 study of plazomicin in patients with serious multi-drug resistant (MDR), gram-negative bacterial infections.

17 Sep 2014

Janssen announces availability of PREZCOBIX for Canadians living with HIV

Janssen Inc. announced today that PREZCOBIX (darunavir/cobicistat), a once-daily, oral medication for the treatment of HIV infection in combination with other antiretroviral agents, is now available in Canada. It is the first HIV treatment option available to patients that provides boosted darunavir in a single tablet.

17 Sep 2014

NIH and West African leaders to discuss current crisis of Ebola outbreak at TJU

Leaders from West African Nations and representatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will attend a meeting on September 22nd from 3:00-5:15 pm at Thomas Jefferson University to discuss the current crisis and plan future collaborations.

16 Sep 2014

MSU researchers show how bacterial immune systems fight off viruses

When this week's print issue of the journal Science comes out, a collective cheer will go up from New Mexico, Montana and even the Netherlands, thanks to the type of collaborative effort that is more and more the norm in these connected times. Yes, the research was brilliant, and if we're lucky, it will produce innovations in biology, medicine, biotechnology and agriculture. It could save lives, and it happened because this scientist talked with that one, that one knew another one, and brilliant minds overcame geographic distance to advance human understanding.

16 Sep 2014

T-bet protein fights off hepatitis infections

A single protein may tip the balance between ridding the body of a dangerous virus and enduring life-long chronic infection, according to a report appearing in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

16 Sep 2014

GHIT Fund announces new grants to tackle malaria, chagas disease and dengue

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, a new public health partnership that is bringing Japanese know-how and investment to the global fight against infectious diseases, today announced seven grant investments totaling US$15.3 million to speed the development of promising drugs and vaccines to battle three insect-borne diseases-malaria, dengue and Chagas disease.

16 Sep 2014

Massive global response needed to prevent Ebola infection, say experts

The current Ebola outbreak now requires a "rapid response at a massive global scale", according to experts at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

15 Sep 2014

Getting flu shot every autumn can lead to better health

Everyone knows that the best way to avoid the flu is by getting an annual flu shot. But a trip to your physician every autumn for the vaccination can help you avoid much more than the dreaded flu bug. "At the doctor's office, the focus is on you and what is going on with your health. This is your time to talk about concerns to improve your well-being beyond the flu season," says Jorge Parada, MD, MPH, the medical director of the Infection Prevention and Control Program at Loyola University Health System.

15 Sep 2014