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| Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses News From Medical News Today |
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| Brain Cells Called Astrocytes Undergo Reorganization And May Engulf Attacking T Cells |
(Wed, 20 Aug 2008)
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| When virally infected cells in the brain called astrocytes come in contact with anti-viral T cells of the immune system, they undergo a unique series of changes that dramatically reorganize their shape and function, according to researchers at the Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Intriguingly, the new data indicate that astrocytes may defend themselves from attacking T cells by engulfing (gobbling up) the aggressors. |
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Category: Neurology / Neuroscience |
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| A New Cytogenetic Mechanism For Bacterial Endosymbiont-induced Parthenogenesis In Hymenoptera |
(Wed, 20 Aug 2008)
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| Vertically transmitted bacteria, such as Wolbachia, Cardinium and Rickettsia induce parthenogenesis. In Hymenoptera, the mechanism of diploidization due to Wolbachia infection, known as gamete duplication, is a postmeiotic modification. We outline an alternative cytogenetic mechanism for bacterial endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis in Hymenoptera. |
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Category: Biology / Biochemistry |
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| New And Improved Test For West Nile Virus In Horses |
(Wed, 20 Aug 2008)
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| A new test for West Nile virus in horses that could be modified for use with humans and wildlife may help track the spread of the disease, according to an article in the September issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology. West Nile virus infects a wide range of animals, including humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, squirrels, rabbits and birds. It is widely distributed in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Most Deaths In 1918 Influenza Pandemic Caused By Bacterial Pneumonia |
(Wed, 20 Aug 2008)
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| The majority of deaths during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone, report researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Instead, most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia following influenza virus infection. |
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Category: Flu / Cold / SARS |
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| Silver Is The Key To Reducing Pneumonia Associated With Breathing Tubes |
(Wed, 20 Aug 2008)
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| People have long prized silver as a precious metal. Now, silver-coated endotracheal tubes are giving critically ill patients another reason to value the lustrous metal. In a study published in the Aug. 20, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the NASCENT Investigation Group, report that the silver-coated tubes led to a 36 percent reduction of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Molecular Sleuths Track Evolution Through The Ribosome |
(Wed, 20 Aug 2008)
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| A new study of the ribosome, the cell's protein-building machinery, sheds light on the oldest branches of the evolutionary tree of life and suggests that differences in ribosomal structure between the three main branches of that tree are "molecular fossils" of the early evolution of protein synthesis. |
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Category: Biology / Biochemistry |
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| College Cocktails Lead To Science Career |
(Wed, 20 Aug 2008)
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| If you knew what possessed the young Jim Sacchettini to become a biochemist, you might look upon the "bar scene" more approvingly. But that story's for later. Instead, ponder what Sacchettini calls "the diseases of the poor" - infectious diseases that not long ago were considered wiped from the face of the Earth - tuberculosis and malaria, for instance. Sacchettini saw these maladies firsthand in the Bronx. He had gone there in 1990 from St. Louis, Mo. |
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Category: Tropical Diseases |
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| Attack Mechanism Of Illness-Inducing Bacterium Uncovered By UT Southwestern Researchers |
(Tue, 19 Aug 2008)
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| An infectious ocean-dwelling bacterium found in oysters and other shellfish kills its host's cells by causing them to burst, providing the invader with a nutrient-rich meal, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The bacterium, a relative of the one that causes cholera, co-opts and makes fatal a normal cell process that starving or stressed organisms use to disassemble and recycle expendable proteins into more vital metabolites. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Positive Mosquito Count For West Nile Virus Lead DEP, Southeastern PA Counties To Ramp Up Treatment Activities |
(Tue, 19 Aug 2008)
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| Due to an exceptionally high number of West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes in southeastern Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection and its county partners will be stepping up efforts this week to combat the mosquito populations that have -- or are most likely to carry -- the virus. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Pitt Receives $10 Million From Gates Foundation To Help Stop Global Spread Of Infectious Diseases |
(Tue, 19 Aug 2008)
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| To help select new vaccines that will have the best chances of stopping global infectious disease outbreaks, the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health has received a $10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will fund the creation of computer simulations of epidemics, showing worst- and best-case outbreak scenarios, which will be used to evaluate new vaccine technologies and modes of vaccine delivery. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| ASU's Biodesign Institute And ImmuneRegen Collaborate To Investigate Possible Enhancement Of Vaccine Against Norwalk Viruses |
(Tue, 19 Aug 2008)
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| ImmuneRegen® BioSciences, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IR BioSciences Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: IRBS), announced a collaborative relationship with the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, Ariz., to evaluate the effectiveness of ImmuneRegen's Viprovex® in boosting the immune response when used as an adjuvant in conjunction with unique plant-derived vaccines against noroviruses (also called Norwalk-like viruses). |
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Category: Immune System / Vaccines |
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| Guinea Bissau: UNICEF Provides Support To Fight Cholera Epidemic |
(Mon, 18 Aug 2008)
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| UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Health of Guinea Bissau in fighting a cholera epidemic that has quickly spread across the country, and is particularly affecting the capital Bissau and the regions of Quinara, in the south, and Biombo, in the west. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Elderly Survivors Of 1918 Flu Enable Resurrection Of Antibodies |
