Disease/Infection News

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MTN-017 study launched to test reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir gel

IRMA applauds the launch of the world's first-ever Phase II rectal microbicide trial. The Microbicide Trial Network's study, called MTN-017, will test a reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir gel applied rectally.

3 Oct 2013

Researchers launch phase II clinical trial of rectal microbicide to prevent HIV infections

Taking an important step toward the development of a product to prevent HIV infections associated with unprotected anal sex, researchers today announced the launch of a global Phase II clinical trial of a potential rectal microbicide.

3 Oct 2013

UCLA study shows how cocaine makes immune cells susceptible to HIV

In many ways, the spread of HIV has been fueled by substance abuse. Shared needles and drug users' high-risk sexual behaviors are just some of the ways that narcotics such as cocaine have played a key role in the AIDS epidemic in much of the world.

3 Oct 2013

Researchers develop new approach to combat tubercle bacillus

A new approach to combating the tubercle bacillus, the microorganism that kills some 1.5 million people in the world each year, has been developed by a French-British team including scientists from CNRS, Inserm, the Institut Curie and Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier.

2 Oct 2013

NIH awards 10 new grants to support genomics research in Africa

The National Institutes of Health has awarded 10 new grants totaling up to $17 million over the next four years to support genomics research in Africa, as part of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) program

2 Oct 2013

Mutant protein blocks HIV infection and transmission, scientists find

A mutant of an immune cell protein called ADAP (adhesion and degranulation-promoting adaptor protein) is able to block infection by HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus 1), new University of Cambridge research reveals. The researchers, who were funded by the Wellcome Trust, believe that their discovery will lead to new ways of combatting HIV.

2 Oct 2013

Data from Boehringer Ingelheim's HCV clinical program accepted for presentation at The Liver Meeting

New data from Boehringer Ingelheim's hepatitis C virus clinical development program have been accepted for presentation at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, also known as The Liver Meeting®, taking place November 1-5 in Washington, D.C.

1 Oct 2013

Canada should start screening 'Baby Boomers' for hepatitis C virus infection, say liver specialists

Canada should begin screening 'Baby Boomers' for the hepatitis C virus infection, since this age group is likely the largest group to have the illness, and most don't know they have it, say a group of liver specialists in the Toronto Western Hospital Francis Family Liver Clinic. Unlike many other chronic viral infections, early treatment makes hepatitis C curable.

1 Oct 2013

Study to assess voluntary HIV testing, prompt treatment in South Africa, Zambia

A study in South Africa and Zambia will assess whether house-to-house voluntary HIV testing and prompt treatment of HIV infection, along with other proven HIV prevention measures, can substantially reduce the number of new HIV infections across communities.

1 Oct 2013

Use of cocaine may increase one's vulnerability to HIV infection

Cocaine use may increase one's vulnerability to HIV infection, according to a new research report published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. In the report, scientists show that cocaine alters immune cells, called "quiescent CD4 T cells," to render them more susceptible to the virus, and at the same time, to allow for increased proliferation of the virus.

1 Oct 2013

Avahan AIDS initiative effective at controlling HIV infections in India

A programme funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may have saved around 600,000 people in India from becoming infected with HIV over the course of a decade, according to a new report.

1 Oct 2013

Virginia Tech faculty receives NIH New Innovator Award to research on influenza transmission

Influenza strikes five to 15 percent of the population and is estimated to cost the U.S. economy a hefty $90 million per year. If researchers can improve the understanding of how environmental conditions affect the ability of the influenza virus to survive and infect others while it is airborne, they may be able to help improve prediction and control of its spread.

1 Oct 2013

MD Anderson-developed aerosol triggers innate immunity to squelch infections

Research on an aerosol that jump-starts a rapid immune response to stifle viral respiratory infections before they can provoke asthma attacks has earned major funding from the National Institutes of Health.

1 Oct 2013

Understanding protein evolution

Highlighting an important but unexplored area of evolution, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found evidence that, over hundreds of millions of years, an essential protein has evolved chiefly by changing how it moves, rather than by changing its basic molecular structure. The work has implications not only for the understanding of protein evolution, but also for the design of antibiotics and other drugs that target the protein in question.

30 Sep 2013

Diabetes puts you at increased risk of flu-related complications

There are certain groups of people who are at risk of serious flu complications each year, including those with diabetes.

30 Sep 2013

Patients treated by ID physicians less likely to die in hospital

In a first-of-its-kind study to evaluate the impact of a medical specialty on patient outcomes, researchers found that hospitalized patients with severe infections such as meningitis and Clostridium difficile are significantly less likely to die if they receive care from an infectious diseases specialist. The study, which analyzed nearly 130,000 Medicare patient cases, is now available online and will be published in the December 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

30 Sep 2013

New intravaginal ring delivers drug effectively, guards against HIV for 1 month

It's often said that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has a woman's face. The proportion of women infected with HIV has been on the rise for a decade; in sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute 60 percent of people living with disease. While preventative drugs exist, they have often proven ineffective, especially in light of financial and cultural barriers in developing nations.

28 Sep 2013

University of Maryland receives renewed NIH funding for vaccine research

The University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) has successfully competed for and received a renewed contract to conduct basic research and clinical studies of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Support for this work to combat existing and emerging infectious diseases is provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

27 Sep 2013

HOOKVAC consortium awarded grant to develop, test vaccine for human hookworm

The HOOKVAC consortium, led by the Academic Medical Center at the University of Amsterdam, today announced it has been awarded a grant of six million Euros from the European Commission FP7 programme to expand the Sabin Vaccine Institute Product Development Partnership’s (Sabin PDP) work to develop and test a vaccine for human hookworm, a disease that infects 600-700 million of the world’s poorest people.

27 Sep 2013

Optic flow enables perception despite blur image

Blurred images that are unidentifiable as still pictures become understandable once the images are set in motion. That's because of a phenomenon called "optic flow"—which may be especially relevant as a source of visual information in people with low vision, reports a study 'With an Eye to Low Vision: Optic Flow Enables Perception Despite Image Blur' in the October issue of Optometry and Vision Science official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

27 Sep 2013