More than 4,500 rapid HIV test kits are being donated to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s 2009 Testing Millions Global Campaign, to commemorate World AIDS Day 2009 on December 1st.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers are studying statins, the class of drugs long associated with lowering cholesterol, as a way to reduce H1N1-related deaths.
Sickness from the bacteria may occur at lower exposure levels than previously believed.
A Kansas State University study has shown that when preparing frozen foods, adolescents are less likely than adults to wash their hands and are more susceptible to cross-contaminating raw foods while cooking.
A new vaccine designed to stimulate an immune response against a cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV-16) can eliminate chronic infection by the virus and may cause regression of precancerous genital lesions in women who receive the vaccine.
A new study by Mount Sinai researchers has for the first time found that patients with more difficult to treat forms of hepatitis C are half as likely to initiate treatment for the disease, when compared to patients with hepatitis C that is easier to treat. Marital status also affected whether patients chose treatment, as did whether or not they had other diseases. The study is published in the November 1 issue of Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
Using imaging mass spectrometry, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable scientists to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their study shows how bacteria talk to one another – an understanding that may lead to new therapeutic discoveries for diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes and allergies.
Two new grants are for leadership and coordination of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Intervention (ATN), a research network in the United States and Puerto Rico working to curb the epidemic through prevention, testing and treatment for youth ages 12 to 24. Projections show at least one-half of all new HIV infections each year worldwide are in youth under age 25, says Craig Wilson, M.D., a UAB professor and ATN leader.
A study at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center found that girls diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) who watched a short educational video were three times more likely to discuss their condition with their partners and to ensure partner treatment than girls diagnosed and treated without seeing the film.
In Bangladesh cholera epidemics occur twice a year. Scientists have tried, without success, to determine the causes – and advance early detection and prevention efforts. Researchers from Tufts University have proposed a link between cholera and fluctuating water levels in the region's three principal rivers – the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna.
In contrast with some common perceptions regarding 2009 influenza A(H1N1) infections, an examination of cases in California indicates that hospitalization and death can occur at all ages, and about 30 percent of hospitalized cases have been severe enough to require treatment in an intensive care unit, according to a study in the November 4 issue of JAMA.
Clinical researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) have confirmed that patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer (“tonsil cancer”) harbour a common type of human papilloma virus (HPV16), but also that such cancers are very sensitive to radiation. For some patients, this may mean successful treatment with radiation alone and avoiding the side effects of chemotherapy.
The immune system's T cells are both jury and executioner. How they shift from one role to another has been a mystery. Dana-Farber investigators report that when a T cell’s “receptors” lock onto antigens, parts of the receptors bend and signal the T cell to change from scanning to fighting mode.
MedImmune announced today it will present four abstracts at the 47th Annual Meeting of Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) being held here October 29 through November 1, 2009. These abstracts advance the body of data surrounding respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza prevention, highlighting MedImmune’s leadership in pediatric health.
Immunity to whooping cough lasts at least 30 years on average, much longer than previously thought, an analysis by researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of New Mexico shows.
A collaborative research team from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, and the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health reports a major step forward in the development of an effective therapy against two deadly viruses, Nipah virus and the related Hendra virus.
Trials find that the risk of male HIV acquisition is increased among men with larger foreskins.
An experimental drug cocktail that includes three prescriptions now widely available offers the best hope in developing a single agent to treat drug-resistant H1N1 swine flu, says a UAB virology researcher. The combo of oseltamivir, amantadine and ribavirin drug works better than currently recommended single or double antiviral therapies used to treat both seasonal and swine flu strains.
Seattle and Ugandan researchers collaborate to study and treat infection-related cancers.
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that a sometimes deadly stomach bug, Clostridium difficile, is on the rise in outpatient settings. Clostridium difficile is a serious bacteria that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. These findings were presented today at the 2009 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Results of a new study reveal that a seven-day course of LOAD therapy is superior to LAC at eliminating the H. pylori bacterium in patients with gastritis and peptic ulcers.
Two new studies illustrate just how hard it is to make sure people take their HIV medication. One study looked at the effects of drinking alcohol on adherence and showed the risk for non-adherence was double among drinkers compared to abstainers.
A pair of Vanderbilt scientists have come up with a novel way to detect malaria infections based on the phenomenon that causes coffee ring stains on the kitchen table and the Gates Foundation has awarded it one of their Grand Challenges Explorations grant.
New research suggests that a large number of HIV-positive individuals who reported feeling stigmatized also reported poor access to care or suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART).
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) announce the launch of a global, broad-based initiative to improve the reliability of reports of data derived from T cell-based immune monitoring assays, especially those used in the study of therapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases.
Food and water around the world could soon become safer for human consumption thanks to a new cattle vaccine created by University of Saskatchewan graduate student David Asper.
Only one in two U.S. adults with arthritis received seasonal flu vaccinations in 2007, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa.
