Viruses act like ‘self-packing suitcases’

Researchers at the University of Leeds have identified a crucial stage in the lifecycle of simple viruses like polio and the common cold that could open a new front in the war on viral disease.

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New antibiotic cures disease by disarming pathogens, not killing them

 

A new type of antibiotic can effectively treat an antibiotic-resistant infection by disarming instead of killing the bacteria that cause it. Researchers report their findings in the October 2 issue of mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

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Viruses help MU scientists battle pathogenic bacteria and improve water supply

Infectious bacteria received a taste of their own medicine from University of Missouri researchers who used viruses to infect and kill colonies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, common disease-causing bacteria. The viruses, known as bacteriophages, could be used to efficiently sanitize water treatment facilities and may aid in the fight against deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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Bad strep throat? It’s probably not strep, most likely viral

 

When it is strep, penicillin is the antibiotic of choice, say IDSA Group A Streptococcal Throat Infection Guidelines

AT A GLANCE

• Most throat infections are not caused by Group A streptococcus, or “strep,” but by viruses, and therefore don’t need antibiotics, according to new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
• For confirmed strep infections, penicillin or amoxicillin are the antibiotic of choice, except for those who are allergic.
• Children who suffer from strep throat and have recurrent throat infections should not have their tonsils surgically removed for that reason alone.
• 15 million people see the doctor every year complaining of sore throat, but fewer than a third have strep throat.

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NIH scientists map first steps in flu antibody development

National Institutes of Health scientists have identified how a kind of immature immune cell responds to a part of influenza virus and have traced the path those cells take to generate antibodies that can neutralize a wide range of influenza virus strains. Study researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, were led by Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center. Their findings appear online in advance of print in Nature.

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In war with ‘superbugs,’ Cedars-Sinai researchers see new weapon: Immune-boosting vitamin

 

Cedars-Sinai researchers have found that a common vitamin may have the potential to provide a powerful weapon to fight certain “superbugs,” antibiotic-resistant staph infections that health experts see as a threat to public health.

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Compound discovered that boosts effect of vaccines against HIV and flu

 

Oxford University scientists have discovered a compound that greatly boosts the effect of vaccines against viruses like flu, HIV and herpes in mice.

An ‘adjuvant’ is a substance added to a vaccine to enhance the immune response and offer better protection against infection.

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Field guide to the Epstein-Barr virus charts viral paths toward cancer

Researchers from The Wistar Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have teamed to publish the first annotated atlas of the Epstein-Barr virus genome, creating the most comprehensive study of how the viral genome interacts with its human host during a latent infection. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is thought to be responsible for one percent of all human cancers, establishes a latent infection in nearly 100 percent of infected adult humans.

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New study maps hotspots of human-animal infectious diseases and emerging disease outbreaks

 

 

A new global study mapping human-animal diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and Rift Valley fever finds that an “unlucky” 13 zoonoses are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths per year. The vast majority occur in low- and middle-income countries.

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Discovery helps mice beat urinary tract infections

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found new clues to why some urinary tract infections recur persistently after multiple rounds of treatment.

Their research, conducted in mice, suggests that the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections take advantage of a cellular waste disposal system that normally helps fight invaders. In a counterintuitive finding, they learned that when the disposal system was disabled, the mice cleared urinary tract infections much more quickly and thoroughly.

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