Feature Channels: Infectious Diseases

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4-Jun-2018 2:05 PM EDT
Half of Hepatitis C Patients with Private Insurance Denied Life-Saving Drugs
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

The number of insurance denials for life-saving hepatitis C drugs among patients with both private and public insurers remains high across the United States. Private insurers had the highest denial rates, with 52.4 percent of patients denied coverage, while Medicaid denied 34.5 percent of patients and Medicare denied 14.7 percent.

4-Jun-2018 3:00 PM EDT
Flu Virus is Protected by Mucus When Airborne, Regardless of Humidity
Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh

Mucus and other airway secretions that are expelled when a person with the flu coughs or exhales appear to protect the virus when it becomes airborne, regardless of humidity levels, a creative experiment conducted by the University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech discovered.

Released: 6-Jun-2018 12:05 PM EDT
How Ticks Survive Between Meals
Cal Poly Humboldt

How the western blacklegged tick stays alive so long on so few nutrients and essential vitamins is the focus of recent research by Humboldt State University.

   
Released: 6-Jun-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Killing bacteria by silencing genes may be alternative to antibiotics
Penn State College of Medicine

A new approach to killing C. difficile that silences key bacterial genes while sparing other bacteria may provide a new way to treat the most common hospital-acquired bacterial infection in the United States, according to researchers.

Released: 5-Jun-2018 2:05 PM EDT
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Researchers Create First Artificial Human Prion
Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have synthesized the first artificial human prion, a dramatic development in efforts to combat a devastating form of brain disease that has so far eluded treatment and a cure. The new findings are published in Nature Communications.

   
Released: 5-Jun-2018 9:00 AM EDT
PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS, SAFE INJECTION SITES REMAINS LOW IN U.S.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Two strategies that research indicates would help alleviate America’s opioid crisis lack widespread public support, according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

4-Jun-2018 9:00 AM EDT
T cells alone are sufficient to establish and maintain HIV infection in the brain
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

A new study by University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers has found that T cells, a type of white blood cell and an essential part of the immune system, are sufficient by themselves to establish and maintain an HIV infection in the brain.

Released: 4-Jun-2018 12:05 PM EDT
The Wistar Institute and Harbour BioMed Join Forces to Advance Novel Antibody Therapies for Cancer and Infectious Diseases
Wistar Institute

Wistar and Harbour BioMed announce they have entered into a multi-year, multifaceted research collaboration to co-discover novel antibodies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.

   
Released: 4-Jun-2018 12:05 PM EDT
Epitope Diagnostics, Inc. Introduces New 2-Hour Human ACTH ELISA Kit
70th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting Press Program

Epitope Diagnostics is proud to introduce a new adrenocortocotropic hormone (ACTH) ELISA Kit, which measures ACTH levels with high sensitivity and robust assay performance characteristics.

Released: 4-Jun-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Findings could lead to treatment of hepatitis B
University of Delaware

Researchers have gained new insights into the virus that causes hepatitis B – a life-threatening and incurable infection. The discovery reveals previously unknown details about the shell of the vigenetic blueprint and could lead to new drugs to treat the infection.

Released: 4-Jun-2018 10:05 AM EDT
‘Avoidance Behavior’ Helps Species Survive on Land and Sea
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

In a new article published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Donald Behringer and one of his co-authors, post-doctoral researcher Jamie Bojko, both of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, point out many ways organisms try to escape diseases.

Released: 4-Jun-2018 7:05 AM EDT
How Science Denialism Affects Global Health
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Rutgers Global Health Institute’s director discusses how rejecting scientific facts can undermine progress in public health – and how the medical profession can further public understanding of science

29-May-2018 9:00 AM EDT
Asthma and Flu: A Double Whammy
Universite de Montreal

Vaccinating asthmatic pre-schoolers against influenza could dramatically reduce their risk of being hospitalized after an attack, Canadian researchers find.

30-May-2018 5:05 AM EDT
Most hospitals now require workers to get flu shots – except those that treat veterans, study finds
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

A new study shows a rapid rise in the percentage of hospitals that require their workers to be vaccinated against influenza – except among hospitals that focus on treating the nation’s military veterans. The percentage of Veterans Affairs hospitals that have a flu vaccine mandate rose from 1 percent in 2013 to 4 percent in 2017. But at the same time, the percentage of non-VA hospitals requiring shots rose from 44 percent to nearly 70 percent.

29-May-2018 4:05 PM EDT
Immunocompromised Patients with Sepsis May Face Higher Mortality at Hospitals Treating Small Numbers of Such Patients
American Thoracic Society (ATS)

Immunosuppressed patients with sepsis appear more likely to die if they are treated in a hospital caring for a relatively small number of these patients, according to new research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

Released: 31-May-2018 1:05 PM EDT
X-Ray Laser Scientists Develop a New Way to Watch Bacteria Attack Antibiotics
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

An international team of researchers has found a new way to investigate how tuberculosis bacteria inactivate an important family of antibiotics: They watched the process in action for the first time using an X-ray free-electron laser, or XFEL.

