Disease/Infection News

RSS

Researchers measure highest DDT levels in breast milk from South African nursing mothers

The highest levels ever of DDT in breast milk have been measured in mothers living in malaria-stricken villages in South Africa. The values lie well over the limits set by the World Health Organization. DDT has been used for many years in South Africa, sprayed indoors to fight malaria.

3 Sep 2012

Triple-threat approach can reduce invasive bloodstream infections in pediatric cancer patients

Hospitals can dramatically reduce the number of life-threatening central line infections in pediatric cancer patients by following a set of basic precautions, by encouraging families to speak up when they observe noncompliance with the protocol and by honest analysis of the root cause behind every single infection, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study.

3 Sep 2012

AIDS experts develop first accurate computer simulation to explain drug effects

Pooling data from thousands of tests of the antiviral activity of more than 20 commonly used anti-HIV drugs, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities have developed what they say is the first accurate computer simulation to explain drug effects. Already, the model clarifies how and why some treatment regimens fail in some patients who lack evidence of drug resistance.

3 Sep 2012

Western Schools offers new 4th Edition West Nile Virus continuing education course for nurses

West Nile virus is showing up earlier and producing more severe cases than normal this year, and nurses must be able to recognize who is at risk and how to best protect against it, an expert at Western Schools said today.

3 Sep 2012

Digested coconut oil able to attack the bacteria that cause tooth decay

Digested coconut oil is able to attack the bacteria that cause tooth decay. It is a natural antibiotic that could be incorporated into commercial dental care products, say scientists presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of Warwick.

3 Sep 2012

Scientists create mathematical model that helps to design new drug cocktails against HIV

For years, doctors treating those with HIV have recognized a relationship between how faithfully patients take the drugs they prescribe, and how likely the virus is to develop drug resistance. More recently, research has shown that the relationship between adherence to a drug regimen and resistance is different for each of the drugs that make up the "cocktail" used to control the disease.

3 Sep 2012

Complacency and apathy may have played a role in recent spike of West Nile cases

With almost 1,600 cases of West Nile Virus and 66 mortalities reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nationwide, officials are calling the recent West Nile virus outbreak the largest ever seen in the United States.

1 Sep 2012

Reworking of PEPFAR in South Africa must be handled carefully to ensure continuation of care

"Government assurances that the scaling back of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program in South Africa (SA) will be carefully managed to protect patients are welcome, but ... [t]he reality is that the Department of Health is struggling to cope with severe medical staff shortages, financial resources that never seem to stretch far enough, inadequate infrastructure and maintenance programs, and administrative bottlenecks," a Business Day editorial states.

1 Sep 2012

Challenges to eradicating polio in Nigeria

John Campbell, Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in his "Africa in Transition" blog that "[t]he Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) reports eight new polio cases in Nigeria, bringing the total in that country to 70 for 2012," with most of the cases occurring in the predominantly Muslim north.

1 Sep 2012

Boosting immune system can help reduce asthma attacks due to viral infections

Details of a treatment that could help asthmatics fight infections that trigger 80% of asthma attacks, developed by University of Southampton spin-out company Synairgen, will be presented to European respiratory experts on Sunday 2 September.

1 Sep 2012

Health Net helps to increase awareness about importance of whooping cough vaccination

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of whooping cough cases in the United States could reach a 50-year high in 2012. The CDC's forecast is based on the fact that, as of July 2012, twice as many cases of whooping cough - or pertussis as it's referred to clinically - had been reported to the CDC thus far this year as compared to the same point in 2011.

1 Sep 2012

New intriguing knowledge on blood haemoglobin

Scientists at the research centre MEMBRANES at Aarhus University, Denmark, have completed an old puzzle, which since the 60s from many sides has been regarded as impossible to complete. The challenge was to solve the structure of the protecting protein complex that forms when haemoglobin is released from red cells and becomes toxic. This toxic release of haemoglobin occurs in many diseases affecting red cell stability, e.g. malaria.

