|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Public Release: 9-Feb-2010
 PLoS PathogensAdapting to clogged airways makes common pathogen resist powerful drugs Mutations of a common environmental pathogen that causes chronic lung disease in patients with cystic fibrosis are able to survive in oxygen-poor, nitrate-rich airway secretions. This same survival mechanism also enables the mutate bacteria to resist the effects of certain antibiotics -- even without any previous exposure to antibiotics. 
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation
Contact: Leila Gray
Public Release: 9-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCells can read damaged DNA without missing a beat Under certain growth-limiting conditions, enzymes that read DNA can skim through damaged DNA without skipping any letters in the genetic "text." This suggests a mechanism that can allow bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Vince Dollard
Public Release: 8-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early EditionScripps research team reveals how an old drug could have a new use for treating river blindness Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new use for the drug closantel, currently the standard treatment for sheep and cattle infected with liver fluke. The new research suggests that the drug may be useful in combating river blindness, a tropical disease that is the world's second leading infectious cause of blindness for humans.
Worm Institute for Research and Medicine at Scripps Research
Contact: Keith McKeown
Public Release: 8-Feb-2010
One-third of antimalarial medicines sampled in 3 African nations found to be substandard The first results from a large-scale study of key antimalarial medicines in ten Sub-Saharan African countries reveal that a high percentage of medicines circulating on national markets are of substandard quality and thus may contribute to the growth of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent form of malaria. Contact: Francine Pierson
Public Release: 8-Feb-2010
PLoS MedicineAntiretroviral therapy associated with increase in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa In PLoS Medicine this week a study conducted in a multi-country HIV treatment program in sub-Saharan Africa has found that pregnancy rates increase in HIV-infected women after they start antiretroviral therapy. Contact: Andrew Hyde
Public Release: 5-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early EditionInfection-fighting antibodies made in plants as effective as costlier conventional version The first head-to-head comparison of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies produced from plants versus the same antibodies produced from mammalian cells has shown that plant-produced antibodies can fight infection equally well. Scientists conducted the comparison as a test of the potential for treating disease in developing nations with the significantly less expensive plant-based production technique.
The National Institutes of Health and the Midwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research
Contact: Michael C. Purdy
Public Release: 5-Feb-2010
Nearly half of Americans believe H1N1 outbreak is over, poll finds Poll shows almost half of Americans believe H1N1 flu outbreak is over and levels of concern about getting sick continue to decline. After initial period of vaccine shortage, 70 percent of adults said there is now enough vaccine in their community for everyone who wants it. More than half of parents either got the vaccine for their children or intend to. Many adults said they have not gotten the vaccine and do not intend to.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Public Health Information Coalition
Contact: Robin Herman
Public Release: 5-Feb-2010
Nature BiotechnologyNTU researchers complete the world's first in-depth study of the malaria parasite genome Groundbreaking research done at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University's School of Biological Sciences could lead to the development of more potent drugs or a vaccine for malaria. Assistant Professor Zbynek Bozdech and his team of researchers, including graduate students and post-doctorals from SBS' Division of Genomics & Genetics, have scored a world first in successfully using transcriptional profiling to uncover hitherto unknown gene expression (activity) patterns in malaria. Contact: Hisham Hambari
Public Release: 4-Feb-2010
More than 30 percent of seniors are not immunized against pneumonia in 36 states A new report, "Adult Immunization: Shots to Save Lives," released today by the Trust for America's Health, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that more than 30 percent of adults ages 65 and older had not been immunized against pneumonia in 36 states as of 2008.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Contact: John Heys
Public Release: 4-Feb-2010
ChestNews briefs from the February issue of Chest News briefs from the February issue of Chest feature new studies related to the use of inhaled corticosteroids for COPD, depression and COPD, and noncompliance issues related to TB therapy. Contact: Jennifer Stawarz
Public Release: 3-Feb-2010
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent MedicineTargeted prevention stopped spread of H1N1 at Alabama boys camp Providing preventive Tamiflu and educating and emphasizing the need for repeated hand sanitizer use and disinfectant spray helped stop the spread of H1N1 influenza at a boys' summer camp in northern Alabama, according to David Kimberlin, M.D., the co-director of the UAB Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Contact: Troy Goodman
Public Release: 3-Feb-2010
Clinical Infectious DiseasesFlu vaccination rate at large, Midwest health system rises dramatically due to mandatory policy Making flu shots mandatory in 2008 dramatically increased the vaccination rate among St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare's nearly 26,000 employees to more than 98 percent, according to a report now online in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Contact: Caroline Arbanas
Public Release: 3-Feb-2010
Journal of Biological ChemistryPlant derivative could help refine cancer treatment Medical College of Georgia researchers are seeking to refine cancer treatment with an anti-inflammatory plant derivative long used in Chinese medicine.
