Vaccination with the anthrax capsule–a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease–completely protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection, according to a study published online this week in the journal VACCINE. These results indicate that anthrax capsule is a highly effective vaccine component that should be considered for incorporation in future generation anthrax vaccines. Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium … Read More
Alpaca-Derived Antibodies Point to Targets Preventing Viral Infection
Whitehead Institute scientists have determined how to use alpaca-derived, single-domain antibody fragments (also called VHHs or nanobodies) to perturb cellular processes in mammalian cells, including the infection of human cells by influenza A virus (IAV) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). With improved knowledge of protein activity, scientists can tease apart the roles individual proteins play in cellular pathways, understand how … Read More
How to Diagnose Systemic Infections Much More Quickly and Reliably
To date, there are no methods that can quickly and accurately detect pathogens in blood to allow the diagnosis of systemic bloodstream infections that can lead to life-threatening sepsis. The standard of care for detecting such blood-borne infections is blood culture, but this takes days to complete, only identifies pathogens in less than 30 percent of patients with fulminant infections, and … Read More
Angina Drug Could Inform a New Strategy to Fight Cryptococcosis
A drug more commonly used in the treatment of angina could be the focus of a new strategy in fighting the fatal fungal infection cryptococcosis. Researchers from the University of Birmingham found that the compound fendiline hydrochloride could be used to stimulate a patient’s own white blood cells to fight the disease more effectively, instead of trying to use drugs … Read More
WHO doubles Zika sexual abstinence wait to 8 weeks before trying to conceive
Caio Julio Vasconcelos who was born with microcephaly, an abnormally small head, is kissed by a therapist at the Institute for the Blind in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, in February. (Andre Penner/Associated Press) The UN health agency says sexual transmission of Zika is more common than first thought, so its updated advice to women who have been in areas hit by the virus tells them to … Read More
Yellow Fever Epidemic Threatens to Spread from Angola to China
This map shows the distribution of Aedes aegypti across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region (areas shaded pink). The red outline delineates yellow fever-endemic regions. Yellow dots represent the location of yellow fever cases related to the Angolan outbreak (source: HealthMap). Commercial flight routes with direct connections between Luanda and Beijing and indirect connections from Luanda to South and Southeast Asia … Read More
Identification of Receptors in Patients That Spontaneously Control HIV Infection
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 … Read More
Crisis over syphilis treatment as Canada running out of drug used to treat potentially deadly infection
With syphilis spreading in Canada at rates unseen in decades, doctors are struggling to cope with a shortage of the main drug used to treat the potentially deadly infection. The Public Health Agency of Canada took the rare step recently of posting guidelines on how to ration Bicillin, and what alternative medications might be appropriate in some cases. It’s the … Read More
Grown-ups need vaccines too
By Dr. Brian Goldman Debates and discussions around booster vaccinations usually focus on infants or children. But grown-ups should be rolling up their sleeves,too. Unfortunately, far too few adults are getting booster shots. There are several reasons why not. Adult immunization hasn’t been on the radar screen. When we talk only about vaccines in kids, we may be sending the message that … Read More
Combined HIV and Hepatitis C Virus Vaccination is a Possibility
A combined vaccination against hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV moved a step closer, with the results of a study* presented at The International Liver Congress™ 2016 in Barcelona, Spain today. An estimated 2.3 million people globally are co-infected with HIV and HCV. HCV is the leading cause of non-AIDS deaths in co-infected individuals. The research showed that the ‘prime … Read More