Infectious Diseases | Page 25 of 33

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.

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.

Circumcision :: Adult Male Circumcision Significantly Reduces Risk of Acquiring HIV

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced an early end to two clinical trials of adult male circumcision because an interim review of trial data revealed that medically performed circumcision significantly reduces a man’s risk of acquiring HIV through heterosexual intercourse.

Healthcare :: United States Officially Accepts New International Health Regulations

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced the United States has formally accepted the revised International Health Regulations (IHR), and will begin the process of implementing these new international rules immediately instead of waiting for them to take effect in June 2007. Secretary Leavitt made the announcement during a week-long visit to the People?s Republic of China.

HIV :: Male circumcision an effective measure for reducing HIV incidence in young men – Kenya

A CIHR-funded randomized controlled trial conducted in Kenya has demonstrated that male circumcision is an effective measure for reducing HIV incidence in young men.

HIV :: Male circumcision reduces HIV AIDS risk

A University of Illinois at Chicago study has been stopped early due to dramatic preliminary results indicating that medical circumcision reduces the risk of acquiring HIV during heterosexual intercourse by 53 percent.

Botulinum :: How botulinum toxin attaches to nerve cells – explained

A group of researchers, funded in part through two of NIAID’s Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, has provided a rare atomic glimpse of the initial step one of botulinu’s toxins takes to gain entry into human neurons. In an advanced online publication of the journal Nature, the scientists show structurally how botulinum neurotoxin B (one of seven toxins the bacterium produces) recognizes receptors on the surface of human neurons.

Breast Cancer :: Restoring Tamoxifen Sensitivity in Resistant Breast Cancer

The widely used breast cancer drug tamoxifen (Nolvadex?), which can become less effective over time, might retain its full strength indefinitely if used along with a second drug, according to new research in mice conducted by investigators from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their partners. The results appear in the December 11, 2006, issue of Cancer Cell.

Homeopathy :: Non linearity straightens prescribing

In my extremely petite professional years, I have often heard the notion that in homoeopathic parlance, the sickness is basically the derangement of harmonious flow in the sensations of vital principle, whereby the disease producing micro-organisms and the likes of them are nothing- nihilist.

Transplant :: Preventing graft-versus-host disease after bone marrow transplant

Most patients undergoing bone-marrow transplant must receive powerful chemotherapy drugs to suppress their immune system and prevent their bodies from rejecting the donated cells. New research shows that this chemotherapy increases the risk for graft-versus-host disease — but also suggests that this risk can be reduced by replacing a natural antibiotic that’s depleted when patients undergo chemotherapy. A multicenter study led by Children’s Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is about to test this idea.