(Mon, 18 Aug 2008)
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| Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus - from elderly survivors of the original outbreak. In addition to revealing the surprisingly long-lasting immunity to such viruses, these antibodies could be effective treatments to have on hand if another virus similar to the 1918 flu breaks out in the future. The study, led by James Crowe Jr. |
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Category: Flu / Cold / SARS |
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| Obesity Risk Linked To History Of Chronic Ear Infections |
(Mon, 18 Aug 2008)
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| More than 5 million children cope with the agonizing ache of ear infection annually, but a new discovery suggests damage to taste nerves caused by the common childhood ailment might increase the risk of obesity later in life, say University of Florida College of Dentistry researchers. Chronic ear infections appear to trigger a preference for high-calorie food, leading to increased consumption and excessive weight gain in adulthood, said Linda Bartoshuk, Ph.D. |
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Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness |
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| Lyme-Like Illness To Be Studied In Texas |
(Mon, 18 Aug 2008)
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| Tao Lin, D.V.M., and Steven J. Norris, Ph.D., both with the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, have been named grant recipients of the Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program (ARP) by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Flu Antibodies Recovered From 1918 Pandemic Survivors |
(Mon, 18 Aug 2008)
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| Scientists in the US recovered antibodies to the 1918 flu virus from elderly survivors of the pandemic, used them to create cell lines of monoclonal antibodies and then showed they were still potent by injecting them into infected mice that survived, whereas the controls did not. |
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Category: Flu / Cold / SARS |
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| Leishmaniasis Parasites Evade Death By Exploiting The Immune Response To Sand Fly Bites |
(Sun, 17 Aug 2008)
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| Cutaneous leishmaniasis, a disease characterized by painful skin ulcers, occurs when the parasite Leishmania major, or a related species, is transmitted to a mammalian host by the bite of an infected sand fly. In a new study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, scientists have discovered L. |
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Category: Immune System / Vaccines |
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| Fruit Flies Provide Insight Into Bacterial Infections In Humans |
(Sat, 16 Aug 2008)
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| Joseph Zabner and colleagues, at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, have used a fruit fly (Drosophila) model of infection to provide new insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the virulence of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is a major cause of infections in individuals who are hospitalized, have burn wounds, or have cystic fibrosis. P. aeruginosa communicate with each other via a process known as quorum sensing. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Bird Flu In Indonesia: Prevalence, Mortality, And Action |
(Sat, 16 Aug 2008)
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| In order to help Indonesia improve its high human mortality due to bird flu (H5N1 influenza), more effective diagnostic methods must be used and improved case management must be implemented to achieve faster treatment with antivirals, according to the authors of an article released on August 14, 2008 in The Lancet. Most of us are familiar with the flu, which seasonally affects many populations. |
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Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu |
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| Toxoplasmosis Found More Severe In Brazil Compared To Europe |
(Sat, 16 Aug 2008)
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| Newborns in Brazil are more susceptible to toxoplasmosis than those in Europe, according to a recent study. Researchers based in Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom studied the disease's ocular effects in children from birth to four years of age. Details are published August 13th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. |
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Category: Tropical Diseases |
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| Drinking Water In Gaza Strip Contaminated With High Levels Of Nitrate - Manure And Wastewater Polluting The Water |
(Sat, 16 Aug 2008)
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| Palestinian and German scientists have recommended to the authorities in the Gaza Strip that they take immediate measures to combat excessive nitrate levels in the drinking water. |
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Category: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture |
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| CMV Disease In Stem Cell Transplantation: Prevention And Drug Resistance |
(Fri, 15 Aug 2008)
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| Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The clinical manifestations of CMV disease are serious and range from gastrointestinal disease to life-threatening pneumonia, myelosuppression, retinitis, and encephalitis. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Myths And Facts About DEET |
(Fri, 15 Aug 2008)
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| West Nile virus is present in almost every corner of our country and this is the peak season. A new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on U.S. West Nile virus cases in 2007 found that most (89%) of the 3,630 cases were reported during July, August and September. All but six states reported cases of WNV infections in humans last year. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Chemical Engineers Discover Silver-lined Solution To E. Coli |
(Fri, 15 Aug 2008)
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| Chemical Engineers in Switzerland have created a plastic film that's up to 1000 times more effective at killing E. coli bacteria cells than conventional methods. The team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich have discovered that coating the film with a mix of silver and calcium phosphate nano-particles proves deadly to bacteria. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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| Towards Understanding Bluetongue Outbreaks |
(Fri, 15 Aug 2008)
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| A recent article published in Virology (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/yviro), reports the identification of a bluetongue virus strain that caused the northern European Bluetongue outbreak in 2006. Comparison of the virus strain with the sequences of other previously isolated strains showed that it originated in sub-Saharan Africa, rather than from vaccine strains or strains circulating in southern Europe. |
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Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses |
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