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Unlocking proteins from their cellular shell

Applying physical stress to cells, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated that everyday forces can alter the structure of proteins tucked within cells, unfold them and expose new targets in the fight against disease.

3 Aug 2007

Medical residents unclear about TB guidelines

US medical residents are not proficient at diagnosing and managing tuberculosis (TB), according to a report published in the online open access journal, BMC Infectious Diseases.

3 Aug 2007

Medical residents score poorly in diagnosing and managing tuberculosis

When quizzed about their knowledge in diagnosing tuberculosis and deciding on the best treatment, medical residents in Baltimore and Philadelphia get almost half the answers wrong, according to a survey by TB disease experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere.

3 Aug 2007

Abstinence from sex fails to cut risk of HIV infection in high income countries

Programmes that exclusively encourage abstinence from sex do not seem to affect the risk of HIV infection in high income countries, finds a review of the evidence in this week's BMJ.

3 Aug 2007

First confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Pennsylvania

State Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson has reported this year's first confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Pennsylvania. The individual, a 56-year-old Clearfield County man, is recovering and has been discharged from the hospital.

3 Aug 2007

Prototype vaccine against tuberculosis

Using a novel approach, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a prototype vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) that works better in animal models than the only TB vaccine now available.

2 Aug 2007

Vaccines for tuberculosis

The microorganism that causes tuberculosis, M. Tuberculosis, infects more than a one third of the world's population.

2 Aug 2007

Sex trafficking fueling India's HIV/AIDS epidemic

A new study on the prevalence of HIV in India has found that almost 40 percent of Nepalese women and girls who were rescued after being forced into prostitution in India are HIV positive.

1 Aug 2007

Bill Gates digs deep in his pocket for AIDS

The University of Maryland has been awarded a grant worth $15 Million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop an HIV/AIDS vaccine.

1 Aug 2007

TB back in the news again in the U.S.

After years of hearing very little news on tuberculosis (TB), these days it seems to appear in the news on an almost weekly basis.

1 Aug 2007

HIV prevalence and predictors of infection in sex-trafficked Nepalese girls and women

A study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers of girls and women who were sex-trafficked from Nepal to India and then repatriated has found that 38 percent were HIV positive.

1 Aug 2007

New report on HIV/AIDS globally

Thirty-nine million people have been infected by the HIV virus, and seventeen million have died as a result, mostly in the developing world.

1 Aug 2007

New TB vaccine could save over a million lives

Initial trials of a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine mean the drug will now progress to phase II trials.

31 Jul 2007

Taiwanese TB globe trotters back home

In another case of globe trotting tuberculosis (TB) air travelers, a couple from Taiwan are now back home.

31 Jul 2007

Poliomyelitis in Angola and the Congo

On 25 July 2007, four new cases of polio were confirmed in Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the total number of cases in the country this year to 27.

30 Jul 2007

Chinese authorities ban AIDS conference

An AIDS conference planned to take place in China in August has been banned by government authorities.

30 Jul 2007

Steam out those superbugs!

According to scientists in Britain the battle against super bugs such as MRSA could be won with steam cleaning.

30 Jul 2007

Smugglers exacerbate bird flu outbreak in India

India's latest bird flu outbreak has been further complicated by poultry farmers in the country's northeast attempting to smuggle flocks of chickens out of a quarantine zone.

30 Jul 2007

Long-term herpes treatment may reduce HIV infectivity

Long-term anti-herpes treatment of women infected with both HIV and HSV2, the virus that causes genital herpes, may reduce the proportion of women with detectable HIV virus in their genital secretions according to the results of a trial in Tanzania presented the International AIDS Society Conference in Sydney.

26 Jul 2007

Mummies provide clues to combat hepatitis B

Mummies that have recently been unearthed in South Korea may provide clues on how to combat hepatitis B, according to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

26 Jul 2007