Feature Channels: Infectious Diseases

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Dr. Peter Hotez of The George Washington University Medical Center is available to comment on the recent outbreak of Dengue virus in the Florida Keys.

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A parasite estimated to afflict as many as 12 million people worldwide relies on a family of genes that should make it vulnerable to compounds developed to treat cancer and other disorders, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

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In health care reform discussions, talk inevitably turns to making hospitals and physicians accountable for patient outcomes. But in a commentary being published in the July 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Johns Hopkins patient safety expert Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., argues that the health care industry doesn’t yet have measurable, achievable and routine ways to prevent patient harm — and that, in many cases, there are too many barriers in the way to attain them.

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GeoVax is developing a vaccine that presents the natural form of HIV envelope proteins to the immune system on virus-like particles with the envelope proteins present in clusters of three, a confirmation known as trimers.

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A risk reduction program focused on African American heterosexual couples appears to diminish risky sexual behaviors among couples in which one partner is HIV-positive and the other is not, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the September 27 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The study was published online today in advance of its upcoming presentation at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria.

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Lowly bacteria are turning out to be much more complex than previously thought. Researchers describe an example of bacterial complexity which once was thought to be rare in bacteria.

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Tropical disease specialist Joseph Vinetz, MD, of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine will lead an ambitious multi-national effort to help control and eventually conquer malaria, establishing a new Peruvian/Brazilian International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research Center (ICEMR) with a seven-year, $9.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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New research reveals the unusual structure of a key protein complex that allows a herpes virus to invade cells. This close-up of the herpes virus’s “cell-entry machinery” sheds light on how herpes viruses work and provides a promising new target for antiviral drugs.

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The analysis of insurance records of more than 1.4 million U.S. men over 40 found that those who used ED drugs were more likely to have sexually transmitted diseases than were non-users. Physicians who prescribe erectile dysfunction drugs for their male patients should be sure to discuss the importance of safer sex practices, even with older patients.

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Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health urge wider use of oral rehydration solution (ORS), zinc supplementation and rotavirus vaccine to reduce the deaths from diarrheal disease worldwide. Diarrheal disease kills approximately 1.5 million children under age 5 each year. The researchers’ findings and recommendations are published in the July 3 edition of The Lancet.

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A new study from researchers in Ottawa and Toronto suggests that a commonly used type of bone marrow stem cell may be able to help treat sepsis, a deadly condition that can occur when an infection spreads throughout the body.

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A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Mexico has found that even a modest behavioral intervention program averaging just 35 minutes can measurably reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female sex workers in the U.S.-Mexico border region – and that the program succeeds at comparatively little expense.

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Using an experimental mouse model for malaria, an international group of scientists has discovered that adding antioxidant therapy to traditional antimalarial treatment may prevent long-lasting cognitive impairment in cerebral malaria.

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Scientists have shown that a specific virus can interact with a mutation in the host's genes to trigger disease. The observation may help explain why many people with disease risk genes do not actually develop disease.

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Children exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) early in life later had a diminished immune response to diphtheria and tetanus vaccinations, according to a study published online June 20 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

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Routine use of HPV vaccine in males provides direct benefits to men and their sexual partners, will increase overall immunization rates among both males and females, and may be cost-effective; SAHM strongly recommends routine use of HPV vaccination in males as well as in females. We urge clinicians and insurance organizations to consider the benefit of routine vaccination for all age-appropriate patients, regardless of gender, in an effort to support the primary prevention of disease among adolescents and adults.

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The largest study to date to examine methods to prevent HIV infection among breastfeeding infants concludes that giving antiretroviral drugs to HIV-infected breastfeeding mothers in sub-Saharan Africa or giving an HIV-fighting syrup to their babies are both effective.

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Establishing a firm link between environmental change and human disease has always been an iffy proposition. Now, however, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, writing in the current (June 16, 2010) online issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, presents the most enumerated case to date linking increased incidence of malaria to land-use practices in the Amazon.

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A team of molecular biologists and computer scientists at Stony Brook University have used a novel method to weaken influenza virus by designing hundreds of mutations to its genetic code to create an effective vaccine.

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A team of researchers led by Elliott Dasenbrook, MD, MHS, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and Associate Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program at University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital today published the findings from a major study about cystic fibrosis (CF) survival rates.

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Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have determined people who were vaccinated against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may also be protected against the lethal 1918 Spanish influenza virus, which killed more than 50 million people worldwide.

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Scientists have long known that certain types of bacteria boost the immune system. A new study is showing how bacteria perform this essential task.

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Vitamin D may help reduce the incidence and severity of viral respiratory tract infections including influenza, according to a new study conducted by investigators at Greenwich Hospital and Yale University School of Medicine.

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Summer is all about barbeques and lazy days at the pool. It’s also a good time to start thinking about preparing for flu season, and the vaccinations you or your child may need for the upcoming year, says Carrie Maffeo, a professor of pharmacy at Butler University, who specializes in immunizations.

