Infectious Diseases News and Research

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Study may help develop multi-pronged HIV eradication strategies

A team of researchers from the University of California - Davis Health (UC Davis) has made a breakthrough discovery of a unique type of stem cell that reduces the amount of the virus that causes AIDS.

From The University of California, Davis 25 Jun 2021

World Food Safety Day 2021: An Interview with the World Health Organization (WHO)

AZoLifeSciences interviews Francesco Branca, director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the World Health Organization, for World Food Safety Day 2021.

From World Health Organization (WHO) 14 Jun 2021

Scientists discover two drugs that provide effective SARS-CoV-2 suppression

COVID-19 continues to claim lives across the world and is infecting millions more. Although several vaccines have recently become available, making significant strides towards preventing COVID-19, what about the treatment of those who already have the infection?

From Tokyo University of Science 4 Jun 2021

Three plausible solutions mitigates zoonotic risk associated with intensive animal agriculture

As early as the Neolithic period (circa 3900 BC), the domestication of animals likely led to the development of diseases including measles and smallpox. Since then, zoonotic disease has led to other major transnational outbreaks including HIV, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and H1N1 swine flu, among others.

3 Jun 2021

NCI grants over $4.2 million to launch the Cancer Epitope Database and Analysis Resource

Researchers are about to welcome a new one-stop shop for crucial information on how the immune system targets cancers.

3 Jun 2021

Genetic editing tools stop the spread of Culex mosquitoes

Since the onset of the CRISPR genetic editing revolution, scientists have been working to leverage the technology in the development of gene drives that target pathogen-spreading mosquitoes such as Anopheles and Aedes species, which spread malaria, dengue and other life-threatening diseases.

From UC San Diego 31 May 2021

Neutralizing antibodies are produced after SARS-CoV-2 infection

A research group from Osaka University led by Professor Hisashi Arase and consisting of researchers from the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, the Institute for Protein Research, the Immunology Frontier Research Center, the Center for Infectious Diseases, and the Graduate School of Medicine has discovered for the first time that both neutralizing antibodies that protect against infection as well as infection-enhancing antibodies that increase infectivity are produced after infection with SARS-CoV-2 by analyzing antibodies derived from COVID-19 patients.

From Osaka University 26 May 2021

New projections can help support COVID-19 patients experiencing homelessness

A new study provides public health planning authorities with a method of calculating the number of COVID-19 isolation beds they would need for people experiencing homelessness based on level of infection in the city.

21 May 2021

Researchers discover canine coronavirus in East Malaysia

Researchers have discovered a new coronavirus, found in a child with pneumonia in Malaysia in 2018, that appears to have jumped from dog to human.

21 May 2021

Many do not recognise animal agriculture's link to infectious diseases

New research led by the University of Kent has found that people fail to recognize the role of factory farming in causing infectious diseases.

14 May 2021

Epigenetic changes drive the fate of a B cell

B cells are the immune cells responsible for creating antibodies, and most B cells produce antibodies in response to a pathogen or a vaccine, providing immunity.

14 May 2021

New genetic database maps how immune disorders evolve

A first-of-its-kind genetic database for autoinflammatory and autoimmune disorders has been created by Japanese researchers.

4 May 2021

Processed diet reduces gut bacteria and promotes encroachment of microbiota into the intestine

Processed diets, which are low in fiber, may initially reduce the incidence of foodborne infectious diseases such as E. coli infections, but might also increase the incidence of diseases characterized by low-grade chronic infection and inflammation such as diabetes, according to researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

29 Apr 2021

Low-dose administration of MERS DNA vaccine protects against COVID-19

The Wistar Institute has developed a synthetic DNA vaccine candidate for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

26 Apr 2021

Study finds raised levels of specific immune cells in asymptomatic people with COVID-19

The largest study of its type in the UK has identified differences in the immune response to COVID-19, between people with no symptoms, compared to those suffering a more serious reaction to the virus.

21 Apr 2021

Chemical biomarker levels reflect varying severity of COVID-19 symptoms

Varying severity of COVID-19 symptoms in patients is reflected by levels of a chemical biomarker in their body which scientists say could be used to better manage treatments and other interventions, including vaccinations.

20 Apr 2021

Scientists characterize the genetic diversity of populations in the South Pacific

Describing the genetic diversity of human populations is essential to improve our understanding of human diseases and their geographical distribution.

From Institut Pasteur 15 Apr 2021

Low K777 concentrations inhibit cathepsin L and reduce SARS-CoV-2’s ability to infect host cell lines

For a long time, James McKerrow, MD, PhD, dean of the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego, has investigated neglected tropical diseases, which are chronic, disabling parasitic infections mainly affecting the poor and underserved communities in developing nations.

From UC San Diego 5 Apr 2021

B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreading quickly in the United States

The faster-spreading B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 first detected in the United Kingdom, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is quickly on its way to becoming the dominant variant of the virus in the United States, according to a study from scientists at Scripps Research and the COVID-19 test maker Helix.

31 Mar 2021

Salivary gland cells could play role in SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission

Scientists have shown that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can infect specific cells in the salivary gland in the mouth.

26 Mar 2021