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Treatment of CMV infection can inhibit medullablastomas development

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to inhibit the growth of brain tumours by treating the common Cytomegalovirus (CMV). The virus, which is found in a wide range of tumour types, offers a possible route towards controlling tumour growth and reducing the size of the tumour as a complement to conventional cytotoxin-based therapies.

28 Sep 2011

High prevalence of NTDs in Central Asia after 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union

The open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases will publish an article emphasizing the rising burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Central Asia on Tuesday, Sept. 27th.

28 Sep 2011

Burundi makes significant progress against NTDs

In this "End the Neglect" blog post, Alan Fenwick, director of the Schistosomaisis Control Initiative and professor of Tropical Parasitology at Imperial College in London, examines Burundi's progress in combating neglected tropical diseases.

28 Sep 2011

Researchers validate two parasite enzymes as potential anti-malarial drug targets

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Monash University, and Virginia Tech have used a set of novel inhibitors to analyze how the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, uses enzymes to chew up human hemoglobin from host red blood cells as a food source.

28 Sep 2011

Global health blunders can lend useful lessons

New York Times reporter Lawrence Altman recounts his experience in the mid-1960s with a measles immunization campaign in Upper Volta during his time with the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the CDC in a "Doctor's World" perspective piece in the newspaper. Altman says that although the effort to expand the immunization campaign from a small field trial to a regional program "failed miserably," the "lessons learned from these blunders led to a new program that wiped out smallpox, still the only human disease to have been eradicated from the planet."

28 Sep 2011

Emissions from livestock farms cause lung patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations

Emissions from livestock farms cause asthma and COPD patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations, according to research presented today at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam.

28 Sep 2011

New method for quickly identifying individual viruses

A new method for quickly identifying individual viruses and recognising how they bind to host cells may become a vital tool in the early control of winter vomiting disease and other virus-based diseases. In the west, this means saving money and reducing stress on health-care systems. In developing countries, this means saving lives.

28 Sep 2011

UCI professor wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers

Rommie Amaro, UC Irvine assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and computer science, has been selected by President Obama for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers.

28 Sep 2011

More predictability in the chaos of infectious Chagas disease transmission

Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, not all epidemics involve people suffering from zombie-like symptoms--some can only be uncovered through door-to-door epidemiology and advanced mathematics.

28 Sep 2011

Columbia University receives CFI grant to investigate causes of chronic fatigue syndrome

The Chronic Fatigue Initiative (CFI) - a new privately funded research directive focused on chronic fatigue syndrome - announced a substantial grant to a Columbia University research team to investigate the role of pathogens in causing chronic fatigue syndrome. The pathogen discovery and pathogenesis program will be led by Drs. Ian Lipkin and Mady Hornig of the Center for Infection and Immunity.

28 Sep 2011

Microbiologist offers advice to guard against coming down with the flu

October marks the beginning of flu season, and once again, health care professionals are exhorting people to get a flu shot. Microbiologist John Tudor, Ph.D., professor of biology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, agrees that it's time to roll up our sleeves and offer up our arms for the vaccination.

28 Sep 2011

Study sheds light on when to start antiretroviral therapy

Findings from a study published in the current issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, when "taken together with other studies published over the last few years," show that beginning people living with HIV on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) when their CD4 cell count is between 350 and 500 "appears to be beneficial over the long term.

28 Sep 2011

MicroDose initiates MDT-637 Phase 1 trial in respiratory syncytial virus

MicroDose Therapeutx, Inc. today announced that the first human subject has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of MDT-637, MicroDose's inhalable small molecule antiviral fusion inhibitor for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus.

28 Sep 2011

Methodist Hospital internist offers few simple suggestions to prevent cold and flu

The first few breezes of fall bring with them not only the promise of a welcome change in season, but also the threat of colds and flu. Dr. Joshua Septimus, an internist at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, offers a few simple suggestions to protect you and your family this cold and flu season. "The most useful tip I can pass along is to wash your hands," says Septimus. "It sounds so simple, but it is truly the most important thing you can do to protect yourself."

27 Sep 2011

Lead compound activates infection-fighting REDD1 protein and kills flu strain

A compound tested by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators destroys several viruses, including the deadly Spanish flu that killed an estimated 30 million people in the worldwide pandemic of 1918.

27 Sep 2011

Immediate action needed to curb spread of TB, especially among children

In this post in the Huffington Posts "Impact" blog, Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, an international partnership of advocates working to mobilize resources to treat and prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB), examines the need for improved TB vaccines and diagnostics in order to curb the spread of multidrug-resistant TB, especially among children, and highlights ACTION's new report.

27 Sep 2011

HIV vaccine research showing promise

Recent findings on HIV vaccine research, some presented recently at the AIDS Vaccine 2011 conference in Bangkok, "show that the science of an AIDS vaccine is vibrant and vital," Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC-Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, writes in a "Science Speaks" guest blog post.

27 Sep 2011

Rush Foundation, Copenhagen Consensus Center examine how to spend hypothetical AIDS funding

In this post in the Center for Global Developments "Global Health Policy" blog, Mead Over, a senior fellow at the center, writes that the Rush Foundation has asked the Copenhagen Consensus Centre to address the question of how to spend an additional, but hypothetical, $10 billion on HIV/AIDS programs in Africa over the next five years.

27 Sep 2011

Researchers modify HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress immune system

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have modified HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress the immune system. Their work, they say in a report published online September 19 in the journal Blood, could remove a major hurdle in HIV vaccine development and lead to new treatments.

27 Sep 2011

University of Zurich receives AICR grant to improve vaccines against Burkitt's lymphoma

Research in Switzerland could help reduce the time taken to develop vaccines against cancer tumours.

27 Sep 2011

Disease/Infection News

Treatment of CMV infection can inhibit medullablastomas development

High prevalence of NTDs in Central Asia after 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union

Burundi makes significant progress against NTDs

Researchers validate two parasite enzymes as potential anti-malarial drug targets

Global health blunders can lend useful lessons

Emissions from livestock farms cause lung patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations

New method for quickly identifying individual viruses

UCI professor wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers

More predictability in the chaos of infectious Chagas disease transmission

Columbia University receives CFI grant to investigate causes of chronic fatigue syndrome

Microbiologist offers advice to guard against coming down with the flu

Study sheds light on when to start antiretroviral therapy

MicroDose initiates MDT-637 Phase 1 trial in respiratory syncytial virus

Methodist Hospital internist offers few simple suggestions to prevent cold and flu

Lead compound activates infection-fighting REDD1 protein and kills flu strain

Immediate action needed to curb spread of TB, especially among children

HIV vaccine research showing promise

Rush Foundation, Copenhagen Consensus Center examine how to spend hypothetical AIDS funding

Researchers modify HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress immune system

University of Zurich receives AICR grant to improve vaccines against Burkitt's lymphoma

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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