November 18, 2009, 11:36 PM CT

Why hepatitis is harder on men?

Researchers in China are reporting discovery of unusual liver proteins, found only in males, that may help explain the long-standing mystery of why the hepatitis B virus (HBV) sexually discriminates -- hitting men harder than women. Their study has been published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication.

Shuhan Sun, Fang Wang and his colleagues note that chronic hepatitis B seems to progress and cause liver damage faster in men, with men the main victims of the virus's most serious complications -- cirrhosis and liver cancer. Men infected with HBV also are 6 times more likely than women to develop a chronic form of the disease. About 400 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis B, including a form that is highly infectious and can be transmitted through blood, saliva, and sexual contact.

In experiments with laboratory mice, the researchers found abnormal forms of apolipoprotein A-I (Apo A-I), a protein involved in fighting inflammation, in the livers of infected male mice but not infected females. They then identified abnormal forms of these Apo A-I proteins in blood of men infected with HBV, but not in women. In addition to explaining the gender differences, the proteins may provide important markers for tracking the progression of hepatitis B, the researchers suggest......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

November 17, 2009, 7:47 AM CT

What makes pandemic H1N1 tick?

As the number of deaths correlation to the pandemic H1N1 virus, usually known as "swine flu," continues to rise, scientists have been scrambling to decipher its inner workings and explain why the incidence is lower than expected in elderly adults.

In a study available online and appearing in a future issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher and his collaborators in California show that the molecular makeup of the current H1N1 flu strain is strikingly different from prior H1N1 strains as well as the normal seasonal flu, particularly in structural parts of the virus normally recognized by the immune system.

Previous research has shown that an individual's immune system is triggered to fight off pathogens such as influenza when specific components of the immune system - namely antibodies, B-cells and T cells - recognize parts of a virus known as epitopes. An individual's ability to recognize those epitopes - spurred by past infections or vaccinations - helps prevent future infections. The challenge is that these epitopes vary among flu strains.

"We hypothesize that older people are somewhat protected because the epitopes present in flu strains before 1957 appears to be similar to those found in the current H1N1 strain, or at least similar enough that the immune system of the previously infected person recognizes the pathogen and knows to attack," said Dr. Richard Scheuermann, professor of pathology and clinical sciences at UT Southwestern and a co-author of the paper. "Those born more recently have virtually no pre-existing immunity to this pandemic H1N1 strain because they have never been exposed to anything like it"......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

November 10, 2009, 8:48 AM CT

New direction for HIV vaccine research

A very close and detailed study of how the most robust antibodies work to block the HIV virus as it seeks entry into healthy cells has revealed a new direction for scientists hoping to design an effective vaccine.

"Our study clearly showed that we've been overlooking a very important component of antibody function," says S. Munir Alam, Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center and main author of the paper appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Alam, a member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and study senior author Bing Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston, studied two potentially powerful antibodies against HIV, 2F5 and 4E10. Both of these are rare, broadly neutralizing antibodies, meaning that they can block many different strains of the HIV virus. They accomplish that by binding to the "Achilles heel" of the virus the so-called outer coat membrane proximal region a part of the outer protein coating next to the viral membrane that opens up and is exposed to the antibodies for just a few minutes during the process of cell fusion and infection.

But the problem for infection control is that such powerful antibodies are rare in HIV infection, and current experimental vaccines have been unable to generate such antibodies. In addition, the window of opportunity for such antibodies to act is very narrow......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

November 9, 2009, 8:18 AM CT

Learning bacterial communications

Using imaging mass spectrometry, scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable researchers to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their study shows how bacteria talk to one another an understanding that may lead to new therapeutic discoveries for diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes and allergies.

In the paper reported in the November 8 issue of Nature Chemical Biology, Pieter C. Dorrestein, PhD, assistant professor at UC San Diego's Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and his colleagues describe an approach they developed to describe how bacteria interface with other bacteria in a laboratory setting. Dorrestein and post-doctoral students Yu-Liang Yang and Yuquan Xu, along with Paul Straight from Texas A&M University, utilized technology called natural product MALDI-TOF (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight) imaging mass spectrometry to uniquely translate the language of bacteria.

