Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/infectious_diseases/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172000.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172000.php Bio-Clean, Inc. (OTCBB: BOCL) ("Bio-Clean" or the "Company") announced that testing of its Clean Kill Non-Alcohol based hand sanitizer has proved that it can be an effective weapon against the epidemic spread of MRSA and Staph. MRSA infection is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria - often called "staph." MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It's a strain of staph that is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. MRSA / Drug Resistance Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171994.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171994.php JohnsonDiversey launched http://www.outbreakcontrol.com, a one-stop resource for managing infection risk in schools, health settings and other commercial spaces. Developed for JohnsonDiversey's customers, distributors and the general public, the web site provides comprehensive information regarding infectious diseases as well as best practices to manage outbreaks, reduce risk and minimize the spread of infection. Swine Flu Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171982.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171982.php Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP), a leading global infection prevention solution provider, announced today the acquisition by its French affiliate, Apsis S.A.S., of Gloster Europe, a privately held developer of innovative disinfection processes and technologies to prevent healthcare-acquired infections. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171963.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171963.php MRSA / Drug Resistance Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171923.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171923.php Doctor in biology from the UPNA, Mr Gúmer Pérez Garrido studied and described for the first time how the telomeres and adjacent sequences of the oyster fungus (Pleurotus ostreatus) are organised. Her PhD thesis, «Organisation of the telomeric and subtelomeric regions of the basidiomycete Pleurotus ostreatus». The aim was to get to know more thoroughly how the genetic material of this type of fungus is organised and compare it with other organisms. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171875.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171875.php The introduction of the Group C meningococcal vaccine to the childhood immunisation programme has proved to be one of the most effective health protection measures of recent years, saving hundreds of lives said Health Protection Agency (HPA) immunisation expert Dr Mary Ramsay. Prior to the vaccine's introduction in November 1999 around 1000 cases of Group C meningitis and septicaemia were recorded in England and Wales every year. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171822.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171822.php Antibiotic resistance is increasing throughout the world because of excessive use, Agence France-Press reports. The news service writes, "Experts at the 2nd annual European antibiotics awareness day held by the Stockholm-based European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC) said new, hyper-resistant bacteria were emerging, threatening the pillars of global health. MRSA / Drug Resistance Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171817.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171817.php A special edition of UNICEF's annual State of the World's Children report, released 20 years after the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, shows that "fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school - but an estimated 1 billion still lack services essential to their survival and development," the Pediatrics / Children's Health Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171835.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171835.php Chest ultrasound can serve as a viable alternative to chest CT in the evaluation of pediatric patients with complicated pneumonia and parapneumonic effusion (a build-up of fluid between the lung and chest wall), according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology. Pneumonia in the pediatric population is common. Respiratory / Asthma Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171844.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171844.php There is evidence that a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu has spread from person to person in a South Wales hospital in the UK and it appears that some of them acquired the illness while in hospital. The National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) announced on Friday that five patients at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff have been diagnosed with swine flu resistant to Oseltamivir (Tamiflu). Swine Flu Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171789.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171789.php We've all read studies about the health benefits of having a life partner. The same thing is true at the molecular level, where amino acids known as cysteines are much more vulnerable to damage when single than when paired up with other cysteines. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan, along with colleagues in Belgium, have discovered a new antioxidant system that protects single cysteines. The research appears in the Nov. 20 issue of the journal Science. Biology / Biochemistry Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171827.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171827.php Bacteria possess an ingenious mechanism for preventing oxygen from harming the building blocks of the cell. This is the new finding of a team of biologists that includes Joris Messens of VIB, a life sciences research institute in Flanders, Belgium, connected to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The scientists made this discovery by modifying the DNA of the intestinal bacterium Escherichia coli. Biology / Biochemistry Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171707.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171707.php Doctor in biology from the UPNA, Ms Gúmer Pérez Garrido studied and described for the first time how the telomeres and adjacent sequences of the oyster fungus (Pleurotus ostreatus) are organised. Her PhD thesis, «Organisation of the telomeric and subtelomeric regions of the basidiomycete Pleurotus ostreatus». The aim was to get to know more thoroughly how the genetic material of this type of fungus is organised and compare it with other organisms. Genetics Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171725.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171725.php Bacterially Produced Antifungal on Skin of Amphibians May Protect Against Lethal Fungus A new study suggests that naturally occurring bacteria on the skin of salamanders could help protect other amphibians, including some species of endangered frogs, from a lethal skin disease. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171730.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171730.php Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine (SOM) has received a Robert Wood Johnson grant to fund a Public Health Practice Based Research Network called The Ohio Research Association for Public Health Improvement (RAPHI). The grant, $90,000 over two years, was one of 7 practice-based research networks awarded this year, making the School of Medicine one of only 12 networks in the country. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171703.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171703.php A team of researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park has developed a new model system to study fungal infections. The system can be a powerful tool for screening potential drug targets for conditions like thrush, athlete's foot and vaginal yeast infections, which affect millions of people each year but are difficult to treat with existing medications. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171699.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171699.php Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France. Smoking / Quit Smoking Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171708.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171708.php A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites. Traditionally, vaccines have directly targeted specific pathogens. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171594.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171594.php Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced that the company's SynCon™ Chikungunya virus DNA vaccine induced protective neutralizing antibody responses in a preclinical non-human primate model. Dr. David B. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171545.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171545.php Viruses are well known for attacking humans and animals, but some viruses instead attack bacteria. Texas A&M University researchers are exploring how hungry viruses, armed with transformer-like weapons, attack bacteria, which may aid in the treatment of bacterial infections. The Texas A&M researchers' work is published in the renowned journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. The attackers are called phages, or bacteriophages, meaning eaters of bacteria. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171558.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171558.php Sandra Eskin, director of the Pew Health Group's Food Safety Campaign, has issued the following statement regarding the markup of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee: "The Pew Health Group applauds the members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee for approving the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) today. Nutrition / Diet Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171576.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171576.php A new chemical compound that mimics the body's ability to fight bacteria could help target hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA and C.difficile. The compound, which could be added to detergents or used as a coating for hospital equipment, is able to trap and release the gas nitric oxide - which is also produced by our own immune systems to kill bugs. MRSA / Drug Resistance Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171518.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171518.php Yesterday (18th November 2009) marks the second annual European Antibiotic Awareness Day, established to highlight the problem of increasing antibiotic resistance and the need for prudent use of antibiotics. Figures from the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption project, which monitors antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in countries across Europe, suggest that antibiotic use in many countries remains too high. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171514.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171514.php Lancet Infectious Diseases Examines Hold-Ups In Implementation Of Sleeping Sickness Therapy Tropical Diseases Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171510.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171510.php The WHO on Tuesday announced it would lead a week-long, multi-country vaccination campaign in Africa next week to protect those "deemed at highest risk from yellow fever," Reuters reports. The vaccination drive will target nearly 12 million Africans living in Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone - all countries at high risk of yellow fever outbreaks (Nebehay/MacInnis, 11/17). Tropical Diseases