https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us provides the latest news from NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have determined that dermatitis resulting from topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) is distinct from eczema and is caused by an excess of an essential chemical compound in the body. Scientists from NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) identified treatments that could be studied in clinical trials for the condition based on their potential to lower levels of the chemical compound—called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a form of vitamin B3. The findings were published today in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-topical-steroid-diagnostic-criteria.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 11:06:18 EDT news661169172 The antiviral drug tecovirimat used without other antivirals did not reduce the time to clinical resolution of clade II mpox lesions or improve pain control among adults in an international clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial enrollment was stopped in late 2024 when an interim analysis showed that tecovirimat monotherapy was ineffective in the study population. Detailed results were presented at the 2025 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-tecovirimat-safe-ineffective-treatment-clade.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 13:15:05 EDT news661004102 A clinical trial has found that the medication omalizumab, marketed as Xolair, treated multi-food allergy more effectively than oral immunotherapy (OIT) in people with allergic reactions to very small amounts of common food allergens. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-omalizumab-multi-food-allergy-oral.html Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:00:01 EST news659954222 Influenza A virus particles strategically adapt their shape—to become either spheres or larger filaments—to favor their ability to infect cells depending on environmental conditions, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists. This previously unrecognized response could help explain how influenza A and other viruses persist in populations, evade immune responses, and acquire adaptive mutations, the researchers explain in a new study published in Nature Microbiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-influenza-viruses-response-environmental-pressures.html Mon, 10 Feb 2025 14:29:03 EST news658420141 Eating gradually increasing doses of store-bought, home-measured peanut butter for about 18 months enabled 100% of children with peanut allergy who initially could tolerate the equivalent of at least half a peanut to consume three tablespoons of peanut butter without an allergic reaction, researchers report. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-therapy-peanut-allergic-kids-tolerate.html Mon, 10 Feb 2025 11:00:11 EST news658401087 As health care services begin offering doxycycline to prevent bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs), real-world evidence demonstrates that the postexposure strategy, called doxy PEP, is reducing the rate of syphilis and chlamydia, but has had little to no effect on gonorrhea and needs close monitoring for signals of antibiotic resistance. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-strategy-sexually-transmitted-infections-experts.html Tue, 07 Jan 2025 02:49:57 EST news655440582 A novel class of antibodies that binds to a previously untargeted portion of the malaria parasite could lead to new prevention methods, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published today in Science. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-class-anti-malaria-antibodies-generation.html Fri, 03 Jan 2025 10:32:04 EST news655122721 The antiviral drug tecovirimat did not reduce the time to lesion resolution or have an effect on pain among adults with mild to moderate clade II mpox and a low risk of developing severe disease, according to an interim data analysis from the international clinical trial called the "Study of Tecovirimat for Mpox (STOMP)." There were no safety concerns associated with tecovirimat. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-interim-analysis-tecovirimat-safe-mpox.html Wed, 11 Dec 2024 10:29:04 EST news653135341 A clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched to examine the safety and acceptability of a novel rectal HIV microbicide douche containing the antiretroviral drug tenofovir. This "on-demand" HIV prevention approach involves using the microbicide prior to a potential exposure from receptive anal intercourse. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-nih-trial-rectal-microbicide-hiv.html Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:21:27 EDT news649606883 A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial of an mpox vaccine in adolescents found it was safe and generated an antibody response equivalent to that seen in adults, according to a planned interim analysis of study data. Adolescents are among the population groups affected by mpox in the current Clade I mpox outbreak. The interim results of this trial were presented at the IDWeek2024 conference in Los Angeles. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-mpox-vaccine-safe-generates-robust.html Wed, 16 Oct 2024 12:44:34 EDT news648301470 Providing optional syphilis tests to most people seeking care at a large emergency department led to a dramatic increase in syphilis screening and diagnosis, according to a study of nearly 300,000 emergency department encounters in Chicago. Most people diagnosed had no symptoms, which suggests that symptom-based testing strategies alone could miss opportunities to diagnose and treat people with syphilis. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-emergency-department-screening-syphilis-cases.html Tue, 10 Sep 2024 16:19:26 EDT news645203961 Two trials of an experimental malaria vaccine in healthy Malian adults found that all three tested regimens were safe. The findings are published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-malaria-vaccine-candidate-trials.html Thu, 15 Aug 2024 09:27:04 EDT news642932822 Current or previous use of the antiretroviral drug (ARV) abacavir was associated with an elevated risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in people with HIV, according to an exploratory analysis from a large international clinical trial. There was no elevated MACE risk for the other antiretroviral drugs included in the analysis. The findings will be presented at the 2024 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024) in Munich, Germany. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-exploratory-analysis-associates-hiv-drug.html Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:30:02 EDT news640970836 A series of experiments with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) viruses circulating in infected U.S. dairy cattle found that viruses derived from lactating dairy cattle induced severe disease in mice and ferrets when administered via intranasal inoculation. The virus from the H5N1-infected cows bound to both avian (bird) and human-type cellular receptors, but, importantly, did not transmit efficiently among ferrets exposed via respiratory droplets. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-features-h5n1-influenza-viruses-dairy.html Mon, 08 Jul 2024 12:16:02 EDT news639659759 NIAID research has led to the availability of a new over-the-counter topical eczema probiotic. The probiotic is based on the discovery by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, that bacteria present on healthy skin called Roseomonas mucosa can safely relieve eczema symptoms in adults and children. