Disease/Infection News

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UVA develops new and faster method to track superbugs

University of Virginia Health System researchers are the first in the world to develop a new and faster method to track major infection-causing "superbugs" - a major key in preventing the spread of deadly infections.

19 Nov 2011

Abbott receives FDA approval for new Chagas assay

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first test for use as an additional, more specific test on human serum or plasma specimens found to be positive for antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi.

19 Nov 2011

HVTN debunks top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, and in commemoration of the occasion, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, debunks the top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research.

18 Nov 2011

Resistance of starved bacteria can be blocked

Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.

18 Nov 2011

Efforts to end AIDS could also reduce TB burden with proper funding

In response to Michael Gerson's November 11 column in which he said the end of AIDS is possible because of combination prevention and treatment innovations, David Bryden, the Stop TB advocacy officer at RESULTS, writes in a Washington Post letter to the editor, "Another benefit of [HIV] treatment is that it sharply reduces deaths from tuberculosis [TB], which is the primary killer of people living with HIV/AIDS."

18 Nov 2011

Potential new ways to design vaccines, antibiotics

A University of Louisville scientist has determined for the first time how the bacterium that causes Legionnaires' disease manipulates our cells to generate the amino acids it needs to grow and cause infection and inflammation in the lungs.

18 Nov 2011

Inovio announces results from SynCon avian influenza vaccine Phase I study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is advancing synthetic vaccines to fight cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that a single intradermal (ID) electroporation boost of its SynCon avian influenza vaccine generated HAI titers against six different, unmatched strains of H5N1 - a distinct new clinical achievement on the global research community's path to develop universal influenza vaccines.

18 Nov 2011

Multi-drug resistant bacteria widespread in Europe, report says

Multi-drug resistant bacteria "are increasing their grip in Europe with rates of drug resistance in one type of bacteria reaching 50 percent in the worst-hit countries, health officials said Thursday," Reuters reports.

18 Nov 2011

Doctors, aid workers warn of disease threats to displaced persons in Somalia

Inter Press Service examines how doctors and aid workers in and around Mogadishu, Somalia, "are warning that famine victims in internally displaced camps have become vulnerable to contagious diseases like cholera and measles, as conditions here are ripe for an outbreak."

18 Nov 2011

Researchers discover new class of antimalarial compounds

Researchers have discovered a group of chemical compounds that might one day be developed into drugs that can treat malaria infection in both the liver and the bloodstream.

18 Nov 2011

Kenya readies to step up fight against trachoma

AllAfrica.com reports on trachoma -- a chronic bacterial infection spread by direct contact with eye, nose and throat secretions from others who are infected -- in Kenya, profiling Kajiado County where the disease has reached the blinding stage in 3.4 percent of patients, "making it a serious public health problem in that region and many other similarly remote areas with little access to health care and screening."

18 Nov 2011

Future research critical to ending AIDS epidemic

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention and a founding member of the Global Health Technologies Coalition, writing in The Hill's "Congress Blog," welcomes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's November 8 announcement of "an additional $60 million for implementation of a combination of prevention strategies in four sub-Saharan African countries and evaluation of their impact," adding that "this funding can only be viewed as a down payment on the work that needs to be done."

18 Nov 2011

Report by aid watchdog group finds many international donors lack transparency

IRIN examines the results of a report by the aid watchdog group Publish What You Fund that examines "whether donors publish information about their budgets, their allocation and procurement policies, or audit reports on their own performance" and "finds that most international aid donors are still not open enough about their aid programs, and some offer no information at all."

18 Nov 2011

Examining funding in light of new evidence on HIV prevention, treatment strategies

In this Huffington Post opinion piece, Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development, reports on a World Bank- and USAID-sponsored debate she moderated last week as part of a series on HIV/AIDS issues, the topic of which was "Countries should spend a majority of what is likely to be a flat or even declining HIV prevention budget on 'treatment as prevention.'"

18 Nov 2011

First study to describe transporter system that bacteria use to ensure their survival

Bacteria responsible for middle ear infections, pink eye and sinusitis protect themselves from further immune attack by transporting molecules meant to destroy them away from their inner membrane target, according to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital.

18 Nov 2011

IDSA supports 'Get Smart About Antibiotics Week'

With antibiotic-resistant infections increasingly common, and a dangerous lack of new infection fighters in the drug development pipeline, it's more important than ever to use existing antibiotics appropriately. This week, infectious disease experts are helping to educate consumers, health care providers, and policymakers about when antibiotics can help, when misuse of these lifesaving drugs can do more harm than good, and the tremendous need for new antibiotics to protect patients.

18 Nov 2011

MU scientist examines how enzymes influence immune system's ability to fight infection

The influenza virus remains a worldwide threat to humans, causing an average of 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States alone. As health care professionals prepare for another flu season, a University of Missouri scientist is studying how two enzymes could be used to stop the virus in its tracks.

18 Nov 2011

Norway to focus on unnecessary use of antibiotics for asymptomatic UTI

European Antibiotic Awareness Day is being marked on Friday by health institutions throughout Europe. This year, Norway will focus on the unnecessary use of antibiotics to treat asymptomatic urinary tract infections.

18 Nov 2011

Swaziland government failed to pay more than $10M to children orphaned by AIDS, IMF official says

"Swaziland's government has failed to pay more than $10 million ... in grants to AIDS orphans because of its financial crisis, an IMF official has said" in a statement after visiting the country, BBC News reports.

18 Nov 2011

HuffPost Green examines relationship between environment, malaria

As part of its series on the relationships between human, animal and environmental health, titled "The Infection Loop," HuffPost Green examines how changes in climate and landscape, human movement, agricultural practices, and microbe adaptation are affecting the spread of malaria.

18 Nov 2011