http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases A new approach for immunizing against influenza elicited a more potent immune response and broader protection than the currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines when tested in mice and ferrets. The vaccine concept, which was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), represents an important step forward in the quest to develop a universal influenza vaccine—one that would protect against most or all influenza strains without the need for an annual vaccination. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-approach-influenza-vaccination-early-animal.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 22 May 2013 15:38:42 EST news288455916 A team of NIH scientists has developed a new tool to identify broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) capable of preventing infection by the majority of HIV strains found around the globe, an advance that could help speed HIV vaccine research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-tool-powerful-hiv-antibodies.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 09 May 2013 14:00:15 EST news287314999 NIH-supported scientists used lab-grown human lung cells to study the cells' response to infection by a novel human coronavirus (called nCoV) and compiled information about which genes are significantly disrupted in early and late stages of infection. The information about host response to nCoV allowed the researchers to predict drugs that might be used to inhibit either the virus itself or the deleterious responses that host cells make in reaction to infection. Since nCoV was recognized in 2012, 17 confirmed cases and 11 deaths have been reported—a high fatality rate that is spurring urgent research efforts to better understand the virus and its effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cell-response-coronavirus-unveils-paths.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:33:04 EST news286547577 An atomic-level snapshot of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protein bound to a human antibody represents a leap toward developing a vaccine for a common—and sometimes very serious—childhood disease. The findings, by scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, define the vulnerable shape of a critical RSV component called the fusion glycoprotein. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-clues-vaccine-infant-respiratory-illness.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:00:18 EST news286116578 National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists studying an emerging coronavirus have found that a combination of two licensed antiviral drugs, ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b, can stop the virus from replicating in laboratory-grown cells. These results suggest that the drug combination could be used to treat patients infected with the new coronavirus, but more research is needed to confirm this preliminary finding. The study appears in the April 18, 2013, issue of Scientific Reports. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-treatment-coronavirus-early-lab.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Apr 2013 05:00:02 EST news285437011 A new and deadly virus that has killed 11 of the 17 patients treated for it in the Middle East and Britain appears to cause an infection deep in the lungs, researchers said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-scientists-monkey-coronavirus-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:00:10 EST news284226711 Researchers have launched an early-stage human clinical trial of two related candidate vaccines to prevent infection with Shigella, bacteria that are a significant cause of diarrheal illness, particularly among children. The Phase I clinical trial, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, will evaluate the vaccines for safety and their ability to induce immune responses among 90 healthy adults ages 18 to 45 years. The trial is being conducted at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, one of the eight NIAID-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units in the United States. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-trial-shigella-vaccine-candidates.html Medications Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:20:41 EST news280588830 National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have identified a promising lead for developing a new type of drug to treat infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that frequently resists traditional antibiotics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-block-staphylococcus-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:00:12 EST news279716613 A candidate dengue vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been found to be safe and to stimulate a strong immune response in most vaccine recipients, according to results from an early-stage clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. The trial results were published online on January 17 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-candidate-dengue-vaccine-early-stage-trial.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:24:54 EST news278155482 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have found that an experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect nonhuman primates from Ebola virus infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-role-antibodies-ebola-vaccine.html Medical research Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:08:41 EST news277402096 In a new essay, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and David Morens, M.D., reflect on what has been learned about emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in the two decades since a major report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine rekindled interest in this important topic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-nih-scientists-gains-emerging-infectious.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:06:38 EST news274453589 When tested in patients hospitalized with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) unresponsive to previous treatment, linezolid, an antibiotic used to treat severe bacterial infections, proved largely effective when added to the patients' ongoing TB treatment regimen. Also, few patients developed resistance to the drug. These promising findings were tempered, however, by the fact that 82 percent of the patients who received linezolid experienced significant adverse events that may have been related to the drug. Findings from the study appear in the October 18th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-antibiotic-extensively-drug-resistant-tuberculosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Oct 2012 09:59:45 EST news269773167 Researchers plan to see if a higher dose of a pneumococcal vaccine will create a stronger immune response in older adults who received an earlier generation vaccine against pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-pneumococcal-vaccine-older-adults.html Medications Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:03:22 EST news269521385 A new study has found that even though HIV diversifies widely within infected individuals over time, the virus strains that ultimately are passed on through heterosexual transmission often resemble the strain of virus that originally infected the transmitting partner. Learning the characteristics of these preferentially transmitted HIV strains may help advance HIV prevention efforts, particularly with regard to an HIV vaccine, according to the scientists who conducted the study. The research was led by Andrew D. Redd, Ph.D., staff scientist, and Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., senior investigator, both in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-heterosexuals-transmitted-hiv-strains-resemble.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:27:49 EST news267359257 Several large clinical trials have demonstrated that a daily oral dose of one or two antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection can prevent infection in an approach known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. The level of protection, however, depends on taking the drugs regularly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-nih-funded-analysis-effective-prep-dosing.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 13 Sep 2012 10:28:18 EST news266750886