Current research demonstrates that the tonsils may possess the necessary factors to act as a transmission site for the spread of HIV. The related report by Moutsopoulos et al, “Tonsil Epithelial Factors May Influence Oropharyngeal Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission,” appears in the August issue of the American Journal of Pathology.
Recent outbreaks of emerging diseases such as SARS and H5N1 avian influenza have underlined the fact that animal pathogens may acquire the ability to spread efficiently in humans ? but as yet have not. Monitoring the transmissibility of pathogens from animals in humans is therefore key for early detection of epidemic spread, and for effective control.
Mummies that have recently been unearthed in South Korea may provide clues on how to combat hepatitis B, according to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Carnegie Mellon University scientists have made an important discovery that aids the understanding of why HIV enters immune cells with ease. The researchers found that after HIV docks onto a host cell, it dramatically lowers the energy required for a cell membrane to bend, making it easier for the virus to infect immune cells.
Large number of employees of Indian industry are vulnerable to HIV, noted by the World Bank. India’s private sector stands to gain by supporting interventions aimed at preventing the virus from spreading at the workplace and in local communities.
Officials from the Department Environmental Protection and Allegheny County reminded residents of simple steps they can take to control mosquitoes in their own yards ? an important effort in combating the spread of the West Nile virus.
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center Institute for Drug Development, in collaboration with Oncolytics Biotech Inc., a biotechnology company, has enrolled the first two patients in a new Phase II clinical study for patients with various types of sarcomas that have metastasized to the lung.
Two new studies emphasize the importance of delivering measles and influenza vaccines to HIV-infected individuals. Both studies are published in the August 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.
An international collaboration between European, Australian and American researchers has unveiled some of the genetic mysteries explaining why some people naturally keep HIV levels almost undetectable, whereas others quickly lose control of the infection.
An international team of researchers has identified three gene variants in the DNA of 486 people infected with HIV that appear to have helped some of the patients fight off the virus and delay the onset of full-blown AIDS.