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A small number of patients infected by HIV spontaneously control viral replication without antiretroviral therapy, and do not develop the disease. The ability of these rare patients, known as "HIV controllers," to suppress HIV replication appears to be down to a highly effective immune response. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm observed that CD4+ T immune cells in these patients, recruited from the ANRS CO21 CODEX cohort, were capable of recognizing tiny quantities of the virus. This highly sensitive detection is dependent on the expression of specific T cell receptors on the surface of immune cells, which target the HIV capsid protein with high affinity. The preferential expression of these receptors appears to keep the immune system on a constant state of alert, thereby enabling the patients to control HIV. These findings have been published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

A simple paper sheet made by scientists at Uppsala University can improve the quality of life for millions of people by removing resistant viruses from water. The sheet, made of cellulose nanofibers, is called the mille-feuille filter as it has a unique layered internal architecture resembling that of the French puff pastry mille-feuille ("thousand leaves").

New data released in ECDC's Annual Epidemiological report show that since 2010, the overall syphilis rates have been going up across Europe, particularly among men. In 2014, the reported syphilis numbers were six times higher in men than in women. Almost two-thirds (63%) of the syphilis cases reported with information on transmission category were recorded in men who have sex with men (MSM).

Greater collaboration between ICU nursing and medicine could help to minimize ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), according to a study presented at the ATS 2016 International Conference.

Mucous surfaces in the nose, throat, lungs, intestine, and genital tract are points of first contact for many pathogens. As a defensive strategy, most animals (and humans) can rapidly exfoliate these surfaces (i.e., shed the surface layer) to get rid of any attached attackers. A study published on May 12 in PLOS Pathogens reveals a common strategy by bacteria to prevent exfoliation and so gain extra time to colonize the mucosa or penetrate the mucosal barrier.

A team led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reported a research trifecta. They discovered a new vulnerable site on HIV for a vaccine to target, a broadly neutralizing antibody that binds to that target site, and how the antibody stops the virus from infecting a cell. The study was led by scientists at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of NIH.

Hospitalization for rotavirus infections decreased by more than 70 percent following the introduction of a vaccine program in Ontario, Canada, according to a study published May 11, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sarah Wilson from Public Health Ontario and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Canada, and colleagues.

A vaccine against one of the most dangerous hospital germs may soon be available. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the Freie Universität Berlin have developed a substance that elicits an immune response against the gut bacterium Clostridium difficile. The potential vaccine resembles the sugar structures presented on the surface of the bacterium and therefore primes the immune system to recognize the pathogen itself. C. difficile infects a large proportion of patients in hospitals and kills around 15,000 people a year in the U.S. alone. Doctors could treat the infection with antibiotics, but the bacterium mutates constantly, allowing it to escape the effects of the drugs. The discovery by the Max Planck researchers may pave the way for developing inexpensive and effective vaccines and drugs against C. difficile.

Since 2013, the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus has spread rapidly through South America and the Caribbean, and is now threatening Southern Europe and the southern U.S. It causes flu-like symptoms with fever and joint pains, which in some cases can last for months with occasional fatalities. No treatment or vaccine exists so far - serving as an urgent reminder of just how poorly the time-consuming process of drug development is able to meet the threat posed by newly emerging viruses. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin have now teamed up with colleagues at the Paris-based Institut Pasteur to validate a new approach in the quest for a therapy - combining high-throughput screening for host cell proteins without which the virus cannot replicate, with so-called 'drug repositioning', i.e. utilizing an existing drug for new indications. They identified two existing compounds that were effective against the virus in an animal model. Their findings not only bring a Chikungunya treatment within potential reach, but also provide the proof of principle that this approach can be rapidly successful for newly emerging infectious diseases.