1 Sep 2012

MDR-TB, XDR-TB more widespread than previously believed, study shows

In a study published on Wednesday in the Lancet, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that "[a]mong 1,278 patients who were resistant to two or more first-line tuberculosis drugs in Estonia, Latvia, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Thailand, 43.7 percent showed resistance to at least one second-line drug," which "suggest[s] the deadly disease may become 'virtually untreatable,'" according to the study, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

31 Aug 2012

Scientists identify specific role of RESA protein in modulating blood circulation

When the parasite responsible for malaria infects human red blood cells, it launches a 48-hour remodeling of the host cells. During the first 24 hours of this cycle, a protein called RESA undertakes the first step of renovation: enhancing the stiffness of the cell membranes.

31 Aug 2012

Blog examines study looking at role of stigma in HIV PMTCT

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines a recent study that found only slightly more than 44 percent of women in the Nyanza province of Kenya deliver their infants in a health care facility, with many women citing fear of stigma and discrimination as a reason for not attending clinics for prenatal care.

31 Aug 2012

New cholera cases after tropical storm do not amount to outbreak, Haitian officials say

Haiti has "reported new cases of cholera as aftermath of the tropical storm Isaac, but Public Health Ministry General Director Guirlene Raymond said that "so far the numbers do not match outbreak ratings," Prensa Latina reports.

31 Aug 2012

Janssen submits bedaquiline MAA with EMA for treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis

Janssen-Cilag International NV (Janssen) today announced it has submitted a Marketing Authorisation Application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) seeking conditional approval for the use of the investigational drug bedaquiline (TMC207) as an oral treatment, to be used as part of combination therapy for pulmonary, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in adults.

31 Aug 2012

Study estimates prevalence, severity and extent of periodontitis in adult U.S population

In a study titled "Prevalence of Periodontis in Adults in the United States: 2009 and 2010," lead author Paul Eke, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates the prevalence, severity and extent of periodontitis in the adult U.S population using data from the 2009 and 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycle.

31 Aug 2012

Brazil expanding national HIV treatment program to include patients with higher CD4 cell counts

Brazil is expanding its national HIV/AIDS treatment program to include about 35,000 additional people, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports. "Ronaldo Hallal of the health ministry's Sexually Transmitted Disease Department said people with 500 or fewer CD4 cells per cubic millimeter will receive antiretroviral HIV treatment," increasing the cutoff from 350 or less CD4 cells per cubic millimeter prior to the expansion, the news service writes.

31 Aug 2012

Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan

Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan, and only 40 percent have updated their school plan since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

31 Aug 2012

Disease/Infection News

Researchers measure highest DDT levels in breast milk from South African nursing mothers

Triple-threat approach can reduce invasive bloodstream infections in pediatric cancer patients

AIDS experts develop first accurate computer simulation to explain drug effects

Western Schools offers new 4th Edition West Nile Virus continuing education course for nurses

Digested coconut oil able to attack the bacteria that cause tooth decay

Scientists create mathematical model that helps to design new drug cocktails against HIV

Complacency and apathy may have played a role in recent spike of West Nile cases

Reworking of PEPFAR in South Africa must be handled carefully to ensure continuation of care

Challenges to eradicating polio in Nigeria

Boosting immune system can help reduce asthma attacks due to viral infections

Health Net helps to increase awareness about importance of whooping cough vaccination

New intriguing knowledge on blood haemoglobin

MDR-TB, XDR-TB more widespread than previously believed, study shows

Scientists identify specific role of RESA protein in modulating blood circulation

Blog examines study looking at role of stigma in HIV PMTCT

New cholera cases after tropical storm do not amount to outbreak, Haitian officials say

Janssen submits bedaquiline MAA with EMA for treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis

Study estimates prevalence, severity and extent of periodontitis in adult U.S population

Brazil expanding national HIV treatment program to include patients with higher CD4 cell counts

Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

Latest News