EurekAlert! InContext Modules

Public Release: 27-Oct-2011

Genome Research
Different paths to drug resistance in Leishmania
This release describes two papers on Leishmania, a disfiguring and potentially fatal disease. The first study suggests that only a few genes are involved in causing the variety of symptoms associated with the different strains of this parasite. The researchers found that the DNA sequence of individual strains of each species populations is almost completely identical. Second, the parasite's evolutionary development and success may be driven by a genetic abnormality that would kill most organisms - having multiple copies of chromosomes.

Wellcome Trust,Kaladrug, Geminiconsortia

Public Release: 27-Oct-2011

Health policy & Planning
Free health care: Yes, but with caution
Over the last years, many low and middle-income countries have removed user fees in their health care sector. Researchers from Africa, Asia, Northern America and Europe have studied these policies; their findings are gathered in a supplement of the scientific journal Health Policy & Planning, coordinated by Bruno Meesen from the Antwerp Institute of Tropical medicine. Experiences from Afghanistan, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nepal , Rwanda and Uganda, among others, are documented in this supplement. Conclusion: it is possible, but should not be done ill-advised.

UNICEF

Public Release: 27-Oct-2011

Cell
Stem cells repair lung damage after flu infection
Researchers have now identified and characterized adult stem cells that have the capacity to regenerate lung tissue. The findings, which come from studies of isolated human stem cells and of mice infected with a particularly nasty strain of H1N1 influenza virus, could lead to new regenerative therapies for acute and chronic airway diseases, according to the report published in the Oct. 28th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication.

Public Release: 26-Oct-2011

PLOS ONE
Multiple malaria vaccine offers protection to people most at risk
A new malaria vaccine could be the first to tackle different forms of the disease and help those most vulnerable to infection, a study suggests.

European Commission

Public Release: 26-Oct-2011

Nature
New drug targets revealed from giant parasitic worm genome sequence
Scientists have identified the genetic blueprint of the giant intestinal roundworm, Ascaris suum, revealing potential targets to control the devastating parasitic disease, ascariasis which affects more than one billion people in China, South East Asia, South America and parts of Africa, killing thousands of people annually and causing chronic effects in young children.

Public Release: 25-Oct-2011

PLOS ONE
Dormant malaria parasites in red blood cells may contribute to treatment failure
Researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public College Health have shown for the first time in a rodent model that the earliest form of malaria parasites can lay dormant in red blood cells and "wake up," or recover, following treatment with the antimalarial drug artesunate.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Public Release: 25-Oct-2011

PLOS Medicine
Fast diagnostics not enough to change health outcomes
In this week's PLoS Medicine, the PLoS Medicine editors reflect on recent research and analysis into rapid and convenient diagnostic tests for tuberculosis and HIV.

Public Release: 24-Oct-2011

2011 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition
A novel oral treatment for leishmaniasis has potential to save thousands of lives
A tropically stable liquid therapy for leishmaniasis, a disease known as the Baghdad boil, shows a significant decrease in infection after less than a week of treatment. This research is being presented at the 2011 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Oct. 23 – 27.

Public Release: 23-Oct-2011

Genome Biology
Liver parasite lacks key genes for fatty acid synthesis: Genome sequencing of Clonorchis sinensis
The human liver fluke Clonorchis sinensis affects more than 35 million people in South East Asia and 15 million in China. The complete genome sequence the genome of C. sinensis, published in BioMed Central's open-access journal Genome Biology, has provided insight into the biochemical pathways available to the fluke and shows that they are lacking enzymes required for fatty acid biosynthesis.

Public Release: 20-Oct-2011

Science
West Nile virus transmission linked with land-use patterns and 'super-spreaders'
After its initial appearance in New York in 1999, West Nile virus spread across the United States in just a few years and is now well-established throughout North and South America.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 19-Oct-2011

New England Journal of Medicine
For patients with both HIV and tuberculosis the timing of drug therapies is critical
How best to treat 700,000 tuberculosis patients globally who are HIV positive is the subject of a new study whose authors had previously shown that integrating antiretroviral therapy (ART) concurrently with tuberculosis treatment is preferable to treating the diseases sequentially. The new study finds that the best timing for introducing treatment depends on the patient's immune status. Patients with very low T-cell counts appear to do better with an earlier integration of treatment for HIV.

Public Release: 19-Oct-2011
SMU scientists to lead water quality study at UN refugee camps
The search for solutions to dangerous water quality issues in refugee camps is driving an SMU lab group's partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees -- an agreement that will put the university's faculty and students to work both in the lab and on the ground in Kenya, Uganda, Liberia and Bangladesh. SMU will develop an interactive database to help UNHCR provide safer drinking water in current and future camps.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Public Release: 18-Oct-2011

New England Journal of Medicine
First results from Phase 3 trial show malaria vaccine candidate reduces the risk of malaria
First results from a large-scale Phase III trial of RTS,S, published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), show the malaria vaccine candidate to provide young African children with significant protection against clinical and severe malaria with an acceptable safety and tolerability profile. The results were announced today at the Malaria Forum hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington.

