Pregnancy :: Pregnant women should avoid contact with sheep during lambing season
Pregnant women should avoid close contact with sheep during the lambing season, advised by the Health and Safety Executive, UK.
Infection
Lung :: Carbon monoxide protects lung cells against oxygen-induced damage
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated that low-dose carbon monoxide administered in conjunction with oxygen therapy markedly inhibits oxygen-induced damage to lung cells. These findings, being reported in the Jan. 19 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, have significant implications for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, according to the study’s authors.
Stomach Cancer :: Napoleon’s mysterious death unmasked
A new investigation into Napoleon Bonaparte?s cause of death might finally put to rest nearly 200 years of lingering mysteries about the illness that killed the French emperor during his island exile, a UT Southwestern Medical Center scientist reports.
Cervical Cancer :: Comparing cervical cancer vaccines GSK’s CERVARIX and Merck’s Gardasil
GlaxoSmithKline announced the initiation of the first study of its kind designed to compare the immunogenicity of its cervical cancer candidate vaccine, CERVARIX?, versus Gardasil?.
Pneumonia :: Bacteria in staph infections can cause necrotizing pneumonia
Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Houston have discovered a toxin present in the bacteria responsible for the current nationwide outbreak of staph infections also has a role in an aggressive pneumonia that is often fatal within 72 hours.
Infection :: Informing partners can help cut sexually transmitted infections
Doctors should encourage patients with sexually transmitted infections to tell their partners to seek treatment and, in some cases, provide home testing kits or drugs to help reduce infection rates, says a new study.
Bacteriology :: Cbl-b resists Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection
Infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major problem for patients in hospital, who are at increased risk of infection because they often have a weakened immune system, as well as individuals with cystic fibrosis. One of the things that makes P. aeruginosa so virulent is the expression of a number of proteins that function as a type III secretion system.
HIV :: New amfAR research grants aim to advance understanding and prevention of rectal HIV transmission
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, has awarded nearly $1 million for eight new research grants and fellowships aimed at increasing understanding and prevention of rectal HIV transmission, Dr. Rowena Johnston, amfAR’s vice president of research announced today.
Genome :: Microbiologists crack genome of a parasite that causes a common STD
Scientists at UCLA and NYU have deciphered the genome of the parasite causing trichomoniasis, and their research may lead to new approaches to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this common sexually transmitted disease. Trichomoniasis affects an estimated 170 million people a year, with more than five million cases reported in North America.
Flu :: 1918 killer flu virus tested on monkeys
In a study of nonhuman primates infected with the influenza virus that killed 50 million people in 1918, an international team of scientists has found a critical clue to how the virus killed so quickly and efficiently.