Infection | Page 100 of 144

Urinary Tract Infection :: Treatments for urinary infections leave bacteria bald, happy and vulnerable

A different approach to treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) could defeat the bacteria that cause the infections without directly killing them, a strategy that could help slow the growth of antibiotic-resistant infections. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been working to create pharmaceuticals that essentially “defang” the bacteria by preventing them from assembling pili, microscopic hairs that enable the bacteria to invade host cells.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus :: Safety concern regarding Rituxan in systemic lupus erythematosus

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting health care professionals and patients treated with Rituxan (rituximab) to reports of an emerging risk of a serious side effect in patients receiving or who have used Rituxan.

Heart Disease :: Blood transfusions raise heart patients’ infection risk

Blood transfusions save the lives of millions of heart surgery patients and others each year. But a new study suggests that patients who receive transfusions during heart bypass surgery have a higher risk of developing potentially dangerous infections, and dying, after their operation.

Bird Flu :: Avian flu vaccine tested at the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore will begin a clinical trial in January to test the first cell culture-based pandemic influenza vaccine to see if it will provide immunity faster and more reliably than a vaccine produced in eggs. The new study is also the first test in the United States of a whole virus vaccine for avian influenza, which could produce a stronger response by the immune system.

Gene :: Gene chip technology shows potential for identifying life-threatening blood infection

Right now there’s no rapid way to diagnose sepsis, a fast-moving blood infection that is a leading cause of death in hospital intensive care units. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that doctors one day could quickly distinguish sepsis from widespread non-infectious inflammation based on genetic profiles of patients’ blood.

Immunity :: Clues about how deadly bacterium gains foothold

How a potentially deadly bacterium that could be used as a bioterrorist tool eludes being killed by the human immune system is now better understood, researchers report in the December issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

Malaria :: Malaria vaccine prompts victims’ immune system to eliminate parasite from mosquitoes

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that could, theoretically, eliminate malaria from entire geographic regions, by eradicating the malaria parasite from an area’s mosquitoes.

Blindness :: High levels of blindness in southern Sudan following years of war

Surveys conducted in southern Sudan, after conflict there ended in 2004, found much higher levels of blindness than anticipated. The results, published in PLoS Medicine, have major implications for the provision of health services in the region.

Dental :: National Standards for Dental Services

New standards will ensure that patients get the highest quality of care from dental services in Scotland, were published today.

Heart Failure :: MYO-VAD – Promise for Treatment of Heart Failure

Biophan Technologies, Inc., a developer of next-generation medical technology, in conjunction with MYOTECH, LLC, recently presented results of animal studies that indicate the potential of the MYO-VAD, a cardiac support system to significantly improve the treatment of heart failure. The MYO-VAD restores cardiac output on an arrested or weak heart. The device can be implanted in approximately three minutes.