Pneumonia News and Research

Latest Pneumonia News and Research

Further study of past flu pandemics key to future preparedness

Scientists and public health officials, wary that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could trigger an influenza pandemic, have looked to past pandemics, including the 1918 "Spanish Flu," for insight into pandemic planning.

28 Feb 2007

Exchange of E. coli between humans and chimps in Uganda

Scientists from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana have found that people employed in chimpanzee-focused research and tourism in a park in western Uganda are exchanging gastrointestinal bacteria - specifically Escherichia coli - with local chimpanzee populations. And some of the E. coli strains migrating to chimps are resistant to antibiotics used by humans in Uganda.

22 Feb 2007

RNAi shows promise in gene therapy

Three years ago Mark Kay, MD, PhD, published the first results showing that a biological phenomenon called RNA interference could be an effective gene therapy technique. Since then he has used RNAi gene therapy to effectively shut down the viruses that cause hepatitis and HIV in mice.

19 Feb 2007

Wealthy nations launch vaccine purchase plan for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria

Officials from a group of wealthy nations on Friday launched a $1.5 billion plan to provide and develop vaccines for diseases -- including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- that largely affect developing countries, the New York Times reports.

13 Feb 2007

Serious warning placed on antibiotic Ketek

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has issued a warning about an antibiotic used to treat sinusitis and bronchitis.

12 Feb 2007

Determinants of disease presentation and outcome during cryptococcosis

CRNS and the Institut Pasteur conducted research in France on patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis which ranks second among fatal opportunistic infections in patients infected by HIV and who are profoundly immunosuppressed.

12 Feb 2007

Vaccine against group B Streptococci

The search for a vaccine against group B streptococci Group B streptococci are one of the leading causes of infection in newborn infants, causing pneumonia, septicaemia or meningitis.

12 Feb 2007

Death toll at 65 as two more Indonesians die from bird flu

Indonesian health officials say a 20-year-old woman who tested positive for bird flu has died, making her the country's 64th human victim of the deadly H5N1 virus.

11 Feb 2007

Health effects of passive somking studied in first-of-a-kind clinical study

Until bans on in-flight smoking took effect, beginning in 1988, flight attendants were regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.

1 Feb 2007

Different treatments may be needed for chronic asthma, depending on whether it results from allergies or lung infections

Researchers have now identified a particular gene that influences how severe a M. pneumoniae infection may be, which in turn suggests that a different strategy might be needed for treating asthma resulting from this and similar lung infections rather than allergies.

31 Jan 2007

Public reporting and pay for performance in hospital quality improvement

A Medicare pay-for-performance pilot project that rewards hospitals based on quality measures contributes to "modest" improvements in quality of care, according to a study published online Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Wall Street Journal reports .

30 Jan 2007

Antibiotic doses could be reduced by up to 50 times using new approach

Steven Hagens, previously at the University of Vienna, told Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI, that certain bacteriophages, a type of virus that infects bacteria, can boost the effectiveness of antibiotics gentamicin, gramacidin or tetracycline.

29 Jan 2007

A plasminogen-activating protease specifically controls the development of primary pneumonic plague

The deadly attack of the bacterium that causes pneumonic plague is significantly slowed when it can't make use of a key protein, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report in Science.

28 Jan 2007

Measles Initiative exceeds goals

Measles deaths have fallen by 60% worldwide since 1999 - a major public health success. This exceeds the United Nations goal to halve measles deaths between 1999 and 2005 and is largely due to an unprecedented decline in measles deaths in the African region.

22 Jan 2007

Lung neutrophils produce histamine in significant quantities

In a surprise finding, scientists have discovered that histamine, the inflammatory compound released during allergic reactions that causes runny nose, watery eyes, and wheezing, can be produced in large amounts in the lung by neutrophils, the white blood cells that are the major component of pus.

14 Jan 2007

Hospital death rate study reveals wide variations and stresses importance of Registered Nurses

Hospital death rates can be reduced by employing more Registered Nurses and the routine use of care maps or protocols, according to a study in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.

14 Jan 2007

How to save a million lives a year

A promise of $200 million from some of the world's richest nations to fight diseases in poor countries will save more than a million children's lives a year.

1 Dec 2006

Brookhaven target compounds to fight SARS

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have set the stage for the rapid identification of compounds to fight against severe acquired respiratory syndrome (SARS), the atypical pneumonia responsible for about 800 deaths worldwide since first recognized in late 2002.

20 Nov 2006

Brookhaven target new anti-SARS virus drugs

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have set the stage for the rapid identification of compounds to fight against severe acquired respiratory syndrome (SARS), the atypical pneumonia responsible for about 800 deaths worldwide since first recognized in late 2002.

14 Nov 2006

Chinese lack of transparency could trigger bird flu pandemic

The transparency of health authorities in China has come under criticism yet again with the news of a new strain of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus which virologists say could be resistant to vaccines.

1 Nov 2006