Test helps in fight against lung infections and for treating other life-threatening infections

Edmonton, Alberta A new test developed by Edmonton-based Innovotech™ Inc. will now allow doctors to more accurately identify the right antibiotics required to treat serious, chronic infections that are biofilm based. With more than 80 per cent of infections in the developed world caused by...

Preventing ear infections in the future: Delivering vaccine through the skin

An experimental vaccine applied the surface of the skin appears to protect against certain types of ear infections. Scientists from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, report their findings today at the 109th General Meeting of the American Society for Micr...

Reduction in parasite infections ahead for India

Experts from Queen's University are in India today (Monday) to advise the country on how it can reduce parasitic infections which destroy plants and animals. The biotechonology experts from the Belfast-based University are at the forefront of research into the infections which cost the world ec...

Text focuses on diagnosing infections in immunocompromised patients

Over the past twenty-five years, the number of patients with compromised immune systems has grown astronomically. High-risk patients such as these require a unique set of healthcare solutions that take into consideration everything from the etiology and degree of immune suppression to the individu...

Hidden infections crucial to understanding, controlling disease outbreaks

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Scientists and news organizations typically focus on the number of dead and gravely ill during epidemics, but research at the University of Michigan suggests that less dramatic, mild infections lurking in large numbers of people are the key to understanding cycles of at least on...

Antimicrobial sutures reduce infections in brain shunt surgery, study finds

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Children born with hydrocephalus, or "water on the brain" must have shunts implanted to drain the fluid away from the brain to reduce harmful pressure. While shunts do their job well, the rate of shunt infection in children is very high for a variety of reasons, which require...

CMV infections affect more than just patients with compromised immune systems, researchers find

An infection due to a virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV), which most commonly affects people with compromised immune systems, can also affect hospital intensive-care patients who have no immune-system problems, University of Washington researchers have found. CMV infection is also associated with ...

Bacterial infections in premature babies more common than previously realized

Premature babies are subject to a host of threats that can result in fetal/neonatal disease. In a study published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers from the University of AlabamaBirmingham Medical School and the Drexel University College of M...

New drug targets may fight tuberculosis and other bacterial infections in novel way

NEW YORK (Dec. 27, 2007) -- Over the course of the 20th Century, doctors waged war against infectious bacterial illness with the best new weapon they had: antibiotics. But the emergence of dangerous, multi-drug resistant strains of tuberculosis and other killer infections means that in the 21s...

Bacteria that cause urinary tract infections invade bladder cells

St. Louis, Dec. 17, 2007 Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found definitive proof that some of the bacteria that plague women with urinary tract infections (UTIs) are entrenched inside human bladder cells. The finding confirms a controversial revision of ...

Gamma globulin effective in treating eye infections caused by adenoviruses

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 28 Gamma globulin, a type of antibody isolated from blood samples that used to be routinely given to health care workers and international travelers to protect them from infectious diseases, is a highly effective treatment for pinkeye with little apparent toxicity, according to a...

Singapore nanotechnology combats fatal brain infections

Doctors may get a new arsenal for meningitis treatment and the war on drug-resistant bacteria and fungal infections with novel peptide nanoparticles developed by scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of Singapore and reported in Nature Nanotechnology . The sta...

Study characterizes eczema patients most at risk for dangerous viral infections

Eczema patients at risk for serious viral infections have more severe disease, are more likely to be allergic to food and other allergens, and have a frequent history of staph infections, according to researchers at National Jewish Health and other institutions in the NIH-funded Atopic Dermatitis ...

NIH funds work at WPI on regenerating heart tissue and preventing urinary tract infections

WORCESTER, Mass. May 28, 2009 Congressman James McGovern, D-Massachusetts, today announced National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards for two researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park. Glenn Gaudette, PhD, assistant professor of b...

New technology shows promise against resistant staph infections

April 29, 2009 (BRONX, NY) Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have combined their revolutionary new drug-delivery system with a powerful antimicrobial agent to treat potentially deadly drug-resistant staph infections in mice. The study is published this month...

Two-pronged model could help foil tough cystic fibrosis infections

Hanover, NH--Dartmouth Medical School researchers have devised a novel approach for thwarting the relentless bacterial infections that thrive in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (CF), unlocking new possibilities against a tenacious and toxic hallmark of the common genetic disease. Combi...

Research could lead to new non-antibiotic drugs to counter hospital infections

Lack of an adequate amount of the mineral phosphate can turn a common bacterium into a killer, according to research to be published in the April 14, 2009, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science . The findings could lead to new drugs that would disarm the increasingly antib...

Penn medicine draws road map for elimination of central line-associated bloodstream infections

(SAN DIEGO) Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) fell by more than 90 percent during the past three years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania due to a multi-pronged approach combining leadership initiatives, electronic infection surveillance, checklists to guide l...

International copper industry defines role in the fight against hospital infections

NEW YORK, NY (January 5, 2009) The copper industry is working together to answer one very important question: Can copper and copper alloys (brass and bronze) help curb the spread of bacteria that cause hospital infection? Results of laboratory testing and clinical trials indicate that they can. S...

UT Public Health researchers find link to severe Staph infections

Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health recently described studies that support the link between the severity of community-acquired antibiotic-resistant Staph ylococcus aureus (CA MRSA) infections and the Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL). The Panton Valentine leuk...

