Disease/Infection News

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Researchers identify compound that inhibits viral replication

Broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are active against a whole range of bacterial pathogens, have been on the market for a long time. Comparably versatile drugs to treat viral diseases, on the other hand, have remained elusive. Using a new approach, research teams led by Dr. Albrecht von Brunn of LMU Munich and Professor Christian Drosten from the University of Bonn have identified a compound that inhibits the replication of several different viruses, including the highly aggressive SARS virus that is responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome.

29 Oct 2011

Scientists identify nicotinamidase enzyme as new drug target for Leishmaniasis

IRD scientist and their research partners recently identified the key role of nicotinamidase, an enzyme in the parasite Leishmania, essential for its survival but which does not exist in humans. The pathogen is incapable of developing in mammals In the absence of this enzyme. Specific targeting of this enzyme could lead to more effective ways of controlling this neglected tropical disease.

29 Oct 2011

NYUCN to study 'Test and Linkage to Care Among Injecting Drug Users Kenya'

New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) received a five-year, $4,161,665.00 grant from the National Institute of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH/NIDA) to research "Test and Linkage to Care Among Injecting Drug Users (TLC_IDU) Kenya."

29 Oct 2011

Number of polio cases in Pakistan exceeds total number reported in three other endemic countries, report says

According to a report published earlier this month in Virology Journal by a team at the bioinformatics laboratory of the Centre for Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB) in Lahore, Pakistan, that country is reporting more polio cases than Nigeria, India and Afghanistan -- the three other countries where the disease is endemic -- combined, SciDev.Net reports.

29 Oct 2011

NYUCN to study 'Combination HIV Prevention for Kenyan Youth'

New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) received a four-year, $ 2.8M grant from the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) to study "Combination HIV Prevention for Kenyan Youth."

29 Oct 2011

NIH awards NYUCN $7.56M grant to study HIV risk among heterosexuals

New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) received a five-year, $7.56 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a peer-driven intervention to seek out heterosexuals at high risk for HIV in their communities, test them for HIV, and link them to care in a timely fashion if they are found to be HIV infected.

29 Oct 2011

Scientists discover Leishmania parasite with juggling chromosomes

Scientists found a deadly parasite with some of its chromosomes in duplicate, others in triplicate, while still others are present four or even five times. Moreover, the copy number varies between individuals. Such a bizarre occurrence has never before been found in nature, in any organism. As a rule, chromosomes should come in couples. The scientists, from the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITG) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, made the striking discovery while deciphering the genetic code of a series of Leishmania-parasites.

29 Oct 2011

New vaccine to eradicate meningitis

Outbreaks of meningitis can quickly reach epidemic proportions across a number of African countries, afflicting tens of thousands of people. Now a new vaccine appears capable of completely eradicating the disease.

28 Oct 2011

Atwater collection of AIDS education posters now available online

When Edward Atwater, M.D., boarded a subway car on Boston's Red Line in the early 90s, he found himself staring at a poster unlike any he had seen before. It showed two hands, a condom wrapper, and text reading, "Prevent AIDS. Use One." Intrigued by what he saw, Atwater began to track how different societies viewed and responded to the worldwide epidemic through posters and other public messages, eventually gathering together the largest collection of AIDS posters in the world.

28 Oct 2011

USAID's Bureau for Global Health awards Envision project to RTI

Since the 2006 launch of USAID's Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Control Program, which is managed by RTI, "more than 447 million NTD treatments have been provided to more than 82 million people," the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog reports.

28 Oct 2011

Reasons for caution about experimental malaria vaccine

Writing in KPLU's "Humanosphere" blog, Tom Paulson responds to last week's announcement of results from an ongoing clinical trial of an experimental malaria vaccine, saying, "Despite the hype and fanfare, many experts at the Seattle meeting said this experimental vaccine actually so far represents only incremental progress -- a scientific achievement which may still turn out to have little practical utility in the real world."

28 Oct 2011

Evidenced-based best practices can reduce healthcare associated infections

Healthcare associated infections, such as catheter related acute bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), significantly affect hospital morbidity and mortality but by developing evidenced-based, best practices, these occurrences can be minimized, according to research from surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

28 Oct 2011

Gates Foundation, China sign MOU to work together on global health, agriculture advances

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a partnership to support new research and development (R&D) and production of new products for global health and agriculture, Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Oct 2011

International community must help women fight HIV/AIDS in Swaziland

Women living with HIV in Swaziland "fight a tireless tripartite battle against HIV, the stigma it places on them, and their inferior status in Africa's last absolute monarchy," freelance journalist Gary Nunn writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

28 Oct 2011

American College of Gastroenterology to hold special briefing for journalists

The American College of Gastroenterology will hold a special briefing for journalists at its 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC highlighting new clinical science that explores the role of the "gut microbiota" - the bacterial composition of the GI tract - and the efficacy of probiotics in treating various GI conditions, including antibiotic-associated diarrhea, abdominal discomfort and bloating.

28 Oct 2011

New discoveries on drug resistance in Leishmania

Two remarkable discoveries were today revealed by researchers into genome analysis of Leishmania parasites. These results uncovered a surprising level of variation at the genome structure level.

28 Oct 2011

Virtual platform for intellectual property sharing aims to speed development of drug treatments

"The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched a consortium on Wednesday that would allow the public and private sector to share intellectual property to promote the development of new drugs to treat diseases such as malaria," Reuters reports.

28 Oct 2011