MCG Cardiovascular Discovery Institute, American Heart Association
Contact: Jennifer Hilliard
Public Release: 3-Feb-2010
NatureIowa State, Ames Lab chemists discover how antiviral drugs bind to and block flu virus A research team led by Mei Hong of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory has determined where an antiviral drug binds to and blocks a channel necessary for the flu virus to spread. The researchers also discovered that the drug spins in the channel, meaning there could be room for developing drugs that do a better job blocking the channel and stopping the flu. The findings are published in the Feb. 4 issue of the journal Nature.
National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Mei Hong
Public Release: 3-Feb-2010
NatureScientists find ideal target for malaria therapy Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a protein made by the malaria parasite that is essential to its ability to take over human red blood cells.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Michael C. Purdy
Public Release: 3-Feb-2010
NatureBad news for mosquitoes: Yale study may lead to better traps, repellents Yale University researchers have found more than two dozen scent receptors in malaria-transmitting mosquitoes that detect compounds in human sweat, a finding that may help scientists to develop new ways to combat a disease that kills 1 million people annually.
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
Contact: Bill Hathaway
Public Release: 3-Feb-2010
NatureMalaria's key survival protein identified, offering drug hope Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have identified a key protein used by the malaria parasite to transform human red blood cells, ensuring the parasite's survival. Their discovery means researchers have a clear target against which to develop a new class of anti-malarial drugs that destroy the parasite.
National Institutes of Health, National Health and Medical Research Council
Contact: Penny Fannin
Public Release: 1-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesResearchers find 'broad spectrum' antiviral that fights multitude of viruses Researchers have identified a "broad spectrum" antiviral that is effective against numerous viruses, including HIV-1, influenza A, filoviruses, poxviruses, arenaviruses, bunyaviruses, paramyxoviruses and flaviviruses. These viruses cause some of the world's deadliest diseases, such as AIDS, Nipah virus encephalitis, Ebola, hemorrhagic fever and Rift Valley fever.
National Institutes of Health, UCLA CFAR, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, March of Dimes, California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant, Warsaw Fellowship Endowment, Rheumatology Training Grant
Contact: Enrique Rivero
Public Release: 1-Feb-2010
American Journal of PathologyOf swine, birds and men -- pandemic H1N1 flu Current research suggests that pandemic H1N1 influenza of swine origin has distinct means of transmission from the seasonal flu, yet does not result in the pathogenic severity of avian flu viruses. The related report by Chan et al., "Tropism and Innate Host Responses of the 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Virus in ex Vivo and in Vitro Cultures of Human Conjunctiva and Respiratory Tract," appears published online ahead of print in the April 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology. Contact: Angela Colmone, Ph.D.
Public Release: 1-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCompound found that targets wide range of viruses Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, UCLA, Harvard University, the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and Cornell University have teamed up to develop and test a broad-spectrum antiviral compound capable of stopping a wide range of highly dangerous viruses, including Ebola, HIV, hepatitis C virus, West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever virus and yellow fever virus, among others.
National Institutes of Health, UCLA Center for AIDS Research, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, March of Dimes, California Nanosystems Initiative, Warsaw Fellowship Endowment
Contact: Jim Kelly
Public Release: 1-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesTobacco plant-made therapeutic thwarts West Nile virus A new therapeutic made from tobacco plants has been shown to arrest West Nile virus infection, according to a new study by Arizona State University scientist Qiang Chen and his colleagues.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Joe Caspermeyer
Public Release: 1-Feb-2010
Journal of Experimental MedicineImmune protein fends off exotic virus A study published online on Feb. 1 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine shows that antiviral proteins called type I interferons (IFNs) are needed to fend off infection with an exotic mosquito-borne virus called Chikungunya virus. This pathogen, which causes high fevers and severe joint pain, triggered a recent epidemic in Southeast Asia, infecting more than 30 percent of the population in some areas. Contact: Rita Sullivan
Public Release: 29-Jan-2010
IVAC Executive Director Dr. Orin Levine commends Gates Foundation announcement Today, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it would dedicate $10 billion over the next ten years to support vaccine research, development and delivery throughout the developing world. This commitment is unprecedented. IVAC Executive Director Dr. Orin Levine commends this announcement. Contact: Mala Persaud
Public Release: 29-Jan-2010
AIDSNew vaccine effective in preventing TB in African patients with HIV infection Investigators from Dartmouth Medical School have reported results of a clinical trial showing that a new vaccine against tuberculosis is effective in preventing tuberculosis in people with HIV infection. The DarDar Health Study, named for Dartmouth and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, found that MV immunization reduced the rate of definite tuberculosis by 39 percent among 2,000 HIV-infected patients in Tanzania.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Sue Knapp
Public Release: 28-Jan-2010
Science ExpressStudy offers evidence that spongiform brain diseases are caused by aberrant protein Scientists have determined how a normal protein can be converted into a prion, an infectious agent that causes fatal brain diseases in humans and mammals. The finding, in mice, is expected to advance the understanding of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or TSEs, a family of neurodegenerative diseases that include Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, kuru and fatal familial insomnia in humans, scrapie in sheep, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle, also known as "mad cow disease."
Ellison Medical Foundation, National Institutes of Health, East China Normal University
Contact: Jiyan Ma
|
|
|
||||
|
|
 |
|
