Feature Channels: Infectious Diseases

• share
• favorite_border

Benjamin Gaston, MD, a pediatric pulmonologist and researcher at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, has received a five-year, $13.3 million federal grant to develop optimized, personalized combinations of medications tailored to the unique needs of children with cystic fibrosis and severe asthma.

• share
• favorite_border

A study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and the Scripps Translational Science Institute suggests “molecular autopsies” may help detect gene mutations underlying a sudden death. The research, while early, could help doctors alert living family members to hidden health conditions.

• share
• favorite_border

Combining multiple non-invasive measures, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine describe a novel method to quantify the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to its more dangerous and deadly states — advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis.

• share
• favorite_border

A common bacterium that more than half of people have in their gut can use hydrogen gas present in the gastrointestinal tract to inject a cancer-causing toxin into otherwise healthy cells, according to a recently published study led by University of Georgia researchers.

• share
• favorite_border

Biologists sequencing the genome of the WO virus, which infects the bacterial parasite Wolbachia, have discovered that the phage carries DNA that produces black widow spider toxin: the first time an animal-like DNA has been found in such a virus.

• share
• favorite_border

The study’s findings suggest chitosan microparticles kill bacteria in cow uteri, said KC Jeong, assistant professor of animal sciences at UF/IFAS. He said it may someday be possible for chitosan microparticles to be used to help humans who have become ill from consuming E. coli-contaminated food, but more research is needed.

• share
• favorite_border

Trained community partners ensure follow-through on vaccination against hepatitis B virus (HBV).

• share
• favorite_border

The liver reacts to chronic injury by walling it off with scar tissue and calling in immune cells with inflammatory signals. If cancer arises, the resulting inflammation then stokes tumor progression. Scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have discovered that a key signaling protein helps suppress inflammation and scarring. The results, published today in Cancer Cell, represent another foundational step towards better treatments for liver cancer.

• share
• favorite_border

Dr. Feza Remzi named Director of IBD Center at NYU Langone Medical Center.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study suggests that a specialized area of the mosquito brain mixes tastes with smells to create unique and preferred flavors. The findings advance the possibility of identifying a substance that makes “human flavor” repulsive to the malaria-bearing species of the mosquitoes, so instead of feasting on us, they keep the disease to themselves, potentially saving an estimated 450,000 lives a year worldwide.

• share
• favorite_border

Responding to a call from the American Academy of Pediatrics to reduce hospital-acquired infections in neonatal intensive care units across the country, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and Sinclair School of Nursing have found a protein in breast milk to be a safe and efficient solution.

• share
• favorite_border

Today, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it will pour $14 million into urgently needed research on antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Four University of Michigan Medical School teams will receive funding through this effort, for a total of nearly $1.6 million.

• share
• favorite_border

Though first documented 70 years ago, the Zika virus was poorly understood when it burst onto the scene in the Americas in 2015. In one of the first and largest studies of its kind, a research team lead by virologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has characterized the progression of two strains of the viral infection. The study, published online this week in Nature Medicine, revealed Zika’s rapid infection of the brain and nervous tissues, and provided evidence of risk for person-to-person transmission.

• share
• favorite_border

Newly published research from Penn Medicine infection control specialists found that ultraviolet (UV) robots helped reduce the rates of transmission of the common bacterial infection known as Clostridium difficile (C. diff) among cancer inpatients – mostly blood cancer patients, a group more vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections – by 25 percent. The no-touch device, used after patients with C. diff or contact precautions were discharged from the hospital, also resulted in substantial health care savings, estimated between $350,000 and $1.5 million annually.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients using Botox A for urinary incontinence show higher satisfaction with treatment due to greater reduction in bothersome symptoms.

• share
• favorite_border

In a collaborative effort with scientists at six Colombian hospitals, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report what they believe to be the strongest biological evidence to date linking Zika virus infection and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

• share
• favorite_border

Protocol for keeping dogs from transmitting disease has, until now, lagged decades behind efforts to contain human infectious disease. New guidance for halting the spread of a multitude of dog diseases is now available, thanks to an effort led by veterinary experts at The Ohio State University.

• share
• favorite_border

As demand for the widely used blood thinning drug heparin continues to grow, experts worry of possible shortages. Heparin is primarily derived from pigs, and cattle have been proposed as an additional source. A new study finds that heparin derived from cattle has equivalent anti-clotting properties.

• share
• favorite_border

Only four in 10 gay and bisexual men in Baltimore without HIV are aware that pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) may significantly reduce their risk of contracting the virus, even those who had recently visited a doctor or been tested for a sexually transmitted disease, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

It’s the drumbeat you hear every year – time to roll up your sleeve for your annual flu vaccination. But, is it really worth the effort? Does the flu vaccine really work? “In a word: Yes!” says Dr. Claudine De Dan, a Rowan Family Medicine physician and a faculty member at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

A study by scientists at UMass Medical School and UAB provides insight into the mechanism of action of the drug ataluren, which is showing promise in treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.

• share
• favorite_border

October marks the start of flu season. Should you get ahead of the falling temperatures and get vaccinated this year? Absolutely, says Stacey A. Gorski, PhD, a biology professor who specializes in immunology and vaccinology at University of the Sciences.“Vaccinations should help contain the spread of the disease and keep people healthy through the holiday season and throughout the winter,” said Gorski.

• share
• favorite_border

Atopic dermatitis, or eczema, is a common skin disorder that usually starts by 5 years of age, but virtually all of the studies that have defined the immune changes underlying eczema and are directing new treatment options have been done in adult skin. A study just published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology characterizes immune changes for the first time in the skin of young children with eczema.

• share
• favorite_border

Two Philadelphia research institutions are marking the 10th anniversary of a vaccine against rotavirus.

