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HSV1 drugs could slow progression of Alzheimer's disease

Antiviral drugs used to target the herpes virus could be effective at slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a new study shows.

From The University of Manchester 18 Oct 2011

VEC and AMA release updated information guide, 'Vaccines and Teens'

This week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (VEC) and the American Medical Association released an updated information guide called Vaccines and Teens for parents and physicians, detailing the most current recommendations and information about critical immunizations for older children.

18 Oct 2011

New treatment approach for septic Listeria infection

Research underway at the Trudeau Institute could lead to new treatments for people sickened by Listeria and other sepsis-causing bacteria. Dr. Stephen Smiley's laboratory has published a study in the scientific journal Infection and Immunity that supports a new approach to treating these infections.

18 Oct 2011

FDA clears BioHelix IsoAmp HSV molecular diagnostic assay

BioHelix Corporation has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the company's first molecular diagnostic assay, the IsoAmp HSV Assay. The diagnostic test is intended for the detection of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV1 & HSV2) in genital and oral lesion specimens from symptomatic patients.

18 Oct 2011

Single approach to tackling NCDs, NTDs includes improving governance, strengthening health systems

In this "End the Neglect" blog post, Alanna Shaikh, a writer for U.N. Dispatch, follows up on her previous post in which she asserts that "there is a single approach that will help to fight both" non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), writing that in order to tackle both types of diseases "we can improve governance and we can strengthen health systems."

18 Oct 2011

Two genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to severe dengue

Researchers in South East Asia have identified two genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to severe dengue. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore, offers clues to how the body responds to dengue infection.

18 Oct 2011

Scientists discover a way to accurately map typhoid outbreaks in the city

In the mid-nineteenth century, John Snow mapped cases of cholera in Soho, London, and traced the source of the outbreak to a contaminated water pump. Now, in a twenty-first century equivalent, scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust working in Kathmandu, Nepal, have combined the latest in gene sequencing technology and global positioning system (GPS) case localisation to map the spread of typhoid and trace its source.

18 Oct 2011

One in six mobile phones home for E. coli: Study

The London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released a study in conjunction with the Queen Mary, University of London which suggests that Britons are not doing a good enough job of washing hands. Experts said the most likely reason for the potentially harmful bacteria festering on so many gadgets was people failing to wash their hands properly with soap after going to the toilet.

17 Oct 2011

Molecular switch activates anti-viral innate immune response

When a thief breaks into a bank vault, sensors are activated and the alarm is raised. Cells have their own early-warning system for intruders, and scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, have discovered how a particular protein sounds that alarm when it detects invading viruses.

15 Oct 2011

Prevention training critical to reduction of hospital infection rates

Infections picked up in hospital affect almost a third of patients in intensive care, and kill 44% of those people. Given that some infectious agents can linger for weeks or months it is increasingly important that staff awareness of the problem is improved and that training in infection prevention across the National Health Service and in private healthcare is expanded, according to researchers at the University of Northampton.

15 Oct 2011

CDC report lays out 'lessons learned' from Haiti's cholera outbreak

"Cholera cases have risen in Haiti, but the number dying from the disease is down, according to researchers from the [CDC]," CNN's health blog "The Chart" reports. Robert Tauxe, researcher and deputy director at CDC said, "The number of deaths was initially way too high. But within a few weeks of the outbreak, we trained teams to treat the disease and increased access to supplies," according to the blog.

15 Oct 2011

Forum focuses on challenges facing women, girls affected by HIV in Eastern Europe, Central Asia

"Women, girls and HIV were the focus of a panel discussion on the final day of the International Forum on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia," UNAIDS reports.

15 Oct 2011

Health groups urge Secretary of U.S. Army to sustain funding for military HIV research program

"Speaking out against a potential $16 million cut in the Army's base research and development budget for HIV, leaders of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) sent a letter Thursday to the Secretary of the U.S. Army, John McHugh, making the case for sustaining the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP)," according to the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

15 Oct 2011

ABI provides clinical update on company activities

Amarillo Biosciences, Inc. (ABI) today provided an update on company activities.

15 Oct 2011

Myths about head lice

Autumn brings tales of scary delight but none terrifies parents so much as the note home from school that a case of lice has been detected.

14 Oct 2011

Funding for NCDs doesn't have to come at the expense of NTDs

In this "End the Neglect" blog post, Alanna Shaikh, a writer for U.N. Dispatch, writes that while "[a]t first glance, the new focus on cardiovascular and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) looks like trouble for the funding for things like neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) ... that conflict is mostly superficial. NCDs and NTDs have much more in common than their initials.

14 Oct 2011

Engineered HBLs could prevent deadly allergic reactions

Researchers from the University of Notre Dame have announced a breakthrough approach to allergy treatment that inhibits food allergies, drug allergies, and asthmatic reactions without suppressing a sufferer's entire immunological system.

14 Oct 2011

Penn scientist tracks attitudes and H1N1 vaccination rates on Twitter

A unique and innovative analysis of how social media can affect the spread of a disease has been designed and implemented by a scientist at Penn State University studying attitudes toward the H1N1 vaccine. Marcel Salath-, an assistant professor of biology, studied how users of Twitter -- a popular microblogging and social-networking service -- expressed their sentiments about a new vaccine.

14 Oct 2011

Emergency grant to end U.S. AIDS drug crisis gets rejected

The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has notified the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) that an application it submitted on behalf of the United States for an emergency grant of $50 million to end the ongoing AIDS drug crisis in the U.S. is being rejected because, as one of the wealthiest nations in the world, "the United States is not eligible for funding from the Global Fund."

14 Oct 2011

Study finds vitamin D is critical in human immune response to tuberculosis

"Vitamin D is needed to activate the immune system's response to tuberculosis (TB)," a finding that "could lead to new treatments for the lung disease," researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) said in a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, Agence France-Presse reports.

14 Oct 2011