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Strong link between mortality and reduced innate immune responsiveness in critically ill patients

Investigators from 15 children's medical centers, including Nationwide Children's Hospital, observed and evaluated critically ill children with influenza to evaluate the relationships between levels of systemic inflammation, immune function and likelihood to die from the illness. The study appears in the January issue of Critical Care Medicine.

23 Jan 2013

Sex, condoms and lubricants: an interview with Dr Debby Herbenick

Condoms and lubricants are widely used by both women and men and so they are part of many people’s sexual experiences. They are used for both pleasure-related reasons as well as, in the case of lubricants, comfort and making sex easier for people. The use of condoms of course reduces the risk of pregnancy or infection.

23 Jan 2013

UNAIDS presents online discussion on post-2015 AIDS agenda

The World We Want 2015 webpage is hosting an online discussion (eDiscussion), presented by UNAIDS as part of the Post-2015 Health Thematic Consultation and running from January 21 through February 3, according to the webpage.

23 Jan 2013

BRICS countries sign agreement to collaborate on research, public health efforts

"Health ministers of the group of developing countries known as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have signed an agreement to work together on research projects and to reduce the burden of disease," BMJ reports.

23 Jan 2013

International community must harness funds needed to control infectious diseases

"I think the most special thing about our current time is the incredible opportunity that scientific advances have provided in the field of global health, giving us the ability to completely control highly dangerous infectious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria," Mark Dybul, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, writes in an opinion piece in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog.

23 Jan 2013

Public health challenges remain but progress being made, WHO DG Chan says in Executive Board report

"International cooperation on health is delivering positive results at a time when the world is dealing with multiple challenges such as difficult weather conditions, conflict and economic austerity, a senior United Nations official said Monday, calling on countries to continue their efforts to improve public health," the U.N. News Centre reports.

23 Jan 2013

Twitter posts could help health officials track disease outbreaks

This flu season you've probably seen a number of friends on social media talking about symptoms. New research from Brigham Young University says such posts on Twitter could actually be helpful to health officials looking for a head start on outbreaks.

23 Jan 2013

Novel way to engineer specialized immune cells targeted by the AIDS virus

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a novel way to engineer key cells of the immune system so they remain resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

23 Jan 2013

Health workers resume polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan; Bill Gates discusses polio efforts in interview

"Health workers are back on the streets of Peshawar in Pakistan, defying death threats so they can vaccinate children against polio," Al Jazeera reports. "Nine of their colleagues were killed last month, and now they have been given extra security," the news service notes. "Despite the risks, many health workers say they must carry out this important task," Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid states in an accompanying video.

23 Jan 2013

Antibodies essential for dendritic cell maturation

Dendritic cells, or DCs for short, perform a vital role for the immune system: They engulf pathogens, break them down into their component parts, and then display the pieces on their surface.

23 Jan 2013

Single dose of seasonal flu vaccine is safe for egg allergic children

Egg allergic children, including those with a history of anaphylaxis to egg, can safely receive a single dose of the seasonal influenza vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.

23 Jan 2013

Oral supplement of live R. Opacus may help pigs stay healthy during weaning

A common type of bacteria may help pigs stay healthy during weaning. In a study of 36 weanling-age pigs, researchers found that a dose of lipid-producing Rhodococcus opacus bacteria increased circulating triglycerides. Triglycerides are a crucial source of energy for the immune system.

23 Jan 2013

Suppression of immune system function can occur in influenza patients

22 Jan 2013

INPC provides early warning of influenza outbreaks and other communicable diseases

The Centers for Disease Control has reported that influenza activity is high across most of the United States. The Indiana Network for Patient Care's ability to track data from physician offices and medical facilities across Indiana provides public health officials in the Hoosier state with early warning of outbreaks of influenza and other communicable diseases in Indiana.

22 Jan 2013

Studies suggest a new approach to treating HIV

A team of researchers based at Johns Hopkins has decoded a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection.

22 Jan 2013

Biophysical Society Annual Meeting to highlight innovations in medicine, physics, and more

Honeybee silk-inspired materials; a deconstruction of the Ebola virus; how microbes evolve resistance to antibiotics; and a possible connection between Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes are just some of the intriguing topics that will be presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS).

22 Jan 2013

Current smokers with HIV more likely to get bacterial pneumonia

Bacterial pneumonia is one of the commonest and most serious infections occurring in people infected with HIV. A metanalysis of cohort and case control studies published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine finds that current smokers with HIV were at double the risk of bacterial pneumonia than non-smoking counterparts, but that when people stopped smoking their risk was reduced.

21 Jan 2013

NTD treatments are cost-effective, report shows

"Recently, Hudson Institute's Center for Science in Public Policy, in partnership with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, published a new report to highlight the links between NTDs and socio-economic prosperity," according to the network's "End the Neglect" blog.

21 Jan 2013

Scientists identify new mechanism that turns CD4 helper T lymphocytes into killer cells

A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has discovered the mechanism that enables CD4 helper T cells to assume the more aggressive role of killer T cells in mounting an immune attack against viruses, cancerous tumors and other damaged or infected cells.

21 Jan 2013

Mature CD4+ helper T lymphocytes can be re-programed to gain killing functions

The fate of mature T lymphocytes might be a lot more flexible than previously thought. New research from the RIKEN Center for Allergy and Immunology (RCAI) in Japan and La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology (LIAI) in the USA shows for the first time that mature CD4+ helper T lymphocytes can be re-programed to become killer-like CD8+ T lymphocytes and gain killing functions.

21 Jan 2013

Disease/Infection News

Strong link between mortality and reduced innate immune responsiveness in critically ill patients

Sex, condoms and lubricants: an interview with Dr Debby Herbenick

UNAIDS presents online discussion on post-2015 AIDS agenda

BRICS countries sign agreement to collaborate on research, public health efforts

International community must harness funds needed to control infectious diseases

Public health challenges remain but progress being made, WHO DG Chan says in Executive Board report

Twitter posts could help health officials track disease outbreaks

Novel way to engineer specialized immune cells targeted by the AIDS virus

Health workers resume polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan; Bill Gates discusses polio efforts in interview

Antibodies essential for dendritic cell maturation

Single dose of seasonal flu vaccine is safe for egg allergic children

Oral supplement of live R. Opacus may help pigs stay healthy during weaning

Suppression of immune system function can occur in influenza patients

INPC provides early warning of influenza outbreaks and other communicable diseases

Studies suggest a new approach to treating HIV

Biophysical Society Annual Meeting to highlight innovations in medicine, physics, and more

Current smokers with HIV more likely to get bacterial pneumonia

NTD treatments are cost-effective, report shows

Scientists identify new mechanism that turns CD4 helper T lymphocytes into killer cells

Mature CD4+ helper T lymphocytes can be re-programed to gain killing functions

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

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