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Researchers solve mysteries of chikungunya's emergence in Asia

What causes a virus to suddenly begin infecting large numbers of people? Scientists have long known that the process they call "viral emergence" involves a wide variety of factors. Some are changes in the environment, either generated by natural causes or human activity. Others are internal, arising from accidental changes - mutations -in the virus' genetic code.

6 May 2011

Furiex Pharmaceuticals to present two JNJ-Q2 antibiotic abstracts at ECCMID/ ICC congress

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that two abstracts featuring its antibiotic candidate JNJ-Q2 will be presented at the 2011 joint meeting of the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the International Congress of Chemotherapy.

6 May 2011

Short courses of antibiotics safer for children with respiratory infections on ventilators

Short courses of antibiotics appear just as effective as longer ones - and a great deal safer - in treating respiratory infections that might cause pneumonia in children on temporary breathing devices, according to a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study published online May 3 in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

6 May 2011

Quest Diagnostics' Simplexa C. difficile test is now available in Europe

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced the availability in Europe of the Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct test on the 3M Integrated Cycler.

From Quest Diagnostics 6 May 2011

Hendra virus alert among horse owners

Hendra virus is a bat-borne virus that has killed four of the seven humans who have been infected and caused the deaths more than 40 horses since it was discovered in 1994. Humans contract the disease from horses but there has been neither human-to-human transmission of the disease nor direct transmission from bats to humans report experts. The majority of outbreaks have occurred during June and October, however last year a horse in Tewantin contracted the virus in May.

5 May 2011

Researchers identify key mucus component in human gut that can kill parasitic worms

Scientists have discovered why some people may be protected from harmful parasitic worms naturally while others cannot in what could lead to new therapies for up to one billion people worldwide.

5 May 2011

New test can diagnose deadly human fungal infections

Deadly human fungal infections caused by certain strains of Aspergillus fungi appear to be developing resistance to current drug treatments at an alarming rate, say scientists.

5 May 2011

NBA Cares, SAHM and Tulsa Shock guard partner for teen vaccine awareness campaign

Tulsa Shock guard Andrea Riley and Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Lanier teamed up with NBA Cares and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine today to bring Vaccines for Teens to the Tulsa community.

5 May 2011

UCF to develop safe, inexpensive and effective polio vaccine

An innovative way of making vaccines at the University of Central Florida has attracted the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its potential to make vaccines lessexpensive, more effective and needle free.

5 May 2011

Desmond Tutu calls on youth to lead next generation in HIV/AIDS fight

Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday at a meeting on Robben Island, South Africa, that "was meant to be a symbolic passing of the torch from an older generation of activists to younger people," called on youth to lead the next generation in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Agence France-Presse reports.

5 May 2011

Study: XMRV retrovirus is not present in chronic fatigue syndrome patients

New findings from University of Utah School of Medicine researchers show that the retrovirus called XMRV is not present in the blood of patients who have chronic fatigue syndrome.

5 May 2011

Targeting mosquito larvae and not adults could worsen dengue epidemics, study says

Targeting only mosquito larvae and not adult insects in insecticide-based dengue control programs could increase mosquito resistance and decrease human immunity to the disease, particularly in urban areas, according to a study published online in the Lancet on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.

5 May 2011

Durata receives positive EMA Scientific Advice on dalbavancin clinical development plan

Durata Therapeutics today announced the Company has received positive Scientific Advice from the European Medicines Agency on the pivotal clinical development plan for dalbavancin, Durata's long-acting, intravenous lipoglycopeptide for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.

4 May 2011

Study: 15% of U.S. nursing homes receive infection control deficiency citation per year

Fifteen percent of U.S. nursing homes receive deficiency citations for infection control per year, according to a new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

4 May 2011

New research sheds light on origins of cryptococcal fungal infection

New research has shed light on the origins of a fungal infection which is one of the major causes of death from AIDS-related illnesses. The study, published today in the journal PLoS Pathogens, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the BBSRC, shows how the more virulent forms of Cryptococcus neoformans evolved and spread out of Africa and into Asia.

4 May 2011

FTC, FDA take action on unproven STD drug products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission today announced a joint effort to remove products from the market that make unproven claims to treat, cure, and prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

4 May 2011

Peripheral venous catheters cause over 10% of catheter-related bloodstream infections

A new study from Rhode Island Hospital has found that more than one in 10 catheter-related bloodstream infections due to Staph aureus in hospitalized adults are caused by infected peripheral venous catheters (PVC). The study points out the substantial medical burden that arises from complications from these infections due to the large number of such catheters used in hospitalized patients.

4 May 2011

Immunetics receives NIH grant for new confirmatory test trial in Chagas' disease

Immunetics, Inc. today announced it has been awarded a $2.4 million, 3-year Phase II SBIR grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health, to support clinical trials of the company's new confirmatory test for Chagas' disease, a serious and potentially fatal parasitic infection.

4 May 2011

AHF cautions against fast track FDA-approval for expanded use of Gilead’s Truvada

During its quarterly meeting over the weekend, The Board of Directors of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) adopted a resolution cautioning Gilead Sciences against seeking fast track FDA-approval for the expanded use of its best selling AIDS treatment, Truvada, as a possible form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent the transmission of HIV.

4 May 2011

SBS explores ‘superbugs’ on Insight Tuesday 10th May

Since the discovery of penicillin in the early twentieth century, antibiotics have fought infections and diseases that were once life threatening. But over time, many bacteria have become resistant to these drugs and patients are increasingly at risk.

3 May 2011

Disease/Infection News

Researchers solve mysteries of chikungunya's emergence in Asia

Furiex Pharmaceuticals to present two JNJ-Q2 antibiotic abstracts at ECCMID/ ICC congress

Short courses of antibiotics safer for children with respiratory infections on ventilators

Quest Diagnostics' Simplexa C. difficile test is now available in Europe

Hendra virus alert among horse owners

Researchers identify key mucus component in human gut that can kill parasitic worms

New test can diagnose deadly human fungal infections

NBA Cares, SAHM and Tulsa Shock guard partner for teen vaccine awareness campaign

UCF to develop safe, inexpensive and effective polio vaccine

Desmond Tutu calls on youth to lead next generation in HIV/AIDS fight

Study: XMRV retrovirus is not present in chronic fatigue syndrome patients

Targeting mosquito larvae and not adults could worsen dengue epidemics, study says

Durata receives positive EMA Scientific Advice on dalbavancin clinical development plan

Study: 15% of U.S. nursing homes receive infection control deficiency citation per year

New research sheds light on origins of cryptococcal fungal infection

FTC, FDA take action on unproven STD drug products

Peripheral venous catheters cause over 10% of catheter-related bloodstream infections

Immunetics receives NIH grant for new confirmatory test trial in Chagas' disease

AHF cautions against fast track FDA-approval for expanded use of Gilead’s Truvada

SBS explores ‘superbugs’ on Insight Tuesday 10th May

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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