Research & Studies

The disciplines of healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention are guided by the research, studies and evidence-based practices that are developed to facilitate safe and effective clinical interventions in the healthcare environment.

Building a Better Rift Valley Fever Vaccine

Branch researchers have significantly improved an existing experimental vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus, making possible the development of a more effective defense against the dangerous mosquito-borne pathogen. The African virus causes fever in humans, inflicting liver ...More
June 28, 2012
Posted in News
Caltech Researchers Measure the Rate of DNA Transfer from Viruses to Bacteria

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have been able, for the first time, to watch viruses infecting individual bacteria by transferring their DNA, and to measure the rate at which that transfer occurs. Shedding light on the early stages of ...More
June 27, 2012
Posted in News
New Mechanism of Bacterial Pathogenesis is Discovered

Scientists have identified a new mechanism of bacterial pathogenesis. The results of the research project, partly funded by the Academy of Finland, have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). ...More
June 27, 2012
Posted in News
Bacterial Vaginosis is Associated with Higher Risk of Female-to-Male Transmission of HIV

An investigation led by UCSF has found that the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission is increased three fold for women with bacterial vaginosis, a common disorder in which the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted. “Previous research has shown that ...More
June 27, 2012
Posted in News
Study Reveals Flu-Fighting Role for Well-Known Immune Component

University of Georgia scientists have discovered a new flu-fighting role for a well-known component of the immune system. Kimberly Klonowski, assistant professor of cellular biology in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and her colleagues found that ...More
June 26, 2012
Posted in News
Nurse Researcher Surveys Infection Prevention Practices for Home-Care Patients

A healthy boy was infected with antibiotic-resistant bacterium that was traced to his mother’s nurse’s bag left in the family’s car after his mother’s home healthcare visit to a patient with the same infection. Although the boy’s infection and the patient’s infection were ...More
June 25, 2012
Posted in News, PPE & Standard Precautions
Gut Microbes Battle a Common Set of Viruses Shared by Global Populations

The human gut is home to a teeming ecosystem of microbes that is intimately involved in both human health and disease. But while the gut microbiota is interacting with our body, they are also under constant attack from viruses. In a study published online in Genome ...More
June 25, 2012
Posted in News
Sun Exposure and Cutaneous HPV Infection Found Synergistic in Skin Cancers

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have found that having antibodies for cutaneous types of human papillomavirus (HPV), coupled with sun exposure (ultraviolet radiation) ...More
June 25, 2012
Posted in News
Research on Transmissibility of H5N1 Influenza is Finally Published

Researchers from Erasmus Medical Center have just published their research on the transmissibility of H5N1 avian influenza virus in the journal Science. The publication was delayed by several months due to the fact that various organizations first wanted to investigate ...More
June 22, 2012
Posted in News
Researchers Identify Ideal Target for Development of Novel Antimicrobials

Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich have identified an enzyme that is involved in a modification pathway that is essential for bacterial pathogenicity. Because it shows no similarity to other known proteins, it may be an ideal target for ...More
June 22, 2012
Posted in News