News

The on-again, off-again debut of the controversial film “Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Catastrophe” at the Tribeca Film Festival in March once again made the debate surrounding pediatric vaccination headline news.

Contagion™ recently spoke with FDA spokesperson, Siobhan DeLancey, who addressed some of the concerns regarding the release of OX513A, the genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquito, in Key Haven, Florida.

Researchers analyzed archived blood donor samples collected during and after the 2014 epidemic of Chikungunya virus in Puerto Rico, and found that as many as 2 percent of the samples tested positive for Chikungunya RNA.

Because certain viral sub-types are associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality than others, efforts to improve the effectiveness of influenza vaccines remain an important focus of future research.

A recent study has shown that although the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology can stop human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication, it also results in unexpected viral resistance and thereby limits use of the technology in HIV therapy.

In a recent study of 1,812 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers found that none of these individuals had confirmed hepatitis C virus replication.

From Friday April 22, 2016 to Tuesday, April 26, 2016, the number of confirmed mumps cases at Harvard University rose from 34 to 40.

A sector of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will support Roche Molecular Systems Inc., of Branchburg New Jersey, in conducting trials to evaluate the company’s Zika blood screen test.

Study suggests that the risk of Zika virus transmission is particularly high in the southeast as well as in south Texas, where locally-acquired cases of Aedes-transmitted viruses have been reported previously.

On Friday, April 22, 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set interim guidance for those working in the fields where exposure to the Zika virus is inevitable.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2014, nearly 17% of new HIV diagnoses were in the over-50s.

Global pharmaceutical company, AbbVie, announced the approval of a supplemental new drug application for VIEKIRA PAK® without ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 1b (HCV-1b) and compensated cirrhosis.

On April 18, 2016, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, OBE, JP, discussed antimicrobial resistance at a United Nations briefing in New York.

The impact of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan now includes an infectious disease component—namely, an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease—and it has sparked a debate among health officials and infectious disease experts.

Taking a page out of U.S. Biodefense practices may be the first step in preparing for future infectious disease outbreaks.

As it turns out, there’s a wrong way to wash your hands. A recently published study found WHO's six-step handwashing method to be superior to the CDC's three-step method.

Seasonal influenza results in nearly 50,000 deaths each year in the United States alone, and 5 to 10 times as many deaths in all industrialized countries combined.

The untimely passing of pop music icon, Prince, is a somber reminder of the serious risks that can accompany an influenza infection.

Concerns over the deadly outbreak in the Midwest continue to grow as five more individuals have died from the previously misdiagnosed bacteria.

Despite having emerged as either the third or fourth leading cause of blood stream infections in the United States, the threat of multi-drug resistant Candida species remains an underappreciated concern.

Researchers from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report that there is a possibility of eliminating the transmission of both Hepatitis B and C in the United States.

Researchers find evidence to suggest virus strains in the most recent outbreak in the Americas evolved from an Asian lineage.

On Friday, April 15, 2016, WHO approved Sanofi Pasteur’s Dengvaxia (CYD-TDV), a live recombinant tetravalent vaccine for Dengue fever, first approved in Mexico in December 2015.

Researchers have revealed that the disease has been circulating in the region since at least January of 2015.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the first case of locally transmitted Zika virus infection in the continental United States is now inevitable. The virus already brings with it fears for pregnant women, and those women trying to become pregnant, but now, a Zika virus infection is likely a risk for all adults as the virus has been linked to yet another neurological disorder.

Scientists have developed a new ultra-sensitive screening technique for diseases such as HIV and cancers that may be 10,000 times more sensitive than those currently used clinical tests.

A new study has identified compounds that can reduce the virulence of the pathogenic bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that the Zika virus can be transmitted from an infected man to a sex partner through anal sex.