Disease/Infection News

RSS

Iowa State University researcher works on faster method to detect salmonella from contaminated foods

Using technology available through a local company, an Iowa State University researcher is working on a faster method to detect and genetically identify salmonella from contaminated foods.

5 May 2010

Second fidaxomicin Phase 3 clinical study data in patients with CDI to be presented at DDW 2010

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the presentation of new data from its second fidaxomicin Phase 3 clinical study in patients with Clostridium difficile infection. The data, presented by Stuart Johnson, M.D. during an oral session at the annual meeting of Digestive Disease Week in New Orleans, indicated that treatment with fidaxomicin significantly improved the recurrence rate and global cure rate in CDI patients requiring concomitant antibiotics, compared to vancomycin.

5 May 2010

Synageva BioPharma seeks FDA orphan drug designation for SBC-102 enzyme replacement therapy

Synageva BioPharma Corp., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced its filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting orphan drug designation for its program, SBC-102. This program is an enzyme replacement therapy in preclinical development to treat lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) deficiency, also known as Wolman disease or cholesteryl ester storage disease (CESD), a condition for which there is currently no effective treatment.

4 May 2010

Positive results from Phase 2 clinical trial of TAKSTA in patients with ABSSSI

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced positive results from its Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of the novel front loading dosing regimen of TAKSTA (CEM-102, sodium fusidate), the company's oral, anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic.

4 May 2010

Karolinska Institutet researchers discover new control mechanism in immune system

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered a new control mechanism in our immune system. The discovery is of potential significance to the treatment of serious diseases such as MS (multiple sclerosis), rheumatoid arthritis, and SLE (Systemic lupus erythematosus).

4 May 2010

Pilot pneumonia-prevention program reduces postoperative pneumonia in hospital surgical ward: Research

The results of new research results published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons show that a pilot pneumonia-prevention program significantly reduced postoperative pneumonia in a hospital surgical ward.

4 May 2010

UCLM researcher explores employment status of HIV-positive individuals in Spain

Juan Oliva, a researcher at the University of Castilla-La Mancha explores the relationship between the employment status of Human Immunodeficiency Virus -positive individuals and socioeconomic characteristics in Spain between 2001 and 2004. The study finds that gender is a "statistically significant" variable when predicting employment status.

4 May 2010

AIDS 2010 to explore latest developments in HIV science

Organizers of the XVIII International AIDS Conference announced today that President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, and South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi will be among 19 high-level speakers who will address an estimated 25,000 conference attendees in Vienna this summer.

4 May 2010

Rice students' Sally Centrifuge could help diagnose anemia globally

A simple salad spinner will save lives this summer, if everything goes as planned by two Rice University undergraduates.

4 May 2010

NIH awards $3.4M grant for preclinical development of novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine

GlycoVaxyn AG, a leader in the development of innovative bioconjugate vaccines, and Professor Jean Lee, principal investigator at the Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, announced today that they have received a USD 3.4 million NIH grant to finance preclinical development of a novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine. S. aureus is a major cause of hospital-based infections.

4 May 2010

First of 5 Grand Challenges: Create point-of-care tools to diagnose range of illnesses

The Hon. James Flaherty, Minister of Finance for Canada, today announced the launch of Grand Challenges Canada, an innovative initiative that will help redefine Canada's role in the developing world by bringing together Canadian scientists, developing world scientific researchers, and the private sector to solve some of the most persistent health challenges facing poor countries.

4 May 2010

National Cancer Institute data: San Francisco has highest rate of liver cancer in the nation

Recent data released from the National Cancer Institute confirms that San Francisco has the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation. The leading cause of liver cancer is hepatitis B.

4 May 2010

Author of new study calls for responsible media coverage of public health emergencies

A study of emergency department activity before and during the H1N1 influenza pandemic highlights the role public fear can play in unnecessarily straining medical facilities and will aid in ongoing preparations for public health emergencies, according to the authors.

