Disease/Infection News

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AIDS virus initially more destructive than first thought

The AIDS virus destroys more than half of the immune cells that might recognize and help fight it, within days of infection according to US researchers, and this revelation might necessitate a re-evaluation of how the deadly infection should be tackled.

28 Mar 2005

Vaccine prevents deadly pneumonia in African children

Global health leaders today presented new research showing that vaccinating infants against Streptococcus pneumoniae -- a bacterium that causes deadly pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis -- could substantially reduce death and serious illness among children in the developing world. If used widely, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine could prevent hundreds of thousands of child deaths each year.

28 Mar 2005

Patients with Hepatitis C have a significant decrease in their health-related quality-of-life

Patients with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) have a significant decrease in their health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL), although treatment success can mitigate this negative effect.

28 Mar 2005

Marburg death toll in Angola now up to 122

Carlos Alberto, a spokesman for the Angolan health ministry, says the death toll in the Marburg hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Angola has now risen to 122, just one fewer than in the largest previous outbreak of the disease, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1998 to 200 and killed 123 of 149 people infected.

28 Mar 2005

E. coli petting zoo link in Florida

A 12-year-old girl's death is being investigated for possible links to an outbreak of E. coli bacterial infections among people who attended one of two fairs in early March that included petting zoos, the Strawberry Festival in Plant City and the Central Florida Fair in Orlando.

28 Mar 2005

Child care may affect entire community's risks of infection

Any parent knows how quickly a cold or a cough can spread between children who play together. However, child care may also affect an entire community's carriage of potentially dangerous bacteria known as Streptococcus pneumoniae, according to an article in the April 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

28 Mar 2005

New insights into Pemphigus

Pemphigus is a deadly skin blistering disease that occurs when patients' produce antibodies that attack proteins in their own cells – called autoantibodies.

28 Mar 2005

Vaccine against pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease shows promise

A vaccine against pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease, a severe form of bacterial infection, can substantially reduce hospital admissions and improve the survival of children in developing countries, concludes a trial published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

28 Mar 2005

Marburg Virus responsible for disease outbreak in Angola

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced yesterday that laboratory tests have shown that the cause of a hemorrhagic fever outbreak in northern Angola is the Marburg virus.

23 Mar 2005

Evidence SARS virus may spread through the air

Two new studies present evidence that the virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) may spread through the air, not just through direct contact with contaminated water droplets as previous research had shown.

23 Mar 2005

NIAID investigates safety of H5N1 avian influenza vaccine

Fast-track recruitment has begun for a trial to investigate the safety of a vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced today.

23 Mar 2005

Promising results reported for HIV patients suffering from facial wasting

Physicians from leading plastic surgery and dermatology practices report positive results from HIV patients participating in a clinical trial of Radiesse synthetic injectable implant on facial wasting. The trial is intended to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of this widely used tissue augmentation therapy as a treatment for the facial changes that socially stigmatize many HIV-infected patients.

23 Mar 2005

Miami baby possibly USA's 1st case of West Nile virus

West Nile Virus is a flavivirus commonly found in Africa, West Asia, and the Middle East and is related to the St. Louis encephalitis virus found in the United States. Preliminary tests suggest a 14-month-old baby hospitalized in Miami may be the nation's first case of West Nile virus this year.

22 Mar 2005

Fever outbreak in Angola causes concern

More than 90 people have died in Angola from what experts believe to be acute hemorrhagic fever syndrome.

22 Mar 2005

Depression appears to be a major cause of insomnia in people with HIV

Patients in the last stages of HIV infection with full-blown AIDS and those who have suffered some kind of brain impairment as a result of the disease are also more likely to suffer from insomnia, the reviewers conclude in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

22 Mar 2005

Asian Flu threat underestimated

Dr. Keiji Fukuda an expert at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that the incident of the particularly lethal variation of influenza in Southeast Asia is probably far greater than has been reported so far.

21 Mar 2005

New findings about the spread of HIV in the UK

Contrary to the prevailing belief that the HIV epidemic in the UK can be traced back to one source, a new study by Oxford and London scientists suggests that HIV spread via at least six independent virus introductions and subsequent transmission chains.

21 Mar 2005

Rubella no threat in U.S.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ,speaking at the National Immunization Conference Washington, DC, says the rubella virus, a major cause of serious birth defects such as deafness and blindness, also known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is no longer considered to be a major public health threat in the United States.

21 Mar 2005

New information on TB available online

A range of new information on TB including top facts and a handy Q&A will be available at the click of a button when it goes live on www.immunisation.nhs.uk tomorrow - ahead of World Stop TB Day.

21 Mar 2005

Scientists provide insight into the molecular mechanisms behind Listeria monocytogenes

When the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes invades the body, it commandeers its host cell's actin cytoskeleton to invade other cells. In a report published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, a group of scientists provide insight into the molecular mechanisms behind this infection technique.

21 Mar 2005