Infectious Diseases News and Research

RSS

Increased Fucose Digestion by Gut Bacteria Linked to Lower Immune Responses to COVID-19 Vaccine

Gut bacteria that break down a sugar called fucose could be dampening our immune response to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, according to a study led by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology.

21 Apr 2023

Research Identifies Protective Drugs that may Lessen the Collateral Damage Caused by Antibiotics

Antibiotics help to fight bacterial infections, but they can also harm the helpful microbes living in the gut, which can have long-lasting health consequences.

17 Apr 2023

Study Tracks How the Gut Microbiota Changes During First Three Months of Life

Details of how the gut microbiota changes during the first three months of life will be presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark (15-18 April).

17 Apr 2023

40% of Supermarket Meat Samples Contain Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

Multidrug-resistant E. coli were found in 40% of supermarket meat samples tested in a Spanish study.

17 Apr 2023

Rapid Metagenomics: A Powerful Tool for the Diagnosis of Pathogenic Organisms

According to recent research presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, metagenomic sequencing can also provide quick and actionable antimicrobial resistance predictions to treat bloodstream infections much faster than traditional laboratory tests and has the potential to save lives and help manage antibiotic use (15–18 April 2023).

17 Apr 2023

New Method for Improving Gene Therapy With Nanobubbles

Beyond vaccines, mRNA offers immense potential to fight disease, but targeting the genetic material to specific diseased cells is challenging-; requiring a new method.

12 Apr 2023

Surface Structure Impacts Quorum Signaling of Bacteria Across Biofilms

Similar to how cells within human tissues communicate and function together as a whole, bacteria are also able to communicate with each other through chemical signals, a behavior known as quorum signaling (QS).

5 Apr 2023

Dengue Viruses Subvert Mosquito Biology to Tamp Down Human Immune Responses

The saliva of mosquitoes infected with dengue viruses contains a substance that thwarts the human immune system and makes it easier for people to become infected with these potentially deadly viruses, new research reveals.

5 Apr 2023

Designing a Lipid Nanoparticle to Safely Deliver mRNA to the Pancreas

Therapeutics that use mRNA-;like some of the COVID-19 vaccines-;have enormous potential for the prevention and treatment of many diseases.

4 Apr 2023

UConn Health scientists explain why Shigella bacteria can infect humans but not mice

Shigella bacteria can infect humans but not mice. In the March 29 issue of Nature, a team from UConn Health explains why. Their findings may explain the multifariousness of a key weapon of our immune system.

31 Mar 2023

COVID-19 vaccines boost the levels of T cells in immunocompromised hematology patients

Researchers found that, despite being heavily immunocompromised, hematology patients generate strong cellular immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination, on par with that of healthy individuals.

30 Mar 2023

Myeloid cells contribute to a long-lived HIV reservoir, study shows

A subset of white blood cells, known as myeloid cells, can harbor HIV in people who have been virally suppressed for years on antiretroviral therapy, according to findings from a small study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

28 Mar 2023

New compound may offer a way to prevent serious C. diff infections

Each year, about 500,000 people in the U.S. deal with gastrointestinal infections from Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), and more than 20,000 die from these infections.

27 Mar 2023

Common Epstein-Barr virus may be a trigger for multiple sclerosis

In 1868, French physician Jean-Martin Charcot, known as the founder of modern neurology, defined a disease entity in which multiple plaques formed in the brain and spinal cord, with varying physical symptoms, called Sclérose en plaques, or in English as multiple sclerosis (MS).

24 Mar 2023

Study describes why COVID-19 subvariants accelerated the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed nearly 7 million people worldwide (1.1 million in the United States) and severely harmed many millions more, though vaccines and antiviral treatments measurably reduced the potential loss of life and health.

23 Mar 2023

Novel tool analyzes how immune cells respond to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination

A study discovered that the magnitude and quality of a key immune cell’s response to two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were significantly lower in individuals with earlier SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to individuals without previous infection.

21 Mar 2023