Released: 31-May-2018 11:05 AM EDT
‘Why Not Take A Risk’ Attitude Widespread Among Patients and Providers, GW Study Finds
George Washington University

A new study led by David Broniatowski, an assistant professor in the George Washington University’s department of engineering management and systems engineering, finds the “Why not take a risk?” mentality is widespread among patients and medical care providers.

Released: 31-May-2018 8:00 AM EDT
Infection Rates After Colonoscopy, Endoscopy at US Specialty Centers Are Far Higher Than Previously Thought
Johns Hopkins Medicine

The rates of infection following colonoscopies and upper-GI endoscopies performed at U.S. outpatient specialty centers are far higher than previously believed, according to a Johns Hopkins study published online this month in the journal Gut.

Released: 30-May-2018 5:05 PM EDT
Cell-like nanorobots clear bacteria and toxins from blood
University of California San Diego

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed tiny ultrasound-powered robots that can swim through blood, removing harmful bacteria along with the toxins they produce. These proof-of-concept nanorobots could one day offer a safe and efficient way to detoxify and decontaminate biological fluids.

   
29-May-2018 10:05 AM EDT
‘Hidden’ Driver Discovered That Helps Prime the Anti-Tumor Immune Response
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers have used systems biology approaches to reveal key details about regulation of immune function, including T cells that are central to cancer immunotherapy

Released: 29-May-2018 5:05 PM EDT
New Machine Learning Approach Could Accelerate Bioengineering
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to use machine learning to dramatically accelerate the design of microbes that produce biofuel.

   
Released: 29-May-2018 1:15 PM EDT
Research on Immune Response to PCV in Preterm Infants Earns ESPID-PIDJ Award
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott

A study showing that pneumococcal vaccination produces a lasting antibody response in preterm infants has been named winner of the inaugural ESPID-PIDJ Award, recognizing the best paper submitted to The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (PIDJ) by a member of The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, the official journal of the ESPID, is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Released: 24-May-2018 2:05 PM EDT
Portable Malaria Screening Instrument Developed
University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering

A prototype for a portable instrument capable of early-stage malaria detection has been developed by a team of researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The prototype can analyze an unprocessed, whole blood sample in 10-15 minutes using three primary components: a laser, a detector (to detect light), and a magnet.

Released: 24-May-2018 2:05 PM EDT
Fred Hutch Scientists to Feature Health Economics, Next-Gen Immunotherapy, Health Disparities and More at ASCO
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s latest findings will be featured at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, “Delivering Discoveries: Expanding the Reach of Precision Medicine,” to be held June 1–5 in Chicago. Here are several highlights:

Released: 24-May-2018 1:30 PM EDT
UAB Researcher Awarded K23 Grant to Study Malaria Prevention in Pregnant Women in Cameroon
University of Alabama at Birmingham

A UAB researcher is heading to Cameroon to study the effects and safety of antibiotics on pregnant women at risk of contracting malaria.

Released: 24-May-2018 10:05 AM EDT
Human Vaccine to Be Developed for Deadly Nipah and Hendra Viruses
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU)

Antibody therapy developed at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences as a treatment against the Nipah and Hendra viruses has led to an agreement announced today between USU, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF), Profectus BioSciences, Inc., and Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., for development of a human vaccine against the two deadly viruses. The USU-HJF Joint Technology Transfer Office licensed the technology, which is supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

   
Released: 24-May-2018 9:05 AM EDT
Bug-Borne Disease Monitoring Project Finds Deer Ticks on the Rise in Midwest
Indiana University

A new environmental monitoring project at Indiana University has found increased numbers of deer ticks, which often carry Lyme disease, in Southern Indiana. The presence of an organism that carries a specific disease-causing bacterium -- like deer ticks -- is commonly followed by a rise in the associated illness.

   
Released: 24-May-2018 5:05 AM EDT
Study Finds Sepsis Patients Treated and Released From Emergency Departments Do Well with Outpatient Follow-Up
Intermountain Medical Center

National guidelines assume that all patients who’re diagnosed with clinical sepsis in an emergency department will be admitted to the hospital for additional care, but new research has found that many more patients are being treated and released from the ED for outpatient follow-up than previously recognized.

23-May-2018 9:00 AM EDT
Timely but Controversial: Early Lactate Measurements Appear to Improve Results for Septic Patients
University of Chicago Medical Center

The controversial Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle study adds weight to the belief that early lactate measurements can make a big difference. This follow-up study found a two percent increase in mortality for each hour of delay in patients with an abnormal lactate value.

Released: 23-May-2018 12:05 PM EDT
Researchers investigate link between DNA replication in HPV and cancer
University of Delaware

University of Delaware researchers are investigating genetic variations in DNA replication of human papillomaviruses (HPV) and its correlation with HPV-related cancers. The research illustrates specific changes in DNA sequences in HPV that correlate with cancer prognosis.

Released: 23-May-2018 8:05 AM EDT
Real Time, Portable DNA Sequencing Fights Drug-Resistant TB
Stony Brook University

Scientists in Madagascar have for the first time performed DNA sequencing in-country using novel, portable technology to rapidly identify the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis (TB) and its drug resistance profile.

