Disease/Infection News

RSS

Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October: Quest Diagnostics

Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October, but the pandemic flu virus continues to be a potential source of illness in all age groups, including the elderly, according to a new report by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services.

From Quest Diagnostics 21 Nov 2009

First nationwide human immunology registry for infectious disease research

RemedyMD (www.RemedyMD.com), the leading provider of disease registry software, today announced the first nationwide human immunology registry for infectious disease research. The new registry was developed to help clinicians and researchers better understand the human immune response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

21 Nov 2009

UNICEF report highlights gains in child health, while 1b still lack essential services

A special edition of UNICEF's annual State of the World's Children report, released 20 years after the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, shows that "fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school - but an estimated 1 billion still lack services essential to their survival and development," the Associated Press reports.

20 Nov 2009

Study recommends chest ultrasound for evaluating pediatric patients with complicated pneumonia

Chest ultrasound can serve as a viable alternative to chest CT in the evaluation of pediatric patients with complicated pneumonia and parapneumonic effusion (a build-up of fluid between the lung and chest wall), according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

20 Nov 2009

Evidence does not connect H1N1 vaccine to patient deaths, WHO says

The deaths of 41 people from six countries who had received the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine were not directly linked to the vaccine, the WHO said Thursday, the Associated Press/MSNBC reports (11/19).

20 Nov 2009

News outlets examine malaria drug resistance, hope for malaria eradication in Africa

Experts at an American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting this week said that resistance to the best available drug to treat malaria "is more widespread in Southeast Asia than previously reported," Science News/Wired Science reports. Researchers have been monitoring drug resistance along the Thailand-Cambodia border where patients taking artemisinin combination therapy - the most potent treatment for malaria - have been clearing the parasite from their bodies more slowly.

20 Nov 2009

Hemicorporectomy effective, and add years and quality of life to survivors

A landmark, 25-year review of cases in which surgeons had to remove the lower portion of the body from the waist down for severe pelvic bone infections shows the therapy can add years and quality of life to survivors, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

20 Nov 2009

Physicists observe experimental evidence for directed percolation

A team of physicists has, for the first time, seen convincing experimental evidence for directed percolation, a phenomenon that turns up in computer models of the ways diseases spread through a population or how water soaks through loose soil. Their observation strengthens the case for directed percolation's relevance to real systems, and lends new vigor to long-standing theories about how it works. Their experiment is reported in Physical Review E and highlighted with a Viewpoint in the November 16 issue of Physics (http://physics.aps.org).

20 Nov 2009

LAIV and TIV vaccines appear to offer protection against A/H1N1 virus

Immunization with either live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV, also known as FluMist®), or trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV), appears to offer a protection (~ 45%) against the novel A/H1N1 virus, the cause of the present influenza pandemic. However, the benefit was largely attributed to the youngest age group. The finding emerges from an evaluation of medical encounters and seasonal influenza immunization of U.S. military service members.

20 Nov 2009

University of Michigan scientists discover how SEVI works

Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of thwarting its infection-promoting activity.

20 Nov 2009

"EurSafety Health-net" launched to fight hospital acquired MRSA infection

On November 19, 2009, the kick-off meeting for the Euregio-project "EurSafety Health-net" has taken place. EurSafety Health-net is the follow-up of EUREGIO MRSA-net, that, according to the Robert Koch Institute, gained some sort of model character all over the nation when talking about prevention of hospital acquired MRSA infection. Besides the protection against infection, the main goal of this new project is to strengthen the patients' safety on both sides of the border.

20 Nov 2009

Discoveries on anti-HIV antibodies may help researchers create an effective HIV vaccine

New discoveries about anti-HIV antibodies may bring researchers a step closer to creating an effective HIV vaccine, according to a new paper co-authored by scientists at the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

20 Nov 2009

Pediatric immunologist receives prestigious annual award from American Philosophical Society

A pediatric immunologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has received a prestigious annual award from the American Philosophical Society, an organization founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin. Jordan S. Orange, M.D., Ph.D., received the Society's Judson Daland Prize on Nov. 13 for his contributions to research and treatment of inherited immune deficiency diseases.

20 Nov 2009

Antimalarial drug resistance endangers malarial control measures

Evidence of resistance to the antimalarial drug artemisinin and its derivatives threatens efforts to control malaria in Southeast Asia, and experts fear artemisinin resistance may spread from the Thailand-Cambodia border to affect other malaria endemic countries. Evidence to such effect was presented today at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

20 Nov 2009

Leading driver of antibiotic selection in nosocomial pneumonia in Europe found

Arlington Medical Resources (AMR) and Decision Resources find that the leading driver of antibiotic selection in nosocomial pneumonia in Europe is broad-spectrum activity against gram-positive and gram-negative pathogens.

20 Nov 2009

WSNA highlights serious concerns about safety of nurses and patients during H1N1 pandemic

Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), representing more than 1,600 registered nurses at Sacred Heart Medical Center, is holding a press conference today to highlight serious concerns about the safety of nurses and patients at Sacred Heart Medical Center during this H1N1 pandemic.

20 Nov 2009

University of Leeds scientists' discovery could lead to new treatment route for BSE and CJD

A new treatment route for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human form Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) could be a step closer thanks to a discovery by scientists at the University of Leeds.

20 Nov 2009

H1N1: Bridging the knowledge gap

A commentary in the December issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases brings to light the gaps in knowledge on the transmission of a common pathogen - the influenza virus - and its impact on decisions about how best to protect health care workers. Infectious diseases specialist Leonard Mermel, DO, medical director of infection control for Rhode Island Hospital, looks at the ongoing debate in light of the H1N1 pandemic, what past research tells us about the spread of influenza, and what is missing in the debate. His commentary is currently available in an online first edition.

20 Nov 2009

WPI researchers develop new model system to study fungal infections

A team of researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park has developed a new model system to study fungal infections. The system can be a powerful tool for screening potential drug targets for conditions like thrush, athlete's foot and vaginal yeast infections, which affect millions of people each year but are difficult to treat with existing medications. Using the new model, the researchers also identified a gene that may be a promising target for a new anti-fungal drug.

20 Nov 2009

Researchers to discover new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease

A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites.

20 Nov 2009

Disease/Infection News

Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October: Quest Diagnostics

First nationwide human immunology registry for infectious disease research

UNICEF report highlights gains in child health, while 1b still lack essential services

Study recommends chest ultrasound for evaluating pediatric patients with complicated pneumonia

Evidence does not connect H1N1 vaccine to patient deaths, WHO says

News outlets examine malaria drug resistance, hope for malaria eradication in Africa

Hemicorporectomy effective, and add years and quality of life to survivors

Physicists observe experimental evidence for directed percolation

LAIV and TIV vaccines appear to offer protection against A/H1N1 virus

University of Michigan scientists discover how SEVI works

"EurSafety Health-net" launched to fight hospital acquired MRSA infection

Discoveries on anti-HIV antibodies may help researchers create an effective HIV vaccine

Pediatric immunologist receives prestigious annual award from American Philosophical Society

Antimalarial drug resistance endangers malarial control measures

Leading driver of antibiotic selection in nosocomial pneumonia in Europe found

WSNA highlights serious concerns about safety of nurses and patients during H1N1 pandemic

University of Leeds scientists' discovery could lead to new treatment route for BSE and CJD

H1N1: Bridging the knowledge gap

WPI researchers develop new model system to study fungal infections

Researchers to discover new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease

How industrial hygiene flow calibration supports defensible exposure data

How electrical engineering ensures accurate calibration and patient safety

The importance of ketones from a clinical and medical perspective

Latest News