Test approved to help treat common infection in transplant patients
(HealthDay) -- The first DNA test to help doctors treat a common viral infection in people who have had a solid organ transplant has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common viral infection, especially in people who have had their immune systems deliberately suppressed after an organ transplant. Among those who have had transplants of organs such as the heart, lung, pancreas or kidney, the virus can lead to diseases such as pneumonia or colitis, the FDA said in a news release.
Doctors commonly suppress the immune system to help prevent rejection of the transplanted organ, and may have to prescribe an anti-CMV therapy. Depending on a patient's increase or decrease in viral load as determined by the new test, doctors can measure a therapy's effectiveness.
The COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan CMV Test was evaluated in clinical studies involving 211 kidney transplant patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of CMV infection. The test was not evaluated in newborns, children, people with AIDS or those whose immune systems were compromised by something else, the FDA said.
The new test is manufactured by Roche Molecular Systems, based in Somerville, N.J.
More information: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more about solid organ transplant.
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
-
Risk of cytomegalovirus infection following lung transplant now more measurable
Jun 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Kidney-transplant patients who add 100 days of medicine gain more protection
Sep 08, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Longer Antiviral Treatment Prevents Lung Transplant Complications
Jun 15, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
It pays to be careful post-kidney transplant
Sep 18, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
NIST standard available for better diagnosis, treatment of cytomegalovirus
Jan 11, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Why is zone 1 in liver more prone to ischemic injury?
May 23, 2013
-
How can there be villous adenoma in colon, if there are no villi there
May 22, 2013
-
How can there be a term called "intestinal metaplasia" of stomach
May 21, 2013
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Feds fight morning-after pill age ruling in NY
(AP)—Department of Justice lawyers have again asked a federal appeals court in New York to delay lifting age restrictions and prescription requirements on an emergency contraceptive popularly known as the morning-after ...
Medications
12 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Merck ends development of Parkinson's disease drug
(AP)—Merck & Co. says it is ending development of an experimental Parkinson's disease drug because the drug wasn't working.
Medications
May 23, 2013 |
1 / 5 (1) |
0
J&J expects 10-plus new drug applications by 2017
(AP)—Johnson & Johnson is developing what could eventually be game-changing treatments for depression and pain, and it's aiming to apply for approval of more than 10 new medicines by 2017, executives said Thursday during ...
Medications
May 23, 2013 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Experts favor US approval of Merck sleeping pill (Update)
An independent panel of experts on Wednesday recommended US approval of a new Merck sleeping pill called suvorexant, but expressed concerns over the highest dosage and risks of drowsy daytime driving.
Medications
May 22, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Glaxo, US partnering to develop new antibiotics
GlaxoSmithKline PLC says it's starting an unusual collaboration with the U.S. government to develop several antibiotics for both bioterrorism threats and bacterial infections resistant to current medicines.
Medications
May 22, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
First drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade
Coenzyme Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half, according to the results of a multicentre randomised double blind trial presented today at Heart Failure 2013 congress. It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality ...
Seniors more likely to crash when driving with pet, study finds
(HealthDay)—Animals make great companions for senior citizens, but elderly people who always drive with a pet in the car are far more likely to crash than those who never drive with a pet, researchers have ...
Heart failure accelerates male 'menopause'
Heart failure accelerates the aging process and brings on early andropausal syndrome (AS), according to research presented today at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. AS, also referred to as male 'menopause', was four times ...
Death highest in heart failure patients admitted in January, on Friday, and overnight
Mortality and length of stay are highest in heart failure patients admitted in January, on Friday, and overnight, according to research presented today at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. The analysis of nearly 1 million ...
New immune system discovered
(Medical Xpress)—A research team, led by Jeremy Barr, a biology post-doctoral fellow, unveils a new immune system that protects humans and animals from infection.
Brain can be trained in compassion, study shows
Until now, little was scientifically known about the human potential to cultivate compassion—the emotional state of caring for people who are suffering in a way that motivates altruistic behavior.
