Feature Channels: Infectious Diseases

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This winter has provided several dramatic developments in the ongoing debate about whether altering the "germline" - that is, the genome of a new embryo - should be allowed. Employing the technique could permanently alter not just an individual, but also that person's future genetic lineage. In a new research essay in the journal Cell, a duo of medical and legal experts from Brown and Harvard Universities argues that if the U.S. decides to consider the practice, it has a well-drawn regulatory roadmap to follow, courtesy of the United Kingdom.

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Two University of Michigan-based scientists are leading an effort to explain the recent deaths of at least 75 howler monkeys living in the tropical forests of southwestern Nicaragua.

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As many as 4 million people could be infected with the Zika virus by the end of the year, according to the World Health Organization. The Zika virus is transmitted by mosquito bites to people predominantly in Central and South America. Although the most typical symptoms of the virus are mild and similar to the flu, pregnant woman face more serious dangers: Cases of microcephaly, a birth defect that could causes a baby’s head to stop growing after birth, may be associated with the virus. University of Missouri researchers say a combination of different strategies is needed to fully tackle the mysteries of the Zika virus.

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Most of the 82 Ebola survivors in a new study from the world’s largest Ebola outbreak had brain symptoms more than six months after the initial infection. The preliminary results will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016. The study is part of the larger Prevail III study, which follows patients with prior Ebola virus disease and their close contacts who serve as study controls.

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New research from the University of Southampton shows that copper can destroy MRSA spread by touching and fingertip contamination of surfaces.

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Team led by Rice University develops approach to uncover missing connections in biochemical networks.

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The research of two Montana State University microbiologists into how bacteria fend off attacks from viruses is included in a new paper published in the scientific journal Nature.

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Scientists at the University of East Anglia are getting closer to solving the problem of antibiotic resistance.

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Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that HIV infection of human immune cells triggers a massive increase in methylation, a chemical modification, to both human and viral RNA, aiding replication of the virus. The study, published February 22, 2016 in Nature Microbiology, identifies a new mechanism for controlling HIV replication and its interaction with the host immune system.

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Parents who do not get their children flu shots rate flu vaccine less favorably than other childhood vaccines, a national poll finds.

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Georgetown infectious disease expert Daniel Lucey, MD, MPH, will deliver a presentation titled “WHO Reforms and UN Action” during the “Ebola and Beyond: Preparing for the Next Pandemic” symposium at the 17th International Congress on Infectious Diseases (ICID), March 2-5, 2016 in Hyderabad, India.

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An international team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), have created the first comprehensive, cross-species genomic comparison of all 20 known species of Leptospira, a bacterial genus that can cause disease and death in livestock and other domesticated mammals, wildlife and humans.

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With the outbreak of viruses like Zika, chikungunya, and dengue on the rise, public health officials are desperate to stop transmission.

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The World Health Organization posted its “ZIKA Strategic Response Framework & Joint Operations Plan” on Feb. 16. Global health law expert Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, is pleased to see the WHO plan but says the financing needed to stem the Zika epidemic is grossly underestimated.

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A study at Oregon State University has concluded that significant outbreaks of viruses may be associated with coral bleaching events, especially as a result of multiple environmental stresses.

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Global concerns about Zika virus aren’t stopping Americans from making international travel plans, a new study finds, but many who do plan to go abroad say they want more information about the virus.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute and School of Public Health have discovered a new class of anti-biofilm compounds derived from marine microorganisms that show promise against a drug-resistant bacterium commonly associated with hospital-acquired infections.

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By mining electronic health records, UCLA big data experts have develop an algorithm with the potential to vastly increase the number of correct diagnoses of the disease by refining the pool of candidates who are put forward for screening. They also uncovered several previously unknown risk factors for diabetes, including a history of sexual and gender identity disorders, intestinal infections and a category of illnesses that includes such sexually transmitted diseases as chlamydia.

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Major infections such as influenza and bacterial sepsis kill millions of people each year, often resulting from dangerous complications that impair the body's blood vessels. But the reasons why some patients experience these dramatic responses to infections -- and others don't -- have been unclear. Now, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center find that the Tie2 gene plays a role.

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Northern Arizona University researcher studies the impact of CMV on healthcare providers.

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UNC School of Medicine scientists studying one of the world’s most virulent pathogens and a separate very common bacterium have discovered a new way that some bacteria can spread rapidly throughout the body – by hitchhiking on our own immune cells.