MedImmune announced today it will present four abstracts at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2009 National Conference & Exhibition that add to the company’s growing body of research on the burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) on children, as well as pediatric infectious disease prevention.
The fact that they eat a lot – and often – may explain why most people and other mammals are protected from the majority of fungal pathogens, according to research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
Tracking and understanding the patterns of H1N1’s spread remains crucial to keeping a big-picture look at the disease. Says UAB’s chief of travel medicine, ‘Back in 1918 and 1919 when we had the great flu epidemic, it took six months or more to spread across the world. The new H1N1 swine flu spread across the world in six weeks.’
University of Michigan researchers find patients with severe H1N1 could develop life-threatening complications, including pulmonary emboli.
A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher has been awarded a four-year, $507,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center to study the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines in the Central American nation of Nicaragua.
An outbreak of bloodstream infections appears to have been caused by the contamination of pre-filled heparin and saline syringes made by a single company, according to a report in the October 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. The subsequent investigation revealed that the company was not in compliance with safety regulations and identified challenges and areas for improvement in medication monitoring systems.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have for the first time identified the genetic mechanisms involved in the formation and survival of L-form bacteria. L-form bacteria, which were first discovered in the 1930s, are morphological variants of classical bacteria that lack a cell wall. These bacteria are believed to form in response to cell wall stress from certain antibiotics or the body’s immune attack, and are suspected to be associated with antibiotic-resistant infections.
Viruses such as HIV and influenza take safe harbor in cells, where they cannot be recognized directly by the immune system. The immune response relies on infected cells announcing the presence of the virus by studding their exterior with fragments of the virus lurking within.
Although a wide spectrum of human papillomavirus is seen across the population of India, HPV-16 and HPV-18 are the most common types and a vaccination targeting these types could eliminate 75 percent of the cervical cancers in the region, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research Meeting.
Infectious diseases currently cause about one-third of all human deaths worldwide, more than all forms of cancer combined. Advances in cell biology and microbial genetics have greatly enhanced understanding of the cause and mechanisms of infectious diseases. Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University, the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and Yale University reported in PLoS ONE, a way in which intracellular pathogens exploit the biological attributes of their hosts in order to escape destruction.
Infectious disease experts are awaiting an infinitesimal event of momentous importance: the mutation of the novel H1N1 influenza virus. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization are constantly monitoring the virus as it spreads,” says John Tudor, Ph.D., a microbiologist and professor of biology at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, “but there is no way to predict where, when or if mutation will occur.”
Researchers today announced the opening for enrollment of the first ever study using patients’ cells carrying an engineered T cell receptor to treat HIV. The trial may have important implications in the development of new treatments for HIV potentially slowing – or even preventing – the onset of AIDS.
A new research review finds that a combination drug and the common antibiotic doxycycline allow travelers to fend off malaria with the fewest side effects in areas where the parasite is resistant to a widely accepted preventive treatment.
According to a new Harris poll, when encountered by a public restroom without soap or towels, 74% of people who use public restrooms say they would rinse their hands with water and let them air dry. However, LifeBridge Health experts stress that this action is meaningless without soap.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a four-year, $7.2 million grant to develop a microbicide-releasing vaginal ring to prevent HIV transmission.
Researchers at Iowa State University have identified an enzyme that helps make tuberculosis resistant to a human's natural defense system. Researchers have also found a method to possibly neutralize that enzyme, which may someday lead to a cure for tuberculosis, a contagious disease that kills 1.5 to 2 million people worldwide annually.
Surgical masks appear to be no worse than, and nearly as effective as N95 respirators in preventing influenza in health care workers, according to a study released early online today by JAMA. The study was posted online ahead of print because of its public health implications. It will be published in the November 4 issue of JAMA.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a very common virus that causes severe respiratory illness in a small percentage of infants. Which babies will develop severe RSV illness? Low levels of certain types of immune system cells may have an impact, according to a study in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that non-AIDS-defining malignancies such as anal and lung cancer have become more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients since the introduction of anti-retroviral therapies in the mid-1990s.
A Johns Hopkins scientist who proposes to manipulate forces to activate enzymes in live cells, and a second researcher who has developed a way to hunt down tuberculosis germs with real-time imaging have received a total of $4 million in special awards from the National Institutes of Health.
UNC expert available to discuss latest development in search for AIDS vaccine.
Researchers found that a common kitchen spice contains an active component that reduces the deadliness of the Escherichia coli O157 toxin, according to a new study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists. E. coli O157 toxins cause abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, acute renal failure and gastrointestinal bleeding.
Active tuberculosis can be rapidly identified in patients with negative sputum tests by a new method, according to European researchers. Active tuberculosis (TB) is the seventh-leading cause of death worldwide, and while the diagnosis of active TB can be rapidly established when the bacteria can be identified on sputum microscopy, in about half of all cases, the TB bacterium cannot be detected, making another diagnostic option critical in efforts to control the spread of TB.
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