Released: 23-May-2018 8:05 AM EDT
Penn Researchers Identify Cellular Source of Molecule Implicated in Nasal Polyps, Asthma Attacks
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A new discovery about how the immune system responds to common sinus infections and asthma could explain why patients develop these issues in the first place and ultimately may lead to improved targeted therapies.

11-May-2018 11:35 AM EDT
Worst Form of Black Lung Disease Appears Resurgent Among Coal Miners
American Thoracic Society (ATS)

Progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), the most debilitating and deadly form of black lung disease, is increasing among U.S. coal miners despite the implementation of dust controls decades ago, according to new research presented at the ATS 2018 International Conference.

Released: 22-May-2018 5:05 PM EDT
Researchers Identify Spike in Severe Black Lung Disease Among Former US Coal Miners
University of Illinois Chicago

The number of cases of progressive massive fibrosis, the most severe form of black lung disease, has been increasing dramatically among coal workers and especially younger workers in central Appalachia. These new findings represent the first-ever documentation of this spike and were presented by Kirsten Almberg, research assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences in the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, at the American Thoracic Society meeting in San Diego on May 22.

11-May-2018 10:05 AM EDT
Unnecessary Antibiotic Use in Asthma Exacerbations May Increase Hospital Stay, Costs
American Thoracic Society (ATS)

Administering antibiotics to adults hospitalized with an asthma exacerbation without any documented indication of lung infection appears to lengthen hospital stay, increase cost and result in increased risk for antibiotic-related diarrhea, according to new research presented at the ATS 2018 International Conference.

15-May-2018 3:30 PM EDT
A Hidden World of Communication, Chemical Warfare, Beneath the Soil
University of Wisconsin–Madison

New research shows how some harmful microbes in the soil have to contend not just with a farmer’s chemical attacks, but also with their microscopic neighbors — and themselves turn to chemical warfare to ward off threats.

Released: 21-May-2018 7:05 PM EDT
How Bacteria Behave Differently in Humans Compared to the Lab
Georgia Institute of Technology

Most of what we know today about deadly bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa was obtained from studies done in laboratory settings. Research reported May 14 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that this laboratory-based information may have important limits for predicting how these bugs behave once they’ve invaded humans.

Released: 21-May-2018 1:05 PM EDT
Research Points to Potential Shortcoming of Antibiotic Lab Tests
Beth Israel Lahey Health

To determine which antibiotics reliably treat which bacterial infections, diagnostic laboratories that focus on clinical microbiology test pathogens isolated from patients. However, a recent study revealed that one aspect of these tests may fall short and not be stringent enough.

17-May-2018 1:00 PM EDT
Infection Blood Test of Limited Value in Reducing Antibiotic Use
Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh

Overall antibiotic use was not curbed by giving physicians the results of biomarker tests in patients with suspected lower respiratory tract infections, according to findings from the Procalcitonin Antibiotic Consensus Trial.

17-May-2018 10:00 AM EDT
Humira Does Not Improve Aortic Vascular Inflammation in Psoriasis Patients
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

An antibody used to treat the skin disease psoriasis and other chronic autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease has no effect on aortic inflammation – a key marker of future risk of major cardiovascular events – unlike other antibodies that target different aspects of the immune system.

14-May-2018 1:05 PM EDT
New AJPH Research: Gun Owner Survey, Support for Gun Violence Prevention, Suicide Risk and Gun Ownership, Refugee Mental Health, HPV Vaccine, Indoor Tanning.
American Public Health Association (APHA)

In this issue, find research on gun ownership, support for gun violence prevention, suicide risk and gun ownership, refugee mental health, HPV vaccine and indoor tanning.

Released: 17-May-2018 2:55 PM EDT
Researchers Discover How Body Temperature Wrecks Potential Dengue, Zika Vaccine
University of North Carolina Health Care System

UNC School of Medicine researchers have delineated the details of one major barrier to a promising vaccine. It’s something we all have – a natural body temperature of about 98.6 degrees.

   
15-May-2018 1:05 PM EDT
Blood Type Affects Severity of Diarrhea Caused by E. coli
Washington University in St. Louis

A new study shows that a kind of E. coli most associated with “travelers’ diarrhea” and children in underdeveloped areas of the world causes more severe disease in people with blood type A. The bacteria release a protein that latches onto intestinal cells in people with blood type A, but not blood type O or B. A vaccine targeting that protein could potentially protect people with type A blood against the deadliest effects of E. coli infection.

Released: 16-May-2018 5:05 PM EDT
Social Connections May Prevent HIV Infection Among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

FINDINGS UCLA-led research suggests that receiving support from friends and acquaintances can help prevent black men who have sex with men from becoming infected with HIV. BACKGROUND Black men who have sex with men have disproportionately high rates of HIV infection. While social connections are known to influence the behaviors that influence people’s risk for HIV, little is known about whether they affect the risk for becoming infected with HIV.



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