Public Release: 18-Oct-2011

AIDS
Expanding HIV treatment for discordant couples could significantly reduce global HIV epidemic
A new study uses a mathematical model to predict the potential impact of expanding treatment to discordant couples on controlling the global HIV epidemic -- in these couples one partner has HIV infection. The research conducted at Columbia University's ICAP and the Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA is the first to predict the effect of the expansion of such treatment in couples on the HIV epidemic in certain African countries.

Public Release: 18-Oct-2011

PLOS Medicine
Whole communities in Africa could be protected from pneumococcus by immunising young children
A study led by the Medical Research Council in The Gambia in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and published in this week's PLoS Medicine shows for the first time in Africa, that vaccinating young children against the pneumococcus (a bacterium that can cause fatal infections) causes a herd effect in which the entire community is protected against this infection.

Public Release: 17-Oct-2011
Malaria elimination maps highlight progress and prospects
A new global atlas charts prospects for malaria elimination by offering the first full-color, detailed depiction of a disease now declining in many parts of the globe. The "Atlas of Malaria-Eliminating Countries" spotlights countries successfully moving toward eliminating the disease and provides a visual tool to help focus resources where they are needed most.

ExxonMobil Foundation

Public Release: 16-Oct-2011

Open Biology
Google Earth typhoid maps reveal secrets of disease outbreaks
In the mid-nineteenth century, John Snow mapped cases of cholera in Soho, London, and traced the source of the outbreak to a contaminated water pump. Now, in a twenty-first century equivalent, scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust working in Kathmandu, Nepal, have combined the latest in gene sequencing technology and global positioning system case localization to map the spread of typhoid and trace its source.

Wellcome Trust

Public Release: 16-Oct-2011

Nature Genetics
First genome-wide association study for dengue identifies candidate susceptibility genes
Researchers in South East Asia have identified two genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to severe dengue. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore, offers clues to how the body responds to dengue infection.

Wellcome Trust, Agency for Science, Technology and Research

Public Release: 15-Oct-2011

American Academy of Pediatrics 2011 National Conference & Exhibition
AAP President provides update on agenda for children
O. Marion Burton, MD, FAAP, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics will address attendees at 10:30 a.m. EST on Saturday,Oct. 15, 2011, at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition in Boston.

Public Release: 13-Oct-2011
UH engineers finding new ways to fight malaria with DOD grant
With resistance to existing antimalarial drugs on the rise, there is a renewed push to find different ways to fight it. Two University of Houston engineers have stepped up to the plate to answer the call. Professors Jeffery Rimer and Peter Vekilov, both with the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, were awarded a grant from the US Department of Defense to create an entirely new platform for developing antimalarial drugs.

U.S. Department of Defense

Public Release: 13-Oct-2011
USAID awards cooperative agreement to CONRAD for multipurpose prevention study
USAID awarded CONRAD a five year project with a $2 million ceiling to focus on testing the safety and effectiveness of the SILCS diaphragm, the one-size-fits-most contraceptive barrier, combined with tenofovir gel -- the only topical product proven to prevent the acquisition of HIV and Herpes Simplex Virus.

USAID

Public Release: 12-Oct-2011
UT Southwestern and University of Cape Town announce 5-year affiliation agreement
UT Southwestern Medical Center and the faculty of health sciences of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, signed a five-year affiliation agreement today.

Public Release: 11-Oct-2011
Hutchinson Center breaks ground for first collaborative cancer center in sub-Saharan Africa
A pioneering international collaboration forged by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., USA, together with the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala, Uganda, has broken ground for the future construction of a state-of-the-art cancer training and outpatient treatment facility in Kampala. The building will be the first comprehensive cancer center jointly constructed by US and African cancer institutions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Public Release: 11-Oct-2011

PLOS Medicine
Managing child contacts of adult TB cases
In this week's PLoS Medicine, Philip Campbell Hill of the University of Otago, New Zealand, and colleagues propose a new approach to help better manage child contacts of adult TB cases, using a health needs assessment framework, research tools, and a strategy for clinical evaluation.

Public Release: 10-Oct-2011

Journal of Experimental Medicine
Experimental vaccine protects monkeys from blinding trachoma
An attenuated, or weakened, strain of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria can be used as a vaccine to prevent or reduce the severity of trachoma, the world's leading cause of infectious blindness, suggest findings from a National Institutes of Health study in monkeys.

NIAID


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