EurekAlert! InContext Modules

Public Release: 20-Mar-2013

New England Journal of Medicine
Follow-up study describes declining efficacy of malaria vaccine candidate over 4 years
Long-term follow-up of a phase II study from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and Oxford University researchers in Kenya shows that the efficacy of a malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S, wanes over time and varies with exposure to the malaria parasite.

Wellcome Trust

Public Release: 19-Mar-2013

PLOS Medicine
African immunization systems fall short, African experts say
In Africa, issues of vaccine supply, financing, and sustainability require urgent attention if the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved, according to African experts writing in this week's PLOS Medicine.

Public Release: 18-Mar-2013

Annals of Internal Medicine
Millions of people in Asia potentially exposed to health risks of popular herbal medicines
Scientists from King's College London are warning that millions of people in Asia may be exposed to risk of developing kidney failure and bladder cancer by taking herbal medicines that are widely available in Asia. The medicines, used for a wide range of conditions including slimming, asthma and arthritis, are derived from a botanical compound containing aristolochic acids.

Association for International Cancer Research

Public Release: 15-Mar-2013

Journal of Clinical Investigation
Cytoskeletal dysregulation underlies Buruli ulcer formation
In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Caroline Demangel at the Pasteur Institute in Paris investigated the molecular actions of mycolactone and found that it dysregulates the cellular skeleton (cytoskeleton) through activation of a protein known as N-WASP.

Association Raoul Follereau, European Community's Seventh Framework Programme

Public Release: 14-Mar-2013

Cell Host & Microbe
Fungus uses copper detoxification as crafty defense mechanism
A potentially lethal fungal infection appears to gain virulence by being able to anticipate and disarm a hostile immune attack in the lungs, according to findings by researchers at Duke Medicine.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 14-Mar-2013

PLOS Pathogens
Immune finding aids quest for vaccines to beat tropical infections
Scientists are a step closer to developing vaccines for a range of diseases that affect 200 million people, mainly in tropical Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America.

Medical Reseach Council, Wellcome Trust

Public Release: 13-Mar-2013

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Computer models predict how patients will respond to HIV drugs
Results of a study published online in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy today, demonstrate that computer models can predict how HIV patients whose drug therapy is failing will respond to a new treatment.

Public Release: 13-Mar-2013

Nature
Tapeworm DNA contains drug weak spots
Tapeworms cause devastating disease around the world and new treatments are urgently needed. This study describes possible targets on which currently licensed drugs could act, identified by genome sequencing. Re-using existing therapies will help to develop treatments more rapidly.

Public Release: 12-Mar-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Prediction of seasonal flu strains improves chances of universal vaccine
Researchers have determined a way to predict and protect against new strains of the flu virus, in the hope of improving immunity against the disease.

Public Release: 12-Mar-2013

Environmental Health Perspectives
Prenatal exposure to pesticide DDT linked to adult high blood pressure
Infant girls exposed to high levels of the pesticide DDT while still inside the womb are three times more likely to develop hypertension when they become adults, according to a new study led by the University of California, Davis.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 12-Mar-2013

PLOS Medicine
Implementing e-health in Malawi
In this week's PLOS Medicine, Miguel SanJoaquin from the University of Malawi College of Medicine and colleagues describe their experience of implementing an electronic patient record system in a large referral hospital in southern Malawi.

Public Release: 12-Mar-2013

PLOS Medicine
Preventing HIV infection with anti-HIV drugs in people at risk is cost-effective
An HIV prevention strategy in which people at risk of becoming exposed to HIV take antiretroviral drugs to reduce their chance of becoming infected (often referred to as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP), may be a cost-effective method of preventing HIV in some settings, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

Public Release: 11-Mar-2013

Epilepsy & Behavior
Peer support shows promise in epilepsy fight
Peer support groups show promise for combating the debilitating stigma that surrounds epilepsy in much of the developing world, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University medical student.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 7-Mar-2013

Journal of Theoretical Biology
Net advantage
Malaria, the leading cause of death among children in Africa, could be eliminated if three-fourths of the population used insecticide-treated bed nets, according to a new study from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis.

