A New Strategy to Combat Influenza and Speed Recovery
May 23rd 2017The influenza virus turns infected lung cells into factories that churn out thousands of copies of the virus to spread the infection. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have reported a promising new approach that uses an investigational cancer drug to dial down viral production and dramatically increase survival of flu-infected mice. The findings appear today in the journal Cell Reports.
Rising Incidence of Tick-Borne Powassan Virus Infection in North America
May 23rd 2017Cases of human infection with Powassan virus (POWV), which can cause fatal neuroinvasive disease and long-term neurological effects, appear to be increasing in the United States. POWV is transmitted by Ixodes tick species found in North America. A comprehensive review of this potential emerging public health threat, the most recent research on the virus and its tick vector, and the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of POWV disease is published in Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases.
Use of Chemical Indicators Should Reflect Standards
May 23rd 2017Q: I have been using steam tape to place indicator on paper i.e., count sheets, and instrument bags inside of surgical trays before sterilization. I have been doing this for a number of years. My manager informs me that you cannot use steam tape to hold an indicator in place, be-cause "there is no way to validate that the tape is sterile after sterilization." Please clarify or give justification for this statement.
Modified Experimental Vaccine Protects Against Malaria in Primate Model
May 22nd 2017Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, modified an experimental malaria vaccine and showed that it completely protected four of eight monkeys that received it against challenge with the virulent Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite. In three of the remaining four monkeys, the vaccine delayed when parasites first appeared in the blood by more than 25 days.
Insects Resist Genetic Methods to Control Disease Spread, Study Finds
May 22nd 2017Researchers are exploring the use of the revolutionary gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to fight human disease and agricultural blight. But a study from Indiana University has found several challenges to the method's use in saving lives and crops. The research, reported in the journal Science Advances, combines advanced genetic and statistical analyses to show how certain genetic and behavioral qualities in disease-carrying insects, like mosquitoes, make these species resistant to genetic manipulation.
Directly Observed Therapy for Multidrug-Resistant TB Decreases Mortality
May 22nd 2017Directly observed therapy (DOT) for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) was associated with a 77 percent decrease in mortality in the United States, compared to self-administered therapy from 1993 to 2013, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference.
Scientists Enlist Engineered Protein to Battle the MERS Virus
May 19th 2017In June 2012, a 60-year-old man with flu-like symptoms walked into a private hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Two weeks later, he died from multiple organ failure, becoming the first victim of a mysterious virus that came to be known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified MERS as an urgent threat with no vaccine or treatment in sight. This could change thanks to a new anti-viral tool, developed by University of Toronto researchers.
Brain Fights West Nile Virus in Unexpected Way
May 19th 2017In a turnabout, a biochemical self-destruct trigger found in many other types of cells appears to guard the lives of brain cells during an infection with West Nile virus. UW Medicine scientists led research showing that this chemical pathway doesn't have to sacrifice brain cells to destroy the viruses and recruit the body's defenses against infection.
Mosquitoes That Spread Zika Virus Could Simultaneously Transmit Other Viruses
May 19th 2017A new study led by Colorado State University researchers found that Aedes aegypti, the primary mosquito that carries Zika virus, might also transmit chikungunya and dengue viruses with one bite. The findings shed new light on what's known as a co-infection, which scientists said is not yet fully understood and may be fairly common in areas experiencing outbreaks.
Ongoing Transmission of Candida auris in Healthcare Facilities
May 19th 2017In June 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a clinical alert about the emerging, and often multidrug-resistant, fungus Candida auris and later reported the first seven U.S. cases of infection through August 2016 (1). Six of these cases occurred before the clinical alert and were retrospectively identified. As of May 12, 2017, a total of 77 U.S. clinical cases of C. auris had been reported to CDC from seven states: New York (53 cases), New Jersey (16), Illinois (four), Indiana (one), Maryland (one), Massachusetts (one), and Oklahoma (one). All of these cases were identified through cultures taken as part of routine patient care (clinical cases).
NIAID-Funded Study Could Lead to Broad, Versatile Treatments for Many Different Ebolaviruses
May 19th 2017The fight to contain the 2013-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was hampered by the lack of an effective treatment or vaccine. Researchers funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have studied the blood of an Ebola survivor, searching for human antibodies that might effectively treat not only people infected with Ebola virus, but those infected with related viruses as well. Now the researchers have identified two such antibodies that hold promise as Ebola treatments.
Scientists Investigate How the 'Sense of Smell' Works in Bacteria
May 19th 2017Scientists from MIPT, in collaboration with their colleagues from the Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBaS) and European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, have proposed a universal mechanism for the "sense of smell" in bacteria. This was done by obtaining the structure of the NarQ protein from Escherichia coli (E. coli) -- which belongs to a universal class of sensory histidine kinases that are responsible for transmitting signals to bacteria about their environment. The paper published in Science will help us understand how bacteria "communicate" with one another and form biofilms on sterile surfaces or inside the human body.