4 May 2010

Study finds standard heel-stick test ineffective in identifying CMV infection in babies

A national study involving a UT Southwestern Medical Center neonatologist and pediatric infectious diseases specialist suggests that a screening test routinely performed in newborns is not very good at identifying cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, a leading cause of hearing loss in children.

4 May 2010

H1N1 positivity highest among children

More than 99 percent of specimens tested for influenza were positive for H1N1 over approximately the past 11 months, according to a report released today from Quest Diagnostics Incorporated ( DGX). The Quest Diagnostics Health Trends™ Report suggests that H1N1 "crowded out" other influenza viruses to be the dominant flu virus of the 2009-2010 flu season.

4 May 2010

Bacteria transmitted by fleas-and potentially ticks-can be passed to babies by mother: Researcher

A North Carolina State University researcher has discovered that bacteria transmitted by fleas-and potentially ticks-can be passed to human babies by the mother, causing chronic infections and raising the possibility of bacterially induced birth defects.

4 May 2010

Older children hospitalized with pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009: Study

Children hospitalized with pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009 were older and more likely to have underlying medical conditions than children hospitalized with seasonal influenza during prior flu seasons, according to a study to be presented Tuesday, May 4 at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

4 May 2010

Opinions: Malaria bed net concerns; Catholic Church's humanitarian work; Abortion, global health; Foreign aid reform; Canada's G8 initiative

"To date, millions of dollars from international agencies, NGOs and USAID have been spent to get treated nets into the hands of impoverished, sub-Saharan Africans [to prevent malaria]. ... But, as even the staunchest advocate will admit, the treated nets were not designed with the cultural preferences of the rural African villager in mind," Sonia Shah, author of upcoming book about malaria, writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.

4 May 2010

TB Alliance, AstraZeneca sign research collaboration agreement to develop drugs against tuberculosis

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and AstraZeneca announced today at the 2010 BIO International Convention that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement to accelerate the discovery, development and clinical use of drugs against tuberculosis, including drug resistant strains of the disease.

4 May 2010

Fate of the unused swine flu vaccines

The United States Government in an announcement on Monday revealed that the U.S. still has 71 million doses of unused H1N1 swine flu vaccine but there is still time left before it is wasted. They have urged the providers to keep the vaccines and continue to supply them to people until pharmaceutical manufacturers start distributing seasonal vaccine for the coming influenza season in the autumn.

4 May 2010

Disease/Infection News

Iowa State University researcher works on faster method to detect salmonella from contaminated foods

Second fidaxomicin Phase 3 clinical study data in patients with CDI to be presented at DDW 2010

Synageva BioPharma seeks FDA orphan drug designation for SBC-102 enzyme replacement therapy

Positive results from Phase 2 clinical trial of TAKSTA in patients with ABSSSI

Karolinska Institutet researchers discover new control mechanism in immune system

Pilot pneumonia-prevention program reduces postoperative pneumonia in hospital surgical ward: Research

UCLM researcher explores employment status of HIV-positive individuals in Spain

AIDS 2010 to explore latest developments in HIV science

Rice students' Sally Centrifuge could help diagnose anemia globally

NIH awards $3.4M grant for preclinical development of novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine

First of 5 Grand Challenges: Create point-of-care tools to diagnose range of illnesses

National Cancer Institute data: San Francisco has highest rate of liver cancer in the nation

Author of new study calls for responsible media coverage of public health emergencies

Study finds standard heel-stick test ineffective in identifying CMV infection in babies

H1N1 positivity highest among children

Bacteria transmitted by fleas-and potentially ticks-can be passed to babies by mother: Researcher

Older children hospitalized with pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009: Study

Opinions: Malaria bed net concerns; Catholic Church's humanitarian work; Abortion, global health; Foreign aid reform; Canada's G8 initiative

TB Alliance, AstraZeneca sign research collaboration agreement to develop drugs against tuberculosis

Fate of the unused swine flu vaccines

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

Latest News