Wake Forest scientists find new combination vaccine effective against plague
Plague, a bacterium that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages and is today one of the most feared potential agents of bio-terrorism, may have met its match, according to Wake Forest University School of Medicine scientists. Steven B. Mizel, Ph.D., principal investigator, told the American Gastroenterological Association meeting in Chicago that when mice immunized with a new combination vaccin...Studies reveal how plague disables immune system, and how to exploit the process to make a vaccine
Two studies by researchers at the University of Chicago show how the bacteria that cause the plague manage to outsmart the immune system and how, by slightly altering one of the microbe's tools, the researchers produced what may be the first safe and effective vaccine. Both papers -- one published online July 28 in Science Express and one in the August issue of Infection and Immunity -- fo...Novel plague virulence factor identified
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified a previously unknown family of virulence factors that make the bacterium responsible for the plague especially efficient at killing its host. In the process, the team not only demonstrated that the use of the common roundworm is a valid model for studying the virulence of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague. They a...Plant-derived vaccines safeguard against deadly plague
Through an innovative feat of plant biotechnology and vaccine design, researchers in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have successfully turned tobacco plants into vaccine production factories to combat the deadliest form of plague. The vaccine elicits a protective immune response in guinea pigs. The results are considered to be a milestone in the future development of a new vac...A wolf in sheep's clothing: Plague bacteria reveal one of their virulence tricks
The bacterium that causes the plague belongs to a virulent family of bacteria called Yersinia, a group that also includes a pathogen responsible for food poisoning. These bacteria insert into their host cells proteins and other virulence factors, which kill by -- among other things -- disrupting the cells' normal structure. One of these proteins, called YpkA, attacks a cell's internal skeleton. N...Tobacco plant based Vaccine against Plague
Researchers from the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University have successfully produced Plague vaccines from Tobacco plants. The researchers were able to produce vaccines from bioengineered // plant which is found to be effective against guinea pigs which were exposed to pneumonic plague bacterium. The researchers are to start a clinical trial of the new vaccine in human to study the effica...Mosquito Plague Reported From Western Australia
Mosquito plague has hit Western Australia's south region with 50 cases being reported in the past three weeks alone. The Ross River virus has also been // reported in the Territories with another 50 cases being reported over the last 30 days. Entomologist Nina Kurucz said that the pre-monsoon rains have created an ideal breeding ground for the mosquitoes. "The problem is that this sort...Health Services Plagued By Corruption
There is rampant corruption in the health services sector in India, which also includes the country’s hospitals, according to Transparency International’s 2006 Global Corruption Report. // The Government hospitals alone account for a total of Rs 20.17 billion annually by way of corruption. This does not include unnecessary diagnostic tests, non-availability of medicines, over-prescription, and c...