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-discovery-probiotic-eczema.html Wed, 26 Jun 2024 14:06:49 EDT news638629605 A drug approved to treat certain autoimmune diseases and cancers successfully alleviated symptoms of a rare genetic syndrome called autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1). Researchers identified the treatment based on their discovery that the syndrome is linked to elevated levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), a protein involved in immune system responses, providing new insights into the role of IFN-gamma in autoimmunity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-drug-treatment-rare-genetic-disorder.html Thu, 30 May 2024 11:39:03 EDT news636287941 Using a combination of cutting-edge immunologic technologies, researchers have successfully stimulated animals' immune systems to induce rare precursor B cells of a class of HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs). The findings, published today in Nature Immunology, are an encouraging, incremental step in developing a preventive HIV vaccine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-vaccine-concept-generates-immune-responses.html Thu, 30 May 2024 11:22:03 EDT news636286921 A dose-sparing intradermal mpox vaccination regimen was safe and generated an antibody response equivalent to that induced by the standard regimen at six weeks (two weeks after the second dose), according to findings presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Global Congress in Barcelona. The results suggest that antibody responses contributed to the effectiveness of dose-sparing mpox vaccine regimens used during the 2022 U.S. outbreak. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-trial-dose-mpox-vaccine-safe.html Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:09:03 EDT news633614941 One injected dose of an experimental malaria monoclonal antibody was 77% effective against malaria disease in children in Mali during the country's six-month malaria season, according to the results of a mid-stage clinical trial. The trial assessed an investigational monoclonal antibody developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and results appear in The New England Journal of Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-experimental-malaria-monoclonal-antibody-malian.html Fri, 26 Apr 2024 11:00:01 EDT news633338941 Studies of interactions between two lab-generated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and an essential Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) protein have uncovered targets that could be exploited in designing treatments and vaccines for this extremely common virus. The research was led by Jeffrey I. Cohen, M.D., and colleagues from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Their study findings were published in the journal Immunity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-scientists-weak-epstein-barr-virus.html Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:52:37 EDT news629463155 A weekly injection of semaglutide was safe and reduced the amount of fat in the liver by 31% in people with HIV and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), according to a presentation today at the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver. This is the first clinical trial of semaglutide for MASLD in people with HIV. The research was conducted in the United States and Brazil by ACTG, a global clinical trials network focused on HIV and other infectious diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-semaglutide-severity-common-liver-disease.html Tue, 05 Mar 2024 16:09:04 EST news628877341 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified antibodies targeting a hard-to-spot region of the influenza virus, shedding light on the relatively unexplored "dark side" of the neuraminidase (NA) protein head. The antibodies target a region of the NA protein that is common among many influenza viruses, including H3N2 subtype viruses, and could be a new target for countermeasures. The research, led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Vaccine Research Center, part of NIH, was published today in Immunity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-antibodies-dark-side-influenza-virus.html Fri, 01 Mar 2024 12:41:35 EST news628519271 Today's Food and Drug Administration approval of a supplemental biologics license for the monoclonal antibody omalizumab (Xolair) highlights the vital role of the National Institutes of Health-supported research that underpins the FDA decision. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-trial-underpins-fda-omalizumab-food.html Fri, 16 Feb 2024 14:04:56 EST news627314694 Women who receive an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination or booster during pregnancy can provide their infants with solid protection against symptomatic COVID-19 infection for at least six months after birth, according to a study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-covid-vaccination-boosting-pregnancy-infants.html Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:11:03 EST news627142261 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health observed rapid and distinct immune system changes in a small study of people who switched to a vegan or a ketogenic (also called keto) diet. Scientists closely monitored various biological responses of people sequentially eating vegan and keto diets for two weeks, in random order. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-vegan-ketogenic-diet-rapidly-impacts.html Tue, 30 Jan 2024 13:35:09 EST news625844106 Scientists have unexpectedly discovered that the weakened form of the bacteria Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) not typically known to cause disease, has naturally acquired an ability to do so. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-safer-coxiella-burnetii-scientific.html Thu, 25 Jan 2024 12:27:17 EST news625408034 Pivotal studies of some biomedical HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention interventions have excluded cisgender women or demonstrated low efficacy among them, limiting their prevention options relative to other populations who experience high HIV and STI incidence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-12-biomedical-sti-evidence-inadequate-cisgender.html Thu, 21 Dec 2023 10:53:03 EST news622378381 New "hypervirulent" strains of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae have emerged in healthy people in community settings, prompting a National Institutes of Health research group to investigate how the human immune system defends against infection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-09-multidrug-resistant-bacterium-emerging-community.html Wed, 06 Sep 2023 16:41:09 EDT news613237265 Severe COVID-19 may cause long-lasting alterations to the innate immune system, the first line of defense against pathogens, according to a small study. These changes may help explain why the disease can damage so many different organs and why some people with long COVID have high levels of inflammation throughout the body. The findings were published online today in the journal Cell. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-severe-covid-long-term-innate-immune.html Fri, 18 Aug 2023 13:37:04 EDT news611584622 Receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine or booster during pregnancy can benefit pregnant people and their newborn infants, according to findings recently published in Vaccine. The paper describes results from the Multisite Observational Maternal and Infant Study for COVID-19 (MOMI-VAX). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-covid-vaccination-boosting-pregnancy-benefit.html Fri, 11 Aug 2023 12:39:38 EDT news610976374