Diarrhea News and Research

Latest Diarrhea News and Research

Investigational vaccine against Clostridium difficile

Acambis has announced that earlier this month it started a Phase I clinical trial of its investigational vaccine against Clostridium difficile (C. difficile).

26 Jul 2005

Mixture of 8 bacteria (VSL#3) for 6 weeks helps ulcerative colitis

A mixture of bacteria developed in part by University of Alberta researchers has been proven highly effective in treating people suffering from ulcerative colitis.

25 Jul 2005

Antibiotics should not be prescribed to patients with the common cold

Antibiotics should not be prescribed to patients with the common cold because there is scant evidence they stop other infections, and the benefits do not outweigh the risks, according to a new systematic review of current evidence.

19 Jul 2005

Nebivolol may help control high blood pressure

According to research presented at ISHIB2005, nebivolol was shown to be statistically significantly better than placebo in reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure among African-American hypertensive patients in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

18 Jul 2005

Handwashing with soap could halve the incidence of diarrhoea in children in developing countries

Every year more than 3·5 million children aged less than 5 years die from diarrhoea and acute lower respiratory tract infection, making these two clinical syndromes the largest cause of childhood deaths globally.

14 Jul 2005

Blood testing links common foods and irritable bowel syndrome

Researchers using comparison trials determined that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients have elevated food-specific IgG4 antibodies to common foods such as wheat, beef, pork, lamb, and soya bean. These findings are published in the July issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

13 Jul 2005

Bird flu could be carried out of Asia by migrating geese

Scientists are warning that migrating geese and other birds at a wildlife refuge in China, means the birds could carry the devastating virus out of Asia and spread the avian flu virus further afield.

7 Jul 2005

Preclinical data suggest CuraGen's Velafermin may protect the gastrointestinal tract and decrease associated toxicity following exposure to radiation

New preclinical data on velafermin (CG53135), CuraGen's Phase II clinical product being developed for the prevention of oral mucositis (OM), suggesting that velafermin may protect the gastrointestinal tract and decrease associated toxicity, including enteritis and diarrhea, following exposure to radiation.

1 Jul 2005

$5.1 billion could save 6 million children

Six million children could be saved if $5.1 billion in new resources for preventive and therapeutic interventions were provided each year, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions.

27 Jun 2005

Found! - mutant viruses that laid NSW low with gastro

New mutant viruses responsible for gastroenteritis outbreaks in New South Wales in recent times have been identified by research published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the US Centers for Disease Control.

27 Jun 2005

3 health workers arrested after hepatitis vaccine kills a schoolchild and makes 120 others ill

After a hepatitis vaccine was administered in their schools in central China, one child died and another 120 have become ill.

27 Jun 2005

FDA approves treatment for diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium infection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Alinia (nitazoxanide) tablets and oral suspension for treating diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium parvum infection in adults and children 12 years and older. The product, already approved to treat the same infection in younger children, received a priority review by FDA.

19 Jun 2005

Cholera epidemic feared in Afghan capital

More than 2,000 cases of cholera have been reported in the Afghan capital Kabul, and health experts fear the city is on the verge of a cholera epidemic.

14 Jun 2005

Rimonabant study shows significant improvements in HbA1c and cardiometabolic risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes

The reported results of a one-year phase III study in 1045 people with type 2 diabetes treated with rimonabant, the first in a new class of therapeutic agents called selective CB1 Blockers, were that rimonabant 20 mg significantly improved HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar control), dyslipidemia (abnormal levels of fat in the blood), and systolic blood pressure with a concomitant substantial reduction in abdominal obesity in people with type 2 diabetes treated with oral anti-diabetic medications and requiring further control.

12 Jun 2005

European approval of Temodal (temozolomide) capsules for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme

Schering-Plough announced today that the European Commission has granted approval of Temodal (temozolomide) Capsules for first-line use for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and aggressive form of primary brain cancer.

10 Jun 2005

Researchers discover how hepatic-C virus evades immune system in acute and chronic infections

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have uncovered how a majority of the genetic changes in the hepatic-C virus, the most common cause of liver disease, allow it to evade the body's immune system during infection.

10 Jun 2005

Information to guide child health policy is lacking in the poorest countries with the highest rates of childhood mortality

Around 10.8 million children die worldwide each year. Credible global and national estimates of the burden of disease in childhood are essential for the development of appropriate health policy and implementation of health interventions to prevent these deaths.

9 Jun 2005

Drinking cranberry juice may fight that tummy bug

A new study suggests that cranberry juice, a well documented remedy to help prevent urinary tract infections, may also work against gastrointestinal viruses.

8 Jun 2005

Superbug possibly the same as US killer strain

Microbiologists at the Health Protection Agency suspect that the superbug which has already caused 12 deaths at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Buckinghamshire, may be the same strain that has spread in many American hospitals since 2001, and killed more than 100 patients in Quebec, Canada, last year.

8 Jun 2005

12 deaths creates new infection scare in UK hospitals

There have been some 300 cases of Clostridium difficile in 18 months at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Aylesbury, Bucks, a national centre for spinal injury, and it is thought that the infection was an "actual or probable" factor in 12 deaths in that time.

6 Jun 2005