Disease/Infection News

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New method for quickly identifying individual viruses

A new method for quickly identifying individual viruses and recognising how they bind to host cells may become a vital tool in the early control of winter vomiting disease and other virus-based diseases. In the west, this means saving money and reducing stress on health-care systems. In developing countries, this means saving lives.

28 Sep 2011

UCI professor wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers

Rommie Amaro, UC Irvine assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and computer science, has been selected by President Obama for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers.

28 Sep 2011

More predictability in the chaos of infectious Chagas disease transmission

Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, not all epidemics involve people suffering from zombie-like symptoms--some can only be uncovered through door-to-door epidemiology and advanced mathematics.

28 Sep 2011

Columbia University receives CFI grant to investigate causes of chronic fatigue syndrome

The Chronic Fatigue Initiative (CFI) - a new privately funded research directive focused on chronic fatigue syndrome - announced a substantial grant to a Columbia University research team to investigate the role of pathogens in causing chronic fatigue syndrome. The pathogen discovery and pathogenesis program will be led by Drs. Ian Lipkin and Mady Hornig of the Center for Infection and Immunity.

28 Sep 2011

Microbiologist offers advice to guard against coming down with the flu

October marks the beginning of flu season, and once again, health care professionals are exhorting people to get a flu shot. Microbiologist John Tudor, Ph.D., professor of biology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, agrees that it's time to roll up our sleeves and offer up our arms for the vaccination.

28 Sep 2011

Study sheds light on when to start antiretroviral therapy

Findings from a study published in the current issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, when "taken together with other studies published over the last few years," show that beginning people living with HIV on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) when their CD4 cell count is between 350 and 500 "appears to be beneficial over the long term.

28 Sep 2011

MicroDose initiates MDT-637 Phase 1 trial in respiratory syncytial virus

MicroDose Therapeutx, Inc. today announced that the first human subject has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of MDT-637, MicroDose's inhalable small molecule antiviral fusion inhibitor for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus.

28 Sep 2011

Methodist Hospital internist offers few simple suggestions to prevent cold and flu

The first few breezes of fall bring with them not only the promise of a welcome change in season, but also the threat of colds and flu. Dr. Joshua Septimus, an internist at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, offers a few simple suggestions to protect you and your family this cold and flu season. "The most useful tip I can pass along is to wash your hands," says Septimus. "It sounds so simple, but it is truly the most important thing you can do to protect yourself."

27 Sep 2011

Lead compound activates infection-fighting REDD1 protein and kills flu strain

A compound tested by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators destroys several viruses, including the deadly Spanish flu that killed an estimated 30 million people in the worldwide pandemic of 1918.

27 Sep 2011

Immediate action needed to curb spread of TB, especially among children

In this post in the Huffington Posts "Impact" blog, Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, an international partnership of advocates working to mobilize resources to treat and prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB), examines the need for improved TB vaccines and diagnostics in order to curb the spread of multidrug-resistant TB, especially among children, and highlights ACTION's new report.

27 Sep 2011

HIV vaccine research showing promise

Recent findings on HIV vaccine research, some presented recently at the AIDS Vaccine 2011 conference in Bangkok, "show that the science of an AIDS vaccine is vibrant and vital," Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC-Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, writes in a "Science Speaks" guest blog post.

27 Sep 2011

Rush Foundation, Copenhagen Consensus Center examine how to spend hypothetical AIDS funding

In this post in the Center for Global Developments "Global Health Policy" blog, Mead Over, a senior fellow at the center, writes that the Rush Foundation has asked the Copenhagen Consensus Centre to address the question of how to spend an additional, but hypothetical, $10 billion on HIV/AIDS programs in Africa over the next five years.

27 Sep 2011

Researchers modify HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress immune system

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have modified HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress the immune system. Their work, they say in a report published online September 19 in the journal Blood, could remove a major hurdle in HIV vaccine development and lead to new treatments.

27 Sep 2011

University of Zurich receives AICR grant to improve vaccines against Burkitt's lymphoma

Research in Switzerland could help reduce the time taken to develop vaccines against cancer tumours.

27 Sep 2011

Pakistan officials ask for international assistance as dengue fever outbreak overwhelms local resources

BBC News reports on a continuing outbreak of dengue fever in Pakistan's Punjab province, where "more than 8,000 cases of dengue fever have been reported in the province so far -- 7,000 in Lahore alone -- and the count continues to rise," according to the Punjab health department. According to the news service, "Doctors say more than 30 people have died of the fever so far" in the province, and "health officials estimate that more than 7,000 people are being tested daily for the virus -- 300 to 400 test positive each day".

27 Sep 2011

URBAN ARCH Consortium to examine consequences of alcohol on HIV disease

Researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health (BUSM/BUSPH), Boston Medical Center (BMC), the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Pittsburgh, have joined together to examine the consequences of alcohol on HIV disease.

27 Sep 2011

MSU creates new malaria vaccine with immune-stimulating gene

Continuing a global effort to prevent malaria infections, Michigan State University researchers have created a new malaria vaccine - one that combines the use of a disabled cold virus with an immune system-stimulating gene - that appears to increase the immune response against the parasite that causes the deadly disease.

27 Sep 2011

Researchers discover cell receptor for CDT toxin of C. difficile bacterium

A research group led by Freiburg pharmacologist Prof. Dr. Klaus Aktories and their American colleagues have discovered the cell receptor for the toxin CDT of the bacterium Clostridium difficile.

27 Sep 2011

Link between changes in malaria parasite and absorption of pharmaceutical compounds

Professor Max Petzold at the Nordic School of Public Health shows in a recent article a link between changes in the malaria parasite and the absorption of pharmaceutical compounds. Increased knowledge of the malaria parasite and the connection with the development of resistance may contribute to the development of new malaria treatments.

26 Sep 2011

Asthma patients admitted to hospital with H1N1 are half as likely to die from infection

People with asthma who are admitted to hospital with pandemic influenza H1N1 (swine flu) are half as likely to die or require intensive care than those without asthma, according to new research.

26 Sep 2011

Disease/Infection News

New method for quickly identifying individual viruses

UCI professor wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers

More predictability in the chaos of infectious Chagas disease transmission

Columbia University receives CFI grant to investigate causes of chronic fatigue syndrome

Microbiologist offers advice to guard against coming down with the flu

Study sheds light on when to start antiretroviral therapy

MicroDose initiates MDT-637 Phase 1 trial in respiratory syncytial virus

Methodist Hospital internist offers few simple suggestions to prevent cold and flu

Lead compound activates infection-fighting REDD1 protein and kills flu strain

Immediate action needed to curb spread of TB, especially among children

HIV vaccine research showing promise

Rush Foundation, Copenhagen Consensus Center examine how to spend hypothetical AIDS funding

Researchers modify HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress immune system

University of Zurich receives AICR grant to improve vaccines against Burkitt's lymphoma

Pakistan officials ask for international assistance as dengue fever outbreak overwhelms local resources

URBAN ARCH Consortium to examine consequences of alcohol on HIV disease

MSU creates new malaria vaccine with immune-stimulating gene

Researchers discover cell receptor for CDT toxin of C. difficile bacterium

Link between changes in malaria parasite and absorption of pharmaceutical compounds

Asthma patients admitted to hospital with H1N1 are half as likely to die from infection

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

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