"Trojan Horse" Strategy Uses Bispecific Antibodies to Block Ebola from Invading Cells
September 20th 2016In a collaborative effort, researchers have discovered what they refer to as a “Trojan Horse” strategy that uses two developed bispecific antibodies that have proved active against all five strains of the ebolavirus.
Canadian Health Agency Releases 2016 Report on Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria
September 19th 2016When the colistin-resistant gene, mcr-1, was first found in China in 2015, health officials around the world knew that the gene would inevitably appear in their countries. It has since been detected in other parts of Asia, Europe, and North America, including Canada, which just released a 2016 report from their Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System.
Federal Competition Seeks New Technology to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
September 19th 2016To find the next great innovation to fight the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, the National Institutes of Health has announced the launch of a new federal prize competition dubbed the Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostic Challenge.
Zika Virus Impacting More Than Public Health
September 19th 2016The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may revisit its travel guidance on south Florida as soon as early next week, if there are no new cases involving local transmission of the Zika virus in the region; however, local businesses continue to be impacted.
CabA May Hold Key to Reducing Food-borne Illnesses Caused by Vibrio vulnificus
September 18th 2016By targeting CabA, an extracellular matrix protein essential for biofilm formation, it may be possible to reduce the incidence of food-borne illnesses caused by the potentially lethal Vibrio vulnificus marine bacterium found in biofilms on oyster shells and meat.
America's Leading Physicians Urge Congress to Pass Zika Legislation
September 17th 2016Using the mainstream media as the medium for their message, some of the nation’s leading physicians urged Congress to pass a “clean, bipartisan funding measure” to fight the spread of Zika, both in the United States and abroad, and to “protect pregnant women” from the complications associated with the virus.
Michigan Varicella Outbreak Associated with Riding a School Bus
September 16th 2016A varicella outbreak that had occurred last year in Michigan is thought to be associated with riding on a school bus, which makes small, enclosed spaces, such as a school bus, a risk factor for both transmitting and acquiring airborne diseases.
Mycophenolic Acid Treatment May Be Useful to Treat Rotavirus Infection in Transplant Patients
September 16th 2016Based on 2D and 3D in vitro models, treatment with mycophenolic acid confers very high levels of drug resistant rotavirus viral replication suppression and may therefore be a useful immunosuppressive agent for preventing rotavirus infection in transplantation patients.
Walgreens & HHS Provide Uninsured Americans with $10 Million Worth of Free Flu Shot Vouchers
September 15th 2016Walgreens has partnered up again with the US Department of Health in an effort to improve rates of flu vaccination by providing over $10 million in free flu shot vouchers for Americans who are uninsured.
Was the Zika Outbreak a Product of Climate Change?
September 14th 2016Zika’s history as a “tropical” disease plays into the theory that global warming has played a role in the presence of virus-carrying Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes, and thus the disease itself, in heretofore “temperate” climates such as the southeastern United States.
E. coli with Antibiotic-resistant mcr-1 Gene Found in Connecticut Child
September 13th 2016The CDC recently announced that their investigators have identified a strain of Escherichia coli with the colistin-resistance gene mcr-1 in a Connecticut child, in what is now the fourth patient in the United States to test positive for an isolate with mcr-1.
FDA Grants QIDP Designation to MGB-BP-3 to Treat Clostridium difficile-associated Diarrhea
September 12th 2016The FDA has granted biopharmaceutical company, MGB Biopharma’s lead candidate, MGB-BP-3, Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated Diarrhea.
Social Connectivity Can Impact Dynamics of Disease Transmission
September 12th 2016A new study has shown that infected wild house mice will disengage from their social groups, resulting in a decreased potential for disease transmission; these findings can be applied to improve models used to predict transmission of infectious diseases spread by social contact, such as Ebola and influenza.