Disease/Infection News

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Man with rare TB zig-zagged his way around Europe on planes

Officials in the United States have revealed that the airline passenger infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis fled across Europe to avoid detection.

31 May 2007

U.S. government prevents meat packer testing for mad cow disease

In what is being seen by many as a curious and in some ways surprising move, the U.S. government is trying to prevent a Kansas meat packer from testing all of their animals for Mad Cow disease.

31 May 2007

Trans-Atlantic air traveler in quarantine with dangerous TB

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States have placed a trans-Atlantic air traveler under quarantine because he has a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis.

31 May 2007

Stop TB Partnership aims to treat 50 million patients between 2006 and 2015

Securing its place as an indispensable defence against the development and spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), the Stop TB Partnership announced that its drug supply arm, the Global Drug Facility, has provided anti-TB drug treatments for 10 million people to 78 countries in the past six years.

30 May 2007

Community-associated antibiotic-resistant staph infections increase

The incidence of antibiotic-resistant staph infections associated with being acquired in the community and not in health care institutions increased almost seven-fold in Chicago's Cook County Hospital system between 2000 and 2005, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

30 May 2007

H5N1 influenza virus survivors' antibodies effective at neutralising H5N1 strain

Adults who have recovered from the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza may hold the key to future treatments for the virus, according to an international team of researchers.

30 May 2007

Routine HIV testing called for in A&E departments

A hospital consultant in Britain says patients who seek treatment at an accident and emergency department (A&E) should be routinely tested for HIV.

29 May 2007

Blood of bird flu survivors promises new treatment for the deadly virus

Scientists are optimistic that blood donated by four survivors of bird flu will offer some clues as to why some people appear to have protection against the deadly H5N1 virus.

29 May 2007

Superbugs out and about in the community

Researchers in the U.S. say that it is not just in hospitals that the so-called "superbugs" present a problem.

29 May 2007

Form of bird flu spreads in Wales

An outbreak of a mild form of bird flu in Wales continues to spread and authorities have admitted that they cannot rule out the possibility that the disease has spread from person-to-person.

28 May 2007

Sailors sent home because of mumps

A Canadian naval vessel had been forced to send almost it's entire crew home after one of the crew members developed a case of the mumps.

28 May 2007

Bird flu arrives in Britain

Health officials in the UK are investigating two possible cases of bird flu in north Wales and say 36 people could have been in contact with the disease.

28 May 2007

Avian influenza H7N2 infection confirmed in north Wales

The Health Protection Agency is providing expert support and advice to the National Public Health Service for Wales after an H7N2 avian influenza infection was found in birds on a small farm in north Wales.

27 May 2007

Another death in Indonesia from bird flu and thousands more birds culled

Another death has been reported in Indonesia from bird flu along with another reported case in Vietnam.

25 May 2007

Significant breakthrough in the search for an effective malaria vaccine

One person dies of it every 30 seconds, it rivals HIV and tuberculosis as the world's most deadly infection and the vast majority of its victims are under five years old.

24 May 2007

Antibiotics are highly effective for treating Lyme disease

A guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology finds conventionally recommended courses of antibiotics are highly effective for treating nervous system Lyme disease.

24 May 2007

System to identify air travel passengers responsible for the unintentional release of germs

Researchers developing a system that uses mathematical models and sensors to locate passengers releasing hazardous materials or pathogens inside airline cabins have shown that the technique can track a substance to an area the size of a single seat.

24 May 2007

Global warming and infectious diseases

As the Earth's temperatures continue to rise, we can expect a significant change in infectious disease patterns around the globe.

24 May 2007

Status of malaria in the world today

In an editorial in this week's JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Gianna Zuccotti, M.D., Contributing Editor, and Catherine D. DeAngelis, M.D., M.P.H., Editor in Chief, JAMA, comment on the status of malaria in the world today.

24 May 2007

Diagnostic tests for Malaria are often underused in Zambia

Despite improvements in the ability to diagnose malaria, these diagnostic tests are often underused in Zambia, and patients with negative test results are often prescribed anti-malaria medications, according to a study in the May 23/30 issue of JAMA , a theme issue on malaria.

24 May 2007