• share
• favorite_border

A Texas Tech University professor is part of a $2.5 million Department of Defense-funded research project looking at a new disease that is killing bats at alarming rates.

• share
• favorite_border

Seasonal flu vaccines work by generating antibodies that bind to the virus and prevent it from infecting cells. Universal flu vaccines do this as well, but go one step further by recruiting white blood cells to destroy infected cells, says Matthew Miller, the senior author of the study.

• share
• favorite_border

There’s no clear prescription for how to effectively encourage adults to hit the flu clinic, but data and pamphlets aren't working. New research recommends a more personal approach.

• share
• favorite_border

This year, everyone will have to roll up their sleeves and receive the flu shot via injection, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer recommends the nasal flu mist vaccine due to ineffectiveness. "Feeling the pinch is a small price to pay to protect your health and, importantly, to protect the health of those more vulnerable to illness," said Jorge Parada, MD, MPH, medical director, infection prevention and control program, Loyola Medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists say they are one step closer to understanding the genetic mechanism of a rare, complex, multiple-gene disorder called Hirschsprung’s disease. Their results suggest that many patients develop the disease when multiple mutations in gene regulatory sequences of a specific gene combine to destroy the normal cooperative function of a whole network of genes.

• share
• favorite_border

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) announced today its newest Autoimmune Heroes – the 39 autoimmune disease specific patient groups who comprise the National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups (NCAPG).

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Despite the fact that influenza leads to more hospitalizations and deaths among children than any other vaccine-preventable disease, parents frequently decline vaccinating their children against influenza because they don’t perceive the need, according to a new case-control study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Johns Hopkins report they have identified a protein that enables a toxic natural aggregate to spread from cell to cell in a mammal’s brain — and a way to block that protein’s action. Their study in mice and cultured cells suggests that an immunotherapy already in clinical trials as a cancer therapy should also be tested as a way to slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease, the researchers say.

• share
• favorite_border

Knock Out Sepsis" campaign launched from the Harrisburg State Capitol Rotunda for Sepsis Awareness Month.

• share
• favorite_border

As flu season approaches, medical experts have some new recommendations – along with some old standards – on how to reduce your chances of getting sick.

• share
• favorite_border

New research published Sept 29, 2016, in JAMA Oncology shows the HPV vaccine is efficacious in reducing cervical pre-cancers among young women throughout a population. The New Mexico HPV Pap Registry was the data source used in the study. The researchers found that among women who were 15 to 19 years old at the time of a diagnostic cervical biopsy, the incidence rate of cervical abnormalities decreased between 2007 and 2014.

• share
• favorite_border

A research team that includes scientists with Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute has developed a promising Zika virus vaccine.

• share
• favorite_border

Boosting a protective protein to stabilize blood vessels that are weakened by malaria showed improved survival, beyond that of antimalarial drugs alone in pre-clinical research. Toronto General Research Institute (TGRI) and the Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto and University Health Network (UHN) researchers describe in Science Translational Medicine how their approach bolsters the body’s own capabilities to protect itself against cerebral malaria, rather than solely targeting the malaria parasites in the blood.

• share
• favorite_border

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists show that IRGB10, an essential protein induced by the signaling protein interferon, is needed to activate danger-sensing proteins in the cytoplasm of cells.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and ARUP Laboratories in Salt Lake City unravel the mystery behind a rare Zika-related death in an adult, and unconventional transmission to a second patient in a correspondence published online on September 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Details point to an unusually high concentration of virus in the first patient’s blood as being responsible for his death. The phenomenon may also explain how the second patient may have contracted the virus by casual contact with the primary patient, the first such documented case.

• share
• favorite_border

MINNEAPOLIS – A large, new study shows no evidence that exercise may reduce a woman’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). The research is published in the September 28, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Previous small studies had shown conflicting results.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of researchers led by Wayne State University has been awarded funding as a part of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions, a research network devoted to the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults with HIV or at risk for HIV infection. The Wayne State team, led by Sylvie Naar, Ph.D., professor and division director of behavioral sciences in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences at the Wayne State School of Medicine and associate director of the Pediatric Prevention Research Center, has been awarded an anticipated total of $15.7 million dollars over five years from the National Institute of Child and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health, for the project, Scale it Up.

• share
• favorite_border

In an article published online Sept. 13 in UGEC Viewpoints , Upstate Medical University researcher Anna Stewart Ibarra, PhD, MPA, describes how a collaborative approach by researchers of varying disciplines is being used as a framework for studying the mosquito-borne viruses, zika, dengue and chikungunya.

• share
• favorite_border

Amber Gourdine puts her public health education into service in central Nicaragua

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from the University of Missouri have found that local immigration enforcement policies that seek to apprehend and deport adults, can increase food insecurity risks for Mexican non-citizen households with children. Stephanie Potochnick, assistant professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs, says that any immigration policy that seeks to deport adults must have support systems, such as access to food stamps, in place to help improve outcomes for the children left behind.

• share
• favorite_border

Structural biology research conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has uncovered how small insecticidal protein crystals that are naturally produced by bacteria might be tailored to combat dengue fever and the Zika virus.

• share
• favorite_border

A common pathway involved in photoreceptor death has been identified in retinitis pigmentosa, advanced dry age-related macular degeneration and other retinal diseases, with early evidence of a possible halt to vision loss related to treatment of the pathway.

• share
• favorite_border

A component of red wine and grapes can help control inflammation induced by a bacterial pathogen that is linked to upper respiratory tract inflammatory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and middle ear infection (otitis media), according to a study by researchers at Georgia State University.

• share
• favorite_border

Findings of improved survival for patients with a type of head and neck cancer linked to HPV-16, and comparatively worse outcomes for other HPV strains, have treatment implications.