Winter brings flu, summer brings bacterial infections

CORVALLIS, Ore. In the same way that winter is commonly known to be the "flu season," a new study suggests that the dog days of summer may well be the "bacterial infection" season. Researchers have discovered that serious infections caused by gram-negative bacteria can go up as much as 17 perc...

Nature Medicine study shows Peregrine's bavituximab can cure lethal virus infections

TUSTIN, Calif., November 23, 2008 -- Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PPHM) today reported publication of data in Nature Medicine that supports the broad anti-viral potential of the company's novel anti-phosphatidylserine (anti-PS) antibody platform, showing that its PS-targeting drug ba...

Battling bacteria in the blood: Researchers tackle deadly infections

ANN ARBOR, Mich. It's a leading cause of death, but no one knows for sure how and why it happens. It's a major source of health care costs, adding days or weeks to the hospital stays and lost work time of millions of people. But no one fully understands how best to fight it. "It" is bacterial...

Phase III data show efficacy/safety of iclaprim in patients with complicated skin infections

Reinach, Switzerland, 26 October 2008 Arpida (SWX: ARPN) today presented the combined results from two pivotal Phase III clinical trials at the 48th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC)/Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) 46th annual meeting in Washin...

Scientists discover bacteria that can cause bone infections

Scientists have discovered that a bone infection is caused by a newly described species of bacteria that is related to the tuberculosis pathogen. The discovery may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of similar infections, according to an article published in the October issue of the Interna...

Biomarkers for identifying infant infections

Infection is the leading cause of infant deaths worldwide, and particularly a common killer of weaker, pre-term infants. Current diagnostic tests can be slow and non-specific, but researchers have now identified potential biomarkers in the blood that can rapidly identify both the onset of infectio...

Analysis of RNA role in spreading disease advances study of damaging plant infections

COLUMBUS, Ohio Recent research that links specific pieces of RNA to an infectious organisms duplication and spread could lead the way to the prevention of viroids, pathogens that can kill or damage food crops and other plants. The findings and the research approach used by Ohio State Universi...

Best treatment identified to reduce deadly Staph infections

LAS VEGAS One type of over-the-counter product for topical wound care is more effective than others in killing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, or MRSA, which is potentially deadly and in recent years has moved from its historic hospital setting to a much broader public conce...

Gamma interferon could aid fight against fungal infections

Interferon, the superhero cure for viral infections, may be a strong weapon in the battle against fungal infections in immunocompromised patients, according to an article in the November issue of Microbiology Today. Fungal infections (mycoses) were once seen as exotic diseases, but this is chan...

Scripps research team blocks bacterial communication system to prevent deadly staph infections

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA, OCT. 30, 2007 -- In hopes of combating the growing scourge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, in particular drug-resistant staph bacteria, a team of scientists from the Scripps Research Institute has designed a new type of vaccine that could one day be used in humans to block ...

Handbook helps parents deal with childhood infections

A new book designed for parents helps them better understand the diseases their children could face and the weapons to fight them, while offering practical advice for preventing infections in their kids without going overboard. Germ Proof Your Kids: The Complete Guide to Protecting (without Ov...

Evidence of a relationship between swimming babies and infections

In this way, the study shows that allowing babies to swim is possibly not as harmless with regard to infections as has been presumed till now," underlines Dr. Joachim Heinrich. He leads the research unit environmental epidemiology at the GSF Institute for Epidemiology. Prof. Dr. Dr. H. Erich ...

UCLA/VA partners with ASU to advance biosensor technology for urinary tract infections

Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, GeneFluidics Inc. and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have received a five-year, $3.2 million award from the National Institutes of Health to help rapidly d...

Drug-resistant bacterial infections serious complication after corrective eye surgery

Drug-resistant bacteria can complicate treatment after many surgical procedures. In particular, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which has been found in many healthcare settings, can be a serious post-operative complication. In a study published in the April issue of the American...

Infection detectives use disease 'fingerprints' to track common infections in children

Infectious disease specialists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found a new method for identifying suspect viruses and bacteria that cause some of the most common acute infections in children. Traditionally, researchers have looked for clues to an infection by tracking down the virus or b...

Study identifies risk factors for spread of respiratory infections in hospitals

The 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in China has lessons to teach hospitals on how to prevent the spread of other respiratory diseases, according to new research appearing in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online. Hospitals were epic...

'Protecting virus' offers instant flu protection and converts flu infections into their own vaccines

Research led by Professor Nigel Dimmock at the University of Warwick is developing an entirely new method of protecting against flu. This has been shown to protect animals against various strains of flu, and could offer protection against the full range of influenza A infections, including H5N1 an...

Hospital-acquired infections -- Inevitable?

In a press conference held earlier today at Washington D.C.'s The Press Club, David B. Nash, MD, editor of The American Journal of Medical Quality, addressed hospital-acquired infections and the widespread anchoring belief ?by both healthcare professionals and patients ?that acquiring infections in...

Infant transplant patients resist infections that kill adult AIDS patients

Investigators have discovered that some type of protective system goes into action in some cases when a baby's immune system is deficient. This discovery indicates a hidden safety net that might have far-reaching consequences for treating diseases of the immune system such as AIDS. The Mayo Clinic-...

New vaccine platform may fight infections with causes from influenza to bioterrorism

The development of effective vaccines for people with compromised immune systems may be feasible after all, according to a team of researchers, who demonstrated their approach could protect against pneumocystis pneumonia in mice lacking the same population of immune cells that HIV destroys in human...