Scientists Identify Zika Proteins Causing Microcephaly
August 18th 2016In the first research of its kind, an interdisciplinary group of scientists analyzed three Zika strains in second trimester fetal neural stem cells (fNSC) to identify which viral proteins cause congenital microcephaly. Since Zika causes significant neurological impairment, early diagnosis is imperative.
New Study Explains Link Between Influenza and Deadly MRSA Infection
August 17th 2016According to the new study, the antibacterial response of white blood cells to the flu virus fails to target the S. aureus bacteria and instead causes inflammatory injury to the lungs and damage to surrounding tissue, creating a higher susceptibility to secondary bacterial infections such as MRSA pneumonia.
Proteins Previously Overlooked Are Major Players in Building Bacterial Cell Walls
August 16th 2016A new discovery made by researchers at Harvard Medical School suggests that SED proteins, proteins that had previously been overlooked, have turned out to be “major players” in bacterial cell wall synthesis.
VA Redesigns Approach to Treating All HCV-infected Veterans
August 15th 2016With the assistance of funds granted by Congress, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) will extend new hepatitis C (HCV) treatment to all infected veterans within their healthcare system, of all stages of illness and regardless of whether or not the infection had been acquired during military service.
Discovery of HIV Feature Provides New Drug Target
August 15th 2016An essential component of HIV that explains how the virus infects other cells and remains undetected by the immune system has been discovered by researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and the University of London.
Rhode Island Responds to Increased Threat of Hepatitis C
August 12th 2016In response to an increase of hepatitis C cases in Rhode Island that have resulted in hospitalizations and deaths, the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Rhode Island Public Health Institute have worked together to compose their first ever, comprehensive epidemiological report.
Majority of HIV Proviruses are Defective: They Will Not Reactivate the Virus
August 12th 2016A new study conducted by researchers at John Hopkins Medicine has found that most of the proviruses in the latent HIV reservoir are defective but the current methods used to measure size of reservoirs, PCR and QVOA, are not precise in their measurements in that their results often count proviruses with and without defects.
Ongoing Opioid Abuse in US Likely Culprit Behind HIV Clusters
August 11th 2016Collateral damage from the ongoing opioid abuse epidemic in the United States continues to plague many rural communities across the country, with recent reports suggesting it is likely behind clusters of HIV cases in these areas.
HPV Reduced Dose Schedule Just as Effective as Standard Dose
August 10th 2016A new study found that girls between 9 and 14 years of age who received a two-dose HPV-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine over a 6 or 12-month period of time are just as protected from HPV as girls between 15 and 25 years of age who received a three-dose vaccine over the course of 6 months.
Fear of Ebola Drives Liberian Women Away from Healthcare Facilities
August 8th 2016The first household survey was conducted in Liberia to examine the collateral harm to maternal healthcare delivery services in areas impacted by the Ebola epidemic. It showed that since the Ebola epidemic began, facility-based deliveries have declined mostly due to fear of acquiring infection, keeping women away from using the healthcare services available to them.
HIV Prevention Strategies Require Wide-scale Changes to Ensure Mortality Rates Continue to Decrease
August 7th 2016Although several ambitious initiatives intended to put an end to the AIDS epidemic have been developed and implemented, this laudable goal will be difficult to achieve without substantial and wide-scale changes in HIV prevention strategies.
Rapid CRP tests reduce antibiotic misuse & development of antibiotic resistance
August 5th 2016Researchers from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit have found that a 5-minute CRP test can assist in the ongoing fight against antibiotic resistance by reducing antibiotic misuse for respiratory infections.