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Currently, disinfecting formulations can take more than 10 minutes after application to eradicate a microorganism, and they are often toxic formulations. The amount of time required for effectiveness and the harm the products inflict on the environment make this an unrealistic and unviable solution to the problem. One scientist may have found an effective alternative.

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According to Melanie Thompson, Principal Investigator at The AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta (ARCA). "A vaccine that enhanced the body's ability to control HIV and delayed or decreased the dependence on anti-HIV drugs would be a major breakthrough for HIV treatment."

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A new discovery may help curb surgical site infections (SSI) through the use of a novel antibiotic agent that can be incorporated into sutures.

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Community-based model of directly observed therapy has no effect on virologic outcomes, but significantly improves HIV patient survival.

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Studies suggest role for IL-10 in prevention and treatment of potentially devastating neurological disease in newborns.

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When used in conjunction with these antibiotics, the chemical additives overcome enzymes produced by resistant bacteria that allow them to survive exposure to antibiotics.

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Sex Hormones and Immunity to Infection investigates the role biological sex plays in immune responses to infection and the possibility that males and females may differ in their responses to treatments.

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An outbreak of infection due to linezolid and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LRSA) in 12 intensive care unit patients in Spain was associated with transmission within the hospital and extensive usage of the antibiotic linezolid, often used for the treatment of serious infections, with reductions in linezolid use and infection-control measures associated with resolution of the outbreak, according to a study in the June 9 issue of JAMA.

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Given promptly, the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) appears safe and effective for infants hospitalized with influenza, reports a study in the June issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a five-year, $3.9 million grant to study how extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is transmitted in rural South Africa. The findings could alter public health approaches for controlling the XDR-TB epidemic in the developing world.

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A new study shows that travelers to the upcoming World Cup soccer matches in South Africa should focus less on avoiding tropical diseases such as malaria and concentrate more on protecting themselves from more common illnesses – acute diarrhea, sexually transmitted diseases, insect and tick bites, and vaccine-preventable infections, especially influenza and measles. The report is based a 13-year period of GeoSentinel monitoring among travelers to South Africa.

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The same mutated gene that makes humans more susceptible to the potentially fatal West Nile virus is also responsible for the virus affecting horses, according to scientists at the University of Adelaide.

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Only about one in three young women has received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer, according to a new report from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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Exposure to the common virus that causes cold sores may be partially responsible for shrinking regions of the brain and the loss of concentration skills, memory, coordinated movement and dexterity widely seen in patients with schizophrenia, according to research led by Johns Hopkins scientists.

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Every autumn, as predictably as falling leaves, flu season descends upon us. Every spring, just as predictably, the season comes to a close. This cyclical pattern, common in temperate regions, is well known, but the driving forces behind it have been in question.

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The bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which lives in the human stomach and is associated with ulcers and gastric cancer, is shaped like a corkscrew, or helix. For years researchers have hypothesized that the bacterium’s twisty shape is what enables it to survive – and thrive – within the stomach’s acid-drenched environment, but until now they have had no proof.

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Northeastern biology professor Kim Lewis has received a three-year $1.16 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to lead the development of new treatments against tuberculosis, a disease that is increasingly resistant to antibiotics, killing nearly two million people worldwide each year.

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Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have developed a new influenza vaccine that brings science one step closer to a universal influenza vaccine that would eliminate the need for seasonal flu shots. The new findings can be found in the inaugural issue of mBio®, the first online, open-access journal published by the American Society for Microbiology.

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As part of a multicenter study, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a series of chemical compounds that might serve as starting points for the identification of new classes of anti-malarial drugs.

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Pregnant women who contract the H1N1 flu strain are at risk for obstetrical complications including fetal distress, premature delivery, emergency cesarean delivery and fetal death, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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In a tropical environment, influenza A(H1N1) appeared milder than seasonal flu, was less likely to cause fever and upset stomach and more likely to infect younger individuals, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine for the first time have determined that bone marrow cells play a critical role in fighting respiratory viruses, making the bone marrow a potential therapeutic target, especially in people with compromised immune systems. They have found that during infections of the respiratory tract, cells produced by the bone marrow are instructed by proteins to migrate to the lungs to help fight infection.

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A suppressive immune response to live malaria parasites in the skin is the unavoidable result of a malaria-infected mosquito bite. People who have already had live parasites in the skin have a ready-made suppressive response to a vaccine antigen.

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An international team led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators today released data detailing the effectiveness of nearly 310,000 chemicals against a malaria parasite that remains one of the world’s leading killers of young children.

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Researchers have identified a parasite protein that has all the makings of a microbial glass jaw: it's essential, it's vulnerable and humans have nothing like it, meaning scientists can take pharmacological swings at it with minimal fear of collateral damage.

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The NIH is sponsoring research of an investigational vaccine for a potentially deadly virus.