Strains

African HIV strains more resistant to anti HIV drugs

Genetic variations in the HIV strains in Africa make it more difficult for the anti AIDS drugs to act on them according to researchers. This however does not mean that these drugs will be powerless against the virus but these drugs find it difficult to latch on to the protease, which is an enzyme useful in the replication of the virus inside the body. If the drug attaches itself to the p...

E. coli strains resistant to a common antibiotic

Food contaminated with a strain of drug-resistant E. coli has emerged as a possible new source of urinary tract infections. E. coli is a normal inhabitant of the digestive tract that can cause both intestinal upsets and urinary infections. But while E. coli from bad food is a frequent cause of diarrhoea and other digestive miseries, urinary tract infections were thought until now to result mostly...

Hormone restrains appetite in man

According to reasearchers, a hormone is released into the blood after a meal, restrain the appetite if given by injection and might be supportive in treating obesity. The reason for feeling full after a meal, that the intestines release a hormone called PYY3-36 //which acts on the brain to produce a feeling of satiety. Researchers at Imperial College, London, now report on the first human trial...

Bioengineering production strains - Microbia develops new methods

The recently published issue of Nature Biotechnology outlines a new method developed by Microbia Ltd.'s scientists for rapidly identifying genes required for the production of industrial molecules produced in microbes. This is an advancement in the company's ability to improve the properties// of microbial cells for biomanufacturing pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. This new technology enables...

New Tools To Identify Flu Strains

Researchers have developed a portable la-chip called Genotyper that can identify the genetic //structure of the flu virus within hours and help the doctors to treat patients effectively. Developed by researchers from University of Michigan, the Genotyper is on its way to become fully portable and be connected wirelessly and can be taken all around the world to track the various flu str...

Bird Flu Strains Detected In Wild Birds Of Mongolia

Scientists from US department of Agriculture had found the strains of bird flu disease in the wild migratory birds in Mongolia. This is for the first time the disease of avian influenza had been detected in any strain of wild birds // that have no contact with the domestic poultry, or waterfowl. The team of researchers from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) had collected samples from...

Fluorescent markers to distinguish Trypanosoma brucei strains causing Sleeping Sickness

Multiple-genotype infections are increasingly recognized as important factors in disease evolution, parasite transmission dynamics, and the evolution of drug resistance. However, the distinction of co-infecting site genotypes and the tracking of their dynamics have been // ficult with traditional methods based on various genotyping techniques, leaving most questions unaddressed. Trypan...

Detection of Weak strains of bird flu virus – Target of European Unio

In an attempt to rapidly eliminate milder strains of avian influenza virus before it can mutate into more virulent forms, it has been proposed to broaden the target of the European Union regarding the bird flu threat. // The joint decision has been taken by agricultural ministers of the 25 different countries that represent the European Union. In line with the proposal, it was agreed...

Resistant Influenza strains creates panic in US

Rick A. Bright, an immunologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that all samples of seasonal influenza virus this year have developed // resistance to adamantanes, the class of drugs which is used for the treatment for flu infection. Drugs belonging to this class like amantadine and rimantadine are ineffectual for now and for the foreseeable future and should...

Whirlpool Bath Tubs Contain Potentially Lethal Bacterial Strains

Researchers from Texas A&M University said that poorly maintained whirlpool bath tubs both private and public serve as breeding grounds for potentially lethal bacterial strains. They tested 43 water samples and found all of them had some kind of microbial growth.// Various Bacterial strains especially those found in feces contributed about 95% of the samples, while 81% had fungi and 34%...

Multiple infectious disease strains can coexist

A study has thrown light on the observation that multiple infectious disease strains can coexist. This has been explained in the August issue of The American Naturalist//, where Ken Eames and Matt Keeling (University of Warwick) have demonstrated with the help of a mathematical model, the coexistence of multiple strains of infectious diseases and their behavior and response to human interaction,...

Threat posed by highly resistant strains of TB

An article published online this week in The Lancet warns that tuberculosis (TB) programs and HIV programs may face a threat from tuberculosis strains //that are resistant to both first-line and second-line drugs. The study conducted by a team of researchers from the United States and South Africa reveals that highly resistant strains of TB that are responsible for increased death rat...

Newly Identified Strains Of Chlamydia Trachomatis – A Gateway To New Disease

Chlamydia trachomatis, a bacterium, which is one of the leading cause for sexually transmitted diseases and the second leading cause for blindness globally, is said to be// evolving at a rate faster than scientists would have imagined. The scientists from Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) were the first to conclude this with the help of a new study. The Scientist...

Misuse Of Anti-Microbial Drugs Have Given Rise To Multidrug-resistant TB Strains

The World Health Organization conducted a survey in 79 countries under the Global Project on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance, which was set up in 1994// , and found high levels of Multidrug-resistant TB strains worldwide. These were more prevalent in certain parts of former Soviet Union and parts of China and India . About one third of the world's population is supposed...

A New Test to Detect Drug-resistant HIV Strains

A new test to detect infection of drug resistant forms of HIV even when present in small quantity// has been developed by Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center. This new test is designed to detect drug-resistant viral strains even when present in small amounts contrary to other tests that detect drug-resistant strains only when present in significant portion in a person's...

Less-lethal Strains of Bird Flu Virus may Become the Biggest Killer

HEALTH Experts have called for closer study of less-lethal strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus because they might be more //likely candidates to spark an influenza pandemic. Scientists have identified at least four major variants, or genotypes, of the deadly H5N1 virus since it made its first-known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997. Topping the list is the Z-genotype, whi...

Work-related Stress Restrains the Sex Lives of Nurses

A recent survey has found that the stress factor in the nurses job harms their sex life. Roughly half of the nurses believe that their sex lives are harmed by the emotional stress of their job, according to the Nursing Times magazine poll. The magazine surveyed almost 2,000 nurses, and found that 70 percent said they experienced from physical or mental health problems...

Peptide Found in Human Blood Inhibits 60 Strains of HIV, Study Says

A peptide found in human blood inhibited 60 strains of HIV from infecting cells in laboratory tests, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Cell//, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Researchers found the peptide can inhibit HIV strains that have developed resistance to existing medications --a discovery that could lead to the development of new HIV/AIDS drugs -- the Chronicle r...

Pneumonia Strains Not Covered by Vaccines on the Rise

A new U.S. government investigation has found new pneumonia strains impervious to available vaccinations// are fast emerging. In Alaska, for instance, the native children are already protected against seven strains of pneumococcal disease due to vaccination. But the rate of serious infection by other strains is increasing there by as much as 140 percent. "The vaccine has been...

New Strains of TB Can Be Used as a Powerful Bioterror Weapon

Despite billions of dollars spent on national security in airports, a man infected with XDR (extensively drug resistant) tuberculosis was allowed to travel unhindered into the United States, underscoring how drug-resistant strains of the disease could be used in a bioterrorist attack against the U.S. The attention this story has been receiving over the past few days is no surprise,...

New TB Vaccines in Could Protect Against All Drug Resistant Strains

New tuberculosis (TB) vaccines in development have the potential to provide protection against all strains of TB, including multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug- resistant (XDR) TB , Dr. Jerald C. Sadoff, president and CEO of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, said here today at the International Conference on Global Health. Aeras, the only non-profit organization ded...

WHO Director Urges Nations to Share Bird Flu Virus Strains

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, has called upon all member countries not to hold back any H5N1 virus samples as that would handicap the organization in the fight contain bird blu. "If you do not share the virus with us . I would fail you," said he said in a speech to the agency's 193 member countries. Without H5N1 samples from affected countrie...