Archive for the ‘Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses’ Category
Friday, May 16th, 2008
As urban sprawl spreads throughout the globe, so do poor urban ghettos and the infectious diseases that are perpetrated by unsanitary slum conditions. Weill Cornell researchers stationed in the urban slums of Salvador, Brazil, have discovered that certain unhealthy living conditions lead to transmission of leptospirosis, a life-threatening disease caused ...
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Rapid detection of infectious disease outbreaks is often crucial for their effective control. One example is highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) such as H5N1 in commercial poultry flocks. There is no quantitative data, however, on how quickly the effects of HPAI infection in poultry flocks can be detected. Here, we ...
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has endorsed the One Health Initiative, which recognizes the inter-relationships among human, animal, and environmental health and seeks to enhance communication, cooperation, and collaboration in integrating these areas for the health and well-being of all species."The goals of the One Health Initiative are consistent ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Eli Lilly and Company announced the scaling-up of an existing partnership with the World Medical Association (WMA) by providing a grant of $998,773 to expand training courses for physicians on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable disease that kills ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has issued updated guidelines on antibiotic prophylaxis for gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy based on the American Heart Association's (AHA) recently revised guidelines for prophylaxis of infective endocarditis (IE). For endoscopic practice, the administration of prophylactic antibiotics solely to prevent IE is not recommended for ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
A team of Canadian scientists using a lotion which glows under ultraviolet light have shown that up to a third of patient toilets are not properly cleaned. Their findings, published in BioMed Central's journal, BMC Infectious Diseases, also show that spores from the nasty bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) linger ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) has received a $7.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund safety and effectiveness testing of an antibody treatment that quickly fights the smallpox virus. The treatment could be the nation's first line of defense in protecting ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has announced the marketing authorisation of Mycamine®, Astellas Pharma Europe's treatment for invasive candidiasis, oesophageal candidiasis and prophylaxis of Candida infection in patients undergoing allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Mycamine® will initially be available in the U.K and across the European market shortly after this. ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The Health Protection Agency has been responding to the death of a child in London. The most likely explanation for the child's death is an infection with diphtheria. The Agency is recommending that people ensure that they are up to date with their routine immunisations. Diphtheria is extremely rare in ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
On May 7 2008 a Daubenton's bat in the South East of England tested positive for the presence of European Bat Lyssavirus (EBLV), a strain of rabies virus found in bats across Northern Europe. The strain is European Bat Lyssavirus type 2 (EBLV-2) and is closely related to the six ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
An editorial published this week in The Lancetcalls attention to the growing crisis concerning counterfeit drugs.Currently, America is dealing with a potential case of counterfeitingin the drug heparin. It is possible that a contaminant found in batchesof heparin has led to the death of at least 81 patients.Between 2000 and ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to rescuing princesses or protecting the planet against alien invasions. This week researchers at the University of Washington will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries, perhaps even finding a cure for HIV.A new game, named Foldit, turns ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
UK consumer watchdog and publication group Which? recently conducted a survey at their own offices that revealed some computer keyboards had dangerously high levels of bacteria normally associated with a toilet. It was brave of the consumer group to reveal this information, but they did so because they think their ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The chikungunya virus rarely harms the infants of mothers who areinfected early in pregnancy, but frequently causes serious issuesincluding persistent brain injury to babies born to mothers who getthe virus near the time of delivery. This was released on March, 17,2008 in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine. Chikungunya causes an ...
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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Amidst an increase in new tuberculosis cases, researchers have begun investigating the effectiveness of new operating room filtration systems designed to protect staff and patients. According to pilot study findings published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, a supplemental portable anteroom high-efficiency particulate air (PAS- ...
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