Disease/Infection News

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Initial treatment for brain infection caused by fungus could be treated in 3 days, say Liverpool scientists

Initial treatment for a brain infection caused by fungus could now be treated in three days, rather than two weeks, due to study by University of Liverpool scientists.

25 Apr 2014

Use of frozen stool for fecal transplant successfully treats C. difficile infection

Using frozen stool from healthy, unrelated donors was safe and effective in treating patients with serious, relapsing diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile, according to a new pilot study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online.

25 Apr 2014

Johns Hopkins hosts World Malaria Day to combat malaria in Africa

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is bringing together some of the best minds in academia, government and faith-based organizations on World Malaria Day, Friday, April 25, 2014, for a day of discussion on leveraging community involvement to combat malaria in Africa.

25 Apr 2014

New Ebola variant identified in Guinea

Performed in less than a month, sequencing of the complete genome and subsequent phylogenetic analysis show that the virus present in Guinea forms a clade (variant) that is distinct from strains previously identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Gabon. Epidemiological investigations also linked the laboratory confirmed cases with the initial deaths recorded during the December 2013 outbreak.

25 Apr 2014

Georgia State researcher receives grant to develop novel therapeutics against RSV infection

Dr. Richard Plemper, a professor in the new Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has received a five-year, $2.83 million federal grant to develop novel therapeutics against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection.

25 Apr 2014

FSA project to map occurrence of norovirus in food premises

The University of Liverpool is leading a -2 million Food Standards Agency (FSA) project to map the occurrence of norovirus in food premises and industry workers.

25 Apr 2014

TSRI scientists discover new HIV target

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) working with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has discovered a new vulnerable site on the HIV virus. The newly identified site can be attacked by human antibodies in a way that neutralizes the infectivity of a wide variety of HIV strains.

25 Apr 2014

Study shows effect of whooping cough vaccination on Bordetella pertussis bacteria

The most comprehensive study to date of the family of bacteria that causes whooping cough points to more effective vaccine strategies and reveals surprising findings about the bacteria's origin and evolution. The new results could alter public health strategies to control this respiratory disease, which kills 195,000 children worldwide each year.

25 Apr 2014

Nearly 179 million cases of acute diarrhea occur each year in the U.S.

In the United States, approximately 179 million cases of acute diarrhea occur each year, and most of those cases are entirely preventable, a researcher from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston concluded in a New England Journal of Medicine review article.

23 Apr 2014

Vaccine against H. pylori infection is within reach

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island are championing a recent breakthrough in the laboratory with hopes it could lead to a vaccine against the pathogen responsible for stomach cancer and to therapeutics for inflammatory diseases.

23 Apr 2014

Study reveals how human genome is protected from inadvertent import of viral RNA into cell

Scientists of the Max F. Perutz Laboratories of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, together with colleagues of the ETH Zurich, have now shown how double stranded RNA, such as viral genetic information, is prevented from entering the nucleus of a cell.

23 Apr 2014

Automated diagnostic technologies redefine infectious diseases

The diagnostics market for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus and human papilloma virus is expanding, giving rise to commercial opportunities especially in the developing economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

22 Apr 2014

Findings may help researchers develop future interventions to prevent malaria

According to a study published today in PLOS Pathogens, children who live in regions of the world where malaria is common can mount an immune response to infection with malaria parasites that may enable them to avoid repeated bouts of high fever and illness and partially control the growth of malaria parasites in their bloodstream.

22 Apr 2014

Pediatrician reviews co-pathogenesis of influenza viruses with bacteria in lung

Le Bonheur Children's Hospital Pediatrician-in-Chief Jon McCullers, MD, was recently invited to submit a review in the April issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology, one of the world's foremost scientific publications.

22 Apr 2014

CT angiography provides accurate assessment of arterial plaque in diabetic patients

Imaging of the coronary arteries with computed tomography (CT) angiography provides an accurate assessment of arterial plaque and could have a dramatic impact on the management of diabetic patients who face a high risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events, according to a new multicenter study published online in the journal Radiology.

22 Apr 2014

Researchers study evolution of harmful organisms from 1 bacterial family

For the first time, researchers have studied the Black Death bacterium's entire family tree to fully understand how some of the family members evolve to become harmful.

22 Apr 2014

AARDA launches autoimmune curriculum for teachers of grades three through eight

Furthering its mission of educating all Americans about autoimmunity and autoimmune disease (AD), the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc. (AARDA) has launched the first-of-its kind autoimmune curriculum for teachers of grades three through eight.

22 Apr 2014

Study finds ginseng can help prevent, treat influenza and RSV infection

Ginseng can help treat and prevent influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages, according to research findings by a scientist in Georgia State University's new Institute for Biomedical Sciences.

22 Apr 2014

Cubist submits ceftolozane/tazobactam NDA for treatment of cUTI and cIAI

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of its investigational antibiotic ceftolozane/tazobactam for the treatment of Complicated Urinary Tract Infections (cUTI) and Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections (cIAI).

21 Apr 2014

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Emergent BioSolutions' BioThrax for PEP of anthrax disease

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) of anthrax disease resulting from suspected or confirmed exposure to Bacillus anthracis.

21 Apr 2014