Disease/Infection News

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Researchers identify compounds that could lead to discovery of new drugs for African sleeping sickness

In early drug discovery, you need a starting point, says Northeastern University associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology Michael Pollastri.

27 Oct 2014

Johns Hopkins to lead, design interactive Web-based Ebola training program

Johns Hopkins Medicine has been tasked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lead a group and to design an interactive Web-based learning program that guides health care workers, nurses and physicians through government-approved protocols to aid clinicians as they provide care to patients who may be at risk of contracting the Ebola virus.

27 Oct 2014

Salk Institute scientists identify promising target for HIV/AIDS treatment

Like a slumbering dragon, HIV can lay dormant in a person's cells for years, evading medical treatments only to wake up and strike at a later time, quickly replicating itself and destroying the immune system.

27 Oct 2014

Rewriting the family history of Ebola

The research shows that filoviruses — a family to which Ebola and its similarly lethal relative, Marburg, belong — are at least 16-23 million years old.

27 Oct 2014

Population Council to present research on novel approaches to HIV prevention at HIV R4P 2014

The Population Council will present new research on novel approaches to HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unintended pregnancy prevention at the HIV Research for Prevention Conference, (HIV R4P) in Cape Town, South Africa. HIV R4P, which runs 28–31 October, is the first global scientific meeting dedicated exclusively to research on biomedical HIV prevention.

27 Oct 2014

Researchers to explore new treatment strategies using blood plasma from Ebola survivors

The University of Liverpool is part of an international research team that will assess whether the blood or plasma of Ebola survivors can be used to treat Ebola patients in West Africa.

27 Oct 2014

WHO holds meeting to discuss on how to fast track testing, deployment of Ebola vaccines

WHO convened a meeting with high-ranking government representatives from Ebola-affected countries and development partners, civil society, regulatory agencies, vaccine manufacturers and funding agencies yesterday to discuss and agree on how to fast track testing and deployment of vaccines in sufficient numbers to impact the Ebola epidemic.

26 Oct 2014

Safety and protocol measures for humanitarian volunteers in the Ebola epidemic

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Journal has released a novel, informative article that speaks to volunteers within the Ebola epidemic. The article, contributed by a consortium of Boston-based hospitals, is entitled Sign Me Up: Rules of the Road for Humanitarian Volunteers during the Ebola Outbreak.

25 Oct 2014

Enhanced dental care reduces respiratory tract infection risk in ICU patients

New research shows vulnerable patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) who received enhanced oral care from a dentist were at significantly less risk for developing a lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), like ventilator-associated pneumonia, during their stay.

25 Oct 2014

Minnesota hospitals, health systems develop coordinated strategy to care for Ebola patients

The Minnesota Hospital Association announced today that hospitals and health systems from around the state have developed a coordinated strategy to care for Ebola patients in Minnesota. Under the plan, all hospitals in the state will continue to be prepared to detect, isolate and initially care for suspected Ebola patients.

25 Oct 2014

US hospitals lack infection prevention staff, resources to fight Ebola

Only 6 percent of U.S. hospitals are well-prepared to receive a patient with the Ebola virus, according to a survey of infection prevention experts at U.S. hospitals conducted October 10-15 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

24 Oct 2014

Passengers from West Africa to start 3-week Ebola screening

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that any person flying into the USA from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea will soon have to undergo daily Ebola monitoring for several weeks after their arrival.

23 Oct 2014

Human trial of second investigational Ebola vaccine candidate under way

Human testing of a second investigational Ebola vaccine candidate is under way at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

23 Oct 2014

Novel approach may help detect invasive aspergillosis

Many different microbes can cause pneumonia, and treatment may be delayed or off target if doctors cannot tell which bug is the culprit. A novel approach—analyzing a patient's breath for key chemical compounds made by the infecting microbe—may help detect invasive aspergillosis, a fungal infection that is a leading cause of mortality in patients with compromised immune systems, according to a proof-of-concept study now online in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

23 Oct 2014

Helping children understand Ebola

It dominates the headlines and is striking fear and panic in many communities around the world, Ebola. The constant barrage of information and so much unknown can be especially difficult for children, making it all the more important for parents to help their kids feel safe and to have a dialogue with them at the appropriate developmental level.

23 Oct 2014

ADI develops ELISA test kits for detection of Ebola viral protein antibodies

San Antonio, Texas-based Biotech Company Alpha Diagnostic Int'l has developed and released several convenient, rapid, and sensitive ELISA test kits for the detection of major Ebola viral protein antibodies (Glycoprotein, GP; Nucleoprotein, NP, and Viral Protein 40 or VP40).

23 Oct 2014

Hospitals demand TRU-D SmartUVC device to be added to Ebola protocols

Following the tragic infections of two hospital staff and subsequent tracking of hundreds of people related to Ebola, hospitals around the country are requiring TRU-D SmartUVC, a portable automated UVC disinfection robot which accurately measures required dosage, be added to Ebola protocols.

21 Oct 2014

Obeticholic acid drug shows promise against bile acid diarrhoea

A pilot study testing a new type of drug in patients with chronic diarrhoea has shown promising effects on reducing their symptoms.

21 Oct 2014

New PENTAX Medical i10 Series HD+ Endoscopes to be launched at ACG 2014

PENTAX Medical Company, a healthcare industry leader in endoscopic imaging, announced the U.S. and Canadian launch of PENTAX Medical i10 Series HD+ (plus) Endoscopes, devices that provide the highest resolution HD (high definition) images ever available for colonoscopy and gastroscopy procedures that screen for and treat GI disorders.

From PENTAX Medical Company 21 Oct 2014

CHLA physician discusses urological issues in children

Children's Hospital Los Angeles physician-scientist Roger E. De Filippo, MD, an associate professor of urology and director of Pediatric Urology Stem Cell Research at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California discusses how science, technology and parental care can lead to improved pediatric urological health.

21 Oct 2014