Feature Channels: Infectious Diseases

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Newly recognized disease-causing viruses, bacteria, and other infections are continually emerging around the world, posing difficult challenges for patient diagnosis and treatment and for public health responses. A special symposium section of the September issue of The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (AJMS), official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, provides a research update on important new infectious pathogens.

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As the United States prepares for the upcoming flu season, a group of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health continues to model how H1N1 may spread.

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Study finds no significant gender-based differences in response to two anti-HIV drugs and demonstrates it is possible to recruit large numbers of women into clinical trials. But women dropped out of trial at higher rates than men.

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A “test and treat” strategy, the leading proposal by the World Health Organization to combat HIV/AIDS in South Africa, is seriously flawed, say UCLA researchers.

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An ancestor of HIV that infects monkeys is thousands of years older than previously thought, suggesting that HIV, which causes AIDS, would take hundreds of lifetimes to naturally evolve into a non-lethal virus.

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Public health officials have long believed that notifying the public about outbreaks of infectious disease could help reduce transmission rates and the overall impact of a pandemic. Now, researchers have modified the most widely used infectious disease model to account for the impact of media coverage.

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Researchers at UC San Diego and Harvard used a basic feature of social networks to study the 2009 flu epidemic among 744 students. The findings, they say, point to a novel method for early detection of contagious outbreaks.

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Fears over the influenza A virus (H1N1; sometimes referred to as swine flu) have motivated researchers to investigate the antimicrobial activity of the Aganocide® compounds against viruses.

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In a recent study presented at this year’s Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), a team led by Dr. Dmitri Debabov, head of Cell and Microbiology, and Meghan Zuck, a Research Associate, at NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, reported the development of infected tissue models for its Aganocide® compounds.

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One third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), which leads to tuberculosis (TB), a leading cause of death world-wide. A new discovery, led by a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, offers hope for new approaches to the prevention and treatment of TB.

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Dendritic cells are the grand sentinels of the immune system, standing guard 24/7 to detect foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, and bring news of the invasion to other immune cells to marshal an attack. These sentinels, however, nearly always fail to respond adequately to HIV, the virus causing AIDS. Now a team of scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center has discovered a sensor in dendritic cells that recognizes HIV, spurring a more potent immune response by the sentinels to the virus. They report their findings in the September 9, 2010, issue of Nature.

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Personalized post cards or phone calls can be effective in encouraging more seniors to get their annual flu shots, according to a new review of evidence.

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An analysis of data from influenza cases in Wisconsin indicates individuals with 2009 H1N1 infections were younger than those with H3N2 (2007-2008), and that the risk of most serious complications was not higher in adults or children with 2009 H1N1 compared with recent seasonal strains, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA.

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HIV-infected children in South Africa who were exposed to the drug nevirapine at birth (used to help prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission) and then received a protease inhibitor (PI) for viral suppression achieved lower rates of viremia (virus in the blood stream) if they were switched to nevirapine, compared to children who continued on the PI-based regimen, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. PI-based therapies generally have a higher cost compared to nevirapine, which may leave some children excluded from treatment.

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An outbreak of measles at an international youth sporting event illustrates the risks of with "imported" measles, according to a study in the September issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

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New, automated diagnostic test for TB, developed by a public-private partnership including UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School scientists, showed excellent results in a large-scale field trial. The results appear in the Sept. 1 New England Journal of Medicine.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reviewed published data to assess HIV-infected children’s immune responses to vaccines and found that most children treated with HAART remained susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases, but responded well to revaccination.

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An antibacterial peptide looks to be a highly-effective therapy against infections in burn or blast wounds suffered by soldiers.

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It now appears that the malaria mosquito needs more than one family of odor sensors to sniff out its human prey. That is the implication of new research into the mosquito’s sense of smell published in the Aug. 31 issue of the online, open-access journal Public Library of Science Biology.

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The end of smallpox in 1979 has led to a sharp rise in monkeypox, a related but less lethal viral infection. The disease is spreading in Africa, with sporadic outbreaks elsewhere, including the U.S.

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South Dakota State University research is exploring a “fusion strategy” for making improved vaccines to protect pigs and humans against some strains of E. coli. The SDSU researchers altered the toxins produced by a form of E. coli and genetically fused the non-poisonous “toxoid” to a protein known to cause an immune reaction. The resulting “fusion protein” could be used to develop a vaccine.

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Dr. William A. Petri Jr. of the University of Virginia is an authority on Clostridium difficile, a tenacious bacterium that causes half a million infections a year.

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It may soon be possible to identify patients who will develop tuberculosis, as scientists have identified changes in the blood specific to the disease. These findings are from an international study published in the August 19 issue of Nature and conducted by doctors and researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital using blood profiling techniques to understand infections.

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Vitamin A and beta-carotene supplements are unsafe for HIV-positive women who breastfeed because they may boost the excretion of HIV in breast milk---thereby increasing the chances of transmitting the infection to the child, a pair of new studies suggest.

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Fire up the citronella-scented tiki torches, and slather on the DEET: Everybody knows these simple precautions repel insects, notably mosquitoes, whose bites not only itch and irritate, but also transmit diseases such as West Nile virus, malaria and dengue.