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A common toxin used to kill yellow fever mosquito larvae – the most prevalent transmitter of dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses – is highly effective. While there are some fitness advantages to surviving adults, this is still an effective way to control the damaging health impacts of these mosquito-borne diseases, a new University of Florida study shows.

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A recent study examined injection risk behaviors among heroin injectors in the Colombian cities of Medellín and Pereira to explore the implications for possible increased HIV transmission within PWID.

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Researchers at UC San Francisco and Johns Hopkins may have found a new way to diagnose Lyme disease, based on a distinctive gene “signature” they discovered in white blood cells of patients infected with the tick-borne bacteria.

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Some of the first experiments studying Zika virus in monkeys will be conducted by a broad UW–Madison team that includes the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center and experts in infectious disease, pregnancy and neurology.

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There is a significant correlation between the Hepatitis C and opioid abuse epidemics that has been overlooked in the FY 2017 budget proposals, and indicates a missed opportunity by the government to concurrently provide funding to address both of these public health concerns.

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Researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory fabricated model blood vessel systems that include artificial blood vessels with diameters as narrow as the smallest capillaries in the body. The systems were used to study the activity of white blood cells as they were affected by drugs that tend to make them softer, which facilitates their entry into blood circulation.

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A new journal is challenging established methods in biomedical research publications. Pathogens and Immunity streamlines the current research publication process – a well-recognized source of frustration for biomedical researchers – from one day to five minutes.

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Public concerns about Zika triggered UF/IFAS scientists to write a new Extension document to explain the virus. The paper can be found at http://bit.ly/1QTLDqO. FMEL scientists also have crafted a new question-and-answer document for their website, http://bit.ly/1O0eLbi.

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Behavioral interventions that appealed to doctors' competitive spirits and desire to strengthen their reputations motivated them to significantly reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, a new study shows.

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Reducing incarceration can reduce the number of sexual partners men and women have.

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For the first time, investigators in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have determined how antiretroviral therapy (ART) affects the way HIV disseminates and establishes infection in the female reproductive tract. These observations have significant implications for future HIV prevention, vaccine and cure studies.

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Microorganisms in the gut could play a role in reducing the severity of malaria, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Louisville.

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Microorganisms in the gut could play a role in reducing the severity of malaria, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Louisville.

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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent announcement of a public health emergency of international concern has many individuals searching for information on the Zika virus. Larry Kociolek, MD, Infectious Diseases at Lurie Children’s explains the virus, addresses the concern for risk in pregnant women and how you can prevent contracting the illness.

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Mayo Clinic researchers, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health officials from Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, have discovered a new bacterial species that causes Lyme disease in people. The new species has been provisionally named Borrelia mayonii. Prior to this finding, the only species believed to cause Lyme disease in North America was Borrelia burgdorferi.

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By chance, scientists have discovered a malaria parasite that infects white-tailed deer. It’s the first-ever malaria parasite known to live in a deer species and the only native malaria parasite found in any mammal in North or South America.

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The paper provides residency programs with specific recommendations from subject matter experts on 10 major molecular pathology topics: basic molecular pathology goals and laboratory management; basic concepts in molecular biology and genetics; technology; inherited disorders; oncology; infectious diseases; pharmacogenetics; histocompatibility and identity; genomics, and information management.

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Columbia University Medical Center and Mailman School of Public Health experts offer insight into the arrival of the Zika virus in South America and the Caribbean.

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A look-back analysis of HPV infection antibodies in patients treated for oropharyngeal (mouth and throat) cancers linked to HPV infection suggests at least one of the antibodies could be useful in identifying those at risk for a recurrence of the cancer, say scientists at The Johns Hopkins University. A report on the study is published in the February issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

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The University of Georgia announced Wednesday that it has entered into a collaborative research agreement with GeoVax Labs Inc. to develop and test a vaccine to prevent the emerging and virulent Zika virus infection.

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a molecular regulator that allows salmonella bacteria to switch from actively causing disease to lurking in a chronic but asymptomatic state called a biofilm.

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Exposure to specific antibiotics is linked to the development of certain strains of antibiotic-resistant C. difficile, one of the fastest growing bacteria superbugs, according to a new study published by Stuart Johnson, MD, of Loyola University Health System (LUHS), Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) and the Hines VA Medical Hospital.

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If you hadn’t heard of the Zika virus, chances are that has changed with recent reports of outbreaks of the mosquito-borne illness in Latin America, and possible cases in the United States.