Disease/Infection News

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Compugen announces development of PPI Blockers Discovery Platform

Compugen Ltd. announced today the development of its Protein-Protein Interaction Blockers (PPI Blockers) Discovery Platform, designed for the prediction of peptides to block disease associated protein-protein interactions. In a pilot validation run, predicted peptides showed positive results for drug targets in two cancer related pathways of interest to the industry.

23 Apr 2010

QF-CMV test helps predict transplant recipients at increased risk of CMV disease after surgery

New international guidelines published in the journal Transplantation reinforce the use of a new type of blood test to assess cytomegalovirus (CMV) risk in solid organ transplant recipients (i.e. transplant recipients). This blood test, QuantiFERON®-CMV (QF-CMV), is the first commercially-available blood test to allow physicians to monitor a person's risk of CMV disease. Most commonly used in the transplant setting, QF-CMV may predict which transplant recipients are at increased risk of CMV disease after transplant surgery.

23 Apr 2010

Funding levels need to be increased in fight against malaria

"To realize the real impact of investments in our fight against malaria, we must not only maintain current funding levels but actually increase them. If we don't, then the achievements we have made in providing malaria protection will be short lived," said Sunil Mehra, Executive Director of the UK-based Malaria Consortium.

23 Apr 2010

New USG strategy to combat malaria globally

In conjunction with World Malaria Day, and in accordance with the requirements of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Lantos-Hyde), the U.S. Government, through the President's Malaria Initiative, today released a comprehensive strategy to combat malaria globally.

23 Apr 2010

Deadly fungus on the move

Researchers revealed this Thursday that a deadly fungus that is usually found only in the tropics is making its way to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia and south into Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

23 Apr 2010

IAVI, Lentigen to design preventive AIDS vaccine

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Lentigen today announced a collaboration to design a preventive AIDS vaccine based on Lentigen's technology. The candidate AIDS vaccine will be devised to safely mimic biological aspects of HIV infection and tested first in pre-clinical studies as part of an initial 18-month agreement.

23 Apr 2010

Seasonal flu vaccine causing serious side effects in under-fives: Ban on flu vaccination program

The seasonal flu vaccine has caused serious side effects in dozens of children in Western Australia (WA) and following this the Health Department has suspended further free flu vaccinations for under-fives. There has been as rise in admissions to Princess Margaret Hospital. The side effects to the flu vaccine include fever, vomiting and often seizures related to high fever, also known as febrile convulsions. One of the children is seriously ill at present.

22 Apr 2010

AB SCIEX to collaborate in disease studies with Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced that it is collaborating with the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, one of the world's leading centers for biomedical research, to improve disease studies. The project is focused on better understanding cancer, diabetes and heart disease by advancing the study of proteins through the use of an emerging mass spectrometry platform currently under development by AB SCIEX.

22 Apr 2010

New gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision

Veterinary ophthalmology researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision in two canine models of congenital achromatopsia, also called rod monochromacy or total color blindness.

22 Apr 2010

Study uses new BL-DMAC method to measure PAC levels in cranberry products

Natural compounds in cranberries are linked to the prevention of urinary tract infections (UTIs) but inconsistencies in methods currently used commercially to measure levels can result in the over- or under-estimation of potency levels, leaving product manufacturers and consumers without good data. A study published today in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture outlines a new, commercially viable method of measuring these compounds.

22 Apr 2010

Los Angeles slum housing health crisis

Over three hundred community members, stakeholders, and public health workers joined Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas for a People's Hearing on Slum Housing and the unveiling of a position paper documenting the health crisis related to slum housing in Los Angeles.

22 Apr 2010

Human lymphocytes produce hepcidin that regulate iron levels in the body: Study

For some years now a small group of scientists have been pioneering a revolutionary idea - that the vertebrate immune system could have a role in the regulation of iron in the body. And now, a work soon to be published in the journal Immunology, shows that human lymphocytes (white blood cells) actually produce hepcidin, the most important protein in the regulation of iron levels in the body.

22 Apr 2010

International Day for Fighting Infection focuses on hospital infection control

Hospital acquired infections are the focus for the 3rd International Day for Fighting Infection, being marked on St. George’s Day, as experts meet to look at the evolution of infection control in hospitals.

22 Apr 2010

MRSA infections on the rise in hospitals and health care settings: AHRQ report

Despite activities to identify and reduce the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other health care-associated infections in hospitals and health care settings nationwide, new reports released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality show that MRSA is on the rise and continues to pose an alarming threat.

22 Apr 2010

Swine flu vaccine blues

Exactly a year after the swine flu outbreak vigilance, newer vaccine techniques and other measures are being emphasized by researchers and key decision makers. Dr. Harvey Fineberg, chairman of the World Health Organization's pandemic review committee and President of the U.S. Institute of Medicine says, we need to look at the past to learn from it.

22 Apr 2010

H1N1 flu epidemic has lessons to offer health care providers: Anesthesia Progress

The H1N1 flu epidemic has lessons to offer health care providers. The limited amount of vaccine available initially left pregnant women, small children with medical conditions, and other high-risk populations waiting in long lines. The problems encountered in reaching certain segments of the population apply to the provision of dental care as well as other disciplines.

22 Apr 2010

Bacterial infections often missed in febrile children in the ER

In a new study researchers reveal that up to one third of children with fever due to bacterial infections do not receive antibiotics in the emergency department and 20% of kids receive antibiotics unnecessarily.

22 Apr 2010

AFP reflects on WHO's response to H1N1

Agence France-Presse examines the WHO's response to H1N1 (swine flu) one year since the virus was first reported in Mexico and the U.S. "A year on, questions linger as to whether a decision by the World Health Organization to declare swine flu a pandemic, thereby unleashing the slew of health measures, was over-dramatic or even tainted by commercial interests," the news service writes.

22 Apr 2010

Study helps understand molecular mechanism underlying taurine's protection against hepatic fibrosis

Hepatic fibrosis (HF) occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases and approximately 25%-40% of HF cases may ultimately progress to hepatic cirrhosis. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) contribute significantly to the occurrence of HF and the activation of HSC is the key issue in the pathogenesis of HF. Taurine is a kind of important anti-injury substance in the body.

21 Apr 2010

Biomagnetics Diagnostics receives commitment for clinical validation testing in India for malaria, TB diagnosis

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria detection, today announced it has received important commitments from two leading research laboratories in India for clinical validation testing for malaria and tuberculosis (TB) detection and diagnosis.

21 Apr 2010