National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis

Public Release: 7-Mar-2013

Pediatrics
Study: Computerized reminders significantly improve HIV care in resource-limited setting
A large randomized controlled study led by Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine researchers is among the first to rigorously demonstrate that health information technology can improve compliance with patient care guidelines by clinicians in resource-limited countries.

Abbott Fund, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Public Release: 7-Mar-2013
American Academy of Microbiology releases resistance report
What do cancer cells, weeds, and pathogens have in common? They all evolve resistance to the treatments that are supposed to eliminate them. However, researchers developing the next generation of antibiotics, herbicides, and anti-cancer therapeutics rarely come together to explore the common evolutionary principles at work across their different biological systems.

Public Release: 5-Mar-2013

5th Regional Pneumococcal Symposium
New study suggests potential shift in burden of pneumococcal disease
New studies revealed today by Latin-American researchers and global health leaders suggest that the highest burden of deadly pneumococcal disease in Latin America may be shifting to adults as countries successfully immunize more infants with new vaccines. The experts called for increased disease monitoring and more surveillance to understand the full extent of pneumococcal disease in the Americas, including its economic impact, and to devise effective strategies to prevent it.

Sabin Vaccine Institute

Public Release: 5-Mar-2013

PLOS Medicine
Sharing HIV research findings with participants
Is it feasible to share research findings with HIV-infected participants enrolled in observational research in rural sub-Saharan African? Anna Baylor and colleagues orally disseminated their findings to 477 research participants during a meeting modelled on a traditional wedding event.

Public Release: 5-Mar-2013

PLOS Medicine
Resistance to first line anti-malarial drugs is increasing on the Thai-Myanmar border
Early diagnosis and treatment with antimalarial drugs (ACTs -- artemisinin based combination treatments) has been linked to a reduction in malaria in the migrant population living on the Thai-Myanmar border, despite evidence of increasing resistance to ACTs in this location, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

Public Release: 4-Mar-2013

PLOS ONE
Vitamin deficiency screening needed for refugees
New research from the University of Adelaide has discovered a high prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency among refugees, prompting calls for refugees to be routinely screened for the problem soon after they arrive.

Public Release: 4-Mar-2013

20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
Study of tenofovir vaginal gel shows daily dosing ineffective due to lack of adherence
Researchers with the Microbicide Trials Network today announced results of the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic study at the Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta, Georgia.

Public Release: 4-Mar-2013

Annals of Internal Medicine
Studies advance knowledge of HIV impact on hepatitis C infection and genes that may thwart HCV
Infectious disease experts at Johns Hopkins have found that among people infected with the hepatitis C virus, co-infection with HIV, speeds damage and scarring of liver tissue by almost a decade.

Public Release: 4-Mar-2013
Sanford-Burnham and 60° Pharmaceuticals to pursue promising target for the treatment of dengue fever
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and 60° Pharmaceuticals have entered into a partnership to test furin, a human proteinase, as a drug target for the treatment of dengue fever, one of the most common infectious diseases in the tropics and subtropics.

Public Release: 4-Mar-2013

Lancet
New data show countries around the world grappling with changing health challenges
Alzheimer's disease is the fastest growing threat to health in the US. HIV/AIDS and alcohol are severely eroding the health of Russians. Violence is claiming the lives of young men in large swaths of Latin America. Despite health gains in sub-Saharan Africa, infectious diseases still cause hundreds of thousands of child deaths. These findings will be announced on March 5 at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, by IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray and Bill Gates.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Public Release: 3-Mar-2013

Nature Climate Change
Early warning system provides 4-month forecast of malaria epidemics in northwest India
Sea surface temperatures in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean can be used to accurately forecast, by up to four months, malaria epidemics thousands of miles away in northwestern India, a University of Michigan theoretical ecologist and her colleagues have found.

National Institute of Malaria Research New Delhi, University of Michigan/Graham Sustainability Institute, NOAA, National Science Foundation, NASA


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