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Blood hounds may soon have a new partner ― disease detector dogs ― thanks to an unusual experiment in which scientists trained mice to identify feces of ducks infected with bird flu. Reported at the American Chemical Society’s 240th National Meeting, the study may pave the way for development of biosensors-on-four-feet that warn of infection with influenza and other diseases.

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Using a $225,000 microscope and the wisdom of Yogi Berra, researchers have identified the key components of a protein called TRIM5α that destroys HIV in rhesus monkeys.

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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered a key weapon in the molecular arsenal the infectious bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. para) uses to kill cells and cause food poisoning in its human host.

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Following up a 2007 proof-of-concept study, a University of Utah biochemist and colleagues have developed a promising new anti-HIV drug candidate, PIE12-trimer, that prevents HIV from attacking human cells.

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Neurological and infectious disease experts at Rush University Medical Center are testing a new drug therapy for the treatment of individuals with West Nile fever or suspected central nervous system infection due to the West Nile virus. Rush is the only site in the Midwest enrolling patients into the $50 million dollar, NIH-funded, Phase II clinical trial called PARADIGM.

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Dr. Peter Hotez from The George Washington University is available to comment on the risk of water-borne diseases as a result of the recent flooding in Pakistan.

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If you think you shouldn't be worried about your child's—or your—lingering, nagging cough, think again. Pertussis has reemerged on the scene. In what some public health officials are calling the worst outbreak in 50 years, pertussis, better known by its unique sound—whooping cough, has been found in six states with 1,500 cases reported, six of them fatal.

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New research shows a clear link between increasing levels of E. coli bacteria in an inland Ohio lake and a greater risk that swimmers in the water will suffer a gastrointestinal illness.

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Acute care hospitals in the United States varied in their policies and practices of screening and treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, but most were consistent with national guideline recommendations, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Preparations for living in a college dorm should start with a meningitis vaccination.

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Urinary catheters are often left in place longer than needed, and new research from the University of Michigan shows that reminder systems that encourage hospital staff to remove catheters promptly can reduce the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 52 percent.

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Building on an enzyme found in nature, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a nanoscale coating for surgical equipment, hospital walls, and other surfaces which safely eradicates methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the bacteria responsible for antibiotic resistant infections.

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Two studies point to a new way to a vaccinate against drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- also known as MRSA. One counteracts the bacteria's tools for evading the immune system; the other disrupts the germ's tissue-damaging mechanism. The combination may protect people from MRSA and provide lasting immunity.

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An analysis of data from 2005 through 2008 of nine metropolitan areas in the U.S. indicates that health care-associated invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections decreased among patients with infections that began in the community or in the hospital, according to a study in the August 11 issue of JAMA.

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Vaccines have a long history of successfully preventing disease and, in effect, improving the lives of countless Americans. Now, two serious diseases – human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes zoster – could become a thing of the past as people better understand the safety and efficacy of vaccines to prevent these serious viral infections in specific populations.

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Introduction of the PCV-7 vaccine to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) has led to a shift in the types of bacteria causing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)—an important cause of acute kidney failure in children, reports a study in the August issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

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Often causing no symptoms in carriers of the disease, worldwide tuberculosis (TB) infects eight to ten million people every year, kills two million, and it is highly contagious as it is spread through coughing and sneezing. “It’s a global health disaster waiting to happen, even here in Canada, but this new paradigm in TB research may offer an immediate opportunity to improve vaccination and treatment initiatives,” explains Dr. Maziar Divangahi of McGill University

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The best way to prevent the spread of disease in rural areas may be by targeting select popular hangouts, according to a new study by the Kansas State University EpiCenter research team.

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Researchers have found that an enzyme in the bacteria that causes cholera uses a previously unknown mechanism in providing the bacteria with energy. Because the enzyme is not found in most other organisms, including humans, the finding offers insights into how drugs might be created to kill the bacteria without harming humans.

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An international team of researchers comparing recently-developed methods for diagnosing tuberculosis in children in resource-poor countries has concluded that the best test for high-risk children is the microscopic-observation drug-susceptibility (MODS) technique using two gastric aspirate specimens from each child tested.

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Loyola infectious disease physician tells how to protect yourself, family from the dengue fever outbreak in the Sunshine State.

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New research at the University of Haifa has made a breakthrough in identifying chemical substances released by mosquitoes' natural predators that function as warning signals for egg laying mosquitoes.

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A JAMA study finds programmatic failures and common problems that occur along the path to mother-to-child transmission prevention, including HIV testing inadequacies and patients not taking their medications, authors say. Nevirapine's usefulness is limited by how many infected and at-risk persons receive the drug, says Elizabeth Stringer, M.D., UAB associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and the lead author of the study in the JAMA HIV/AIDS theme issue.

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A new vaccine-delivery patch based on hundreds of microscopic needles that dissolve into the skin could allow persons without medical training to painlessly administer vaccines – while providing improved immunization against diseases such as influenza.

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Two compounds emitted by mosquito predators that make the mosquitoes less inclined to lay eggs in pools of water may provide new environmentally friendly tactics for repelling and controlling disease-carrying insects.