Microbial interactions, such as signaling, have generally been considered by researchers in terms of an individual, predominant chemical activity. However, a single bacterial species is capable of producing a number of bioactive compounds that can alter neighboring organisms. The approach developed by the UCSD research team enabled them to observe the effects of multiple microbial signals in an interspecies interaction, revealing that chemical "conversations" between bacteria involve a number of signals that function simultaneously......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

November 6, 2009, 8:56 AM CT

New Synthetic Molecules Trigger Immune Response

Scientists at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body's immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their findings, published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could lead to novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases.

The molecules - called "antibody-recruiting molecule targeting HIV" (ARM-H) and "antibody-recruiting molecule targeting prostate cancer" (ARM-P) - work by binding simultaneously to an antibody already present in the bloodstream and to proteins on HIV, HIV-infected cells or cancer cells. By coating these pathogens in antibodies, the molecules flag them as a threat and trigger the body's own immune response. In the case of ARM-H, by binding to proteins on the outside of the virus, they also prevent healthy human cells from being infected.

"Instead of trying to kill the pathogens directly, these molecules manipulate our immune system to do something it wouldn't ordinarily do," said David Spiegel, Ph.D., M.D., assistant professor of chemistry and the corresponding author of both papers.

Because both HIV and cancer have methods for evading the body's immune system, therapys and vaccinations for the two diseases have proven difficult. Current therapy options for HIV and prostate cancer - including antiviral drugs, radiation and chemotherapy - involve severe side effects and are often ineffective against advanced cases. While there are some antibody drugs available, they are difficult to produce in large quantities and are costly. They also must be injected and are accompanied by severe side effects of their own......... Posted by: Scott      Read more         Source

November 6, 2009, 8:54 AM CT

Air pollution and infants' bronchiolitis

Infants who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are at increased risk for bronchiolitis, as per a newly released study.

The study appears in the November 15 issue of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

"There has been very little study of the consequences of early life exposure to air pollution," said Catherine Karr, M.D. PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and the paper's main author. "This study is unique in that we were able to look at multiple sources including wood smoke in a region with relatively low concentrations of ambient air pollution overall".

The scientists analyzed nearly 12,000 diagnoses of infant bronchiolitis between 1999 and 2002 in southwestern British Columbia, with respect to the individual's ambient pollution exposure based on monitored levels of nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter from monitoring stations within 10 km of the infants' homes. They also used land-use regression maps to assess concentrations of ambient pollution with respect to traffic and wood smoke. They analyzed pollution exposure by dividing subjects into four categories, or quartiles, of concentration......... Posted by: Janet      Read more         Source

November 4, 2009, 8:11 AM CT

Enjoying the bounty of colorful fruits and vegetable

Hoping to keep the flu at bay? A strong immune system helps. Enjoying the bounty of colorful fruits and vegetables available right now can be an important step toward supporting your family's immune system this cold/flu season.

In addition to vitamins, minerals and fiber, fruits and vegetables contain phytonutrients, believed to come from the com-pounds that give these foods their vibrant colors. These phytonutrients provide a wide range of health benefits, includ-ing supporting a healthy immune system.

A newly released study, America's Phytonutrient Report, found eight in 10 Americans are missing out on the health benefits of a diet rich in colorful fruits and veggies, resulting in a phytonutrient gap. The report looked at fruit and vegetable consumption in five color categories, specifically green, red, white, blue/purple and yellow/orange, and the phytonutrients found in each color category.

Eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables is one way to help keep you and your family healthy. Foods in the red category are particularly helpful to our immune systems, in addition to supporting heart health. Tomatoes, pomegranate, red cabbage, cranberries, even pink grapefruit provide the phytonutrients lycopene and ellagic acid.

The health benefits of foods in the yellow/orange category support a health immune function tooalong with vision and heart health. And they help maintain skin hydrationimportant as we head into these cold, dry months. These foods pro-vide beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, quercetin and other phytonutrients that can be converted into Vitamin A. Deli-cious and nutritious yellow/orange fruits and vegetables available now include: carrots, squash, sweet potatoes and pi-neapple......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

November 2, 2009, 11:35 PM CT

Flu vaccine to women during pregnancy

Infants born to women who received influenza vaccine during pregnancy were hospitalized at a lower rate than infants born to unvaccinated mothers, as per preliminary results of a research study that's ongoing by scientists at Yale School of Medicine. The team presented the study October 29 at the 47th annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Philadelphia.

Influenza is a major cause of serious respiratory disease in pregnant women and of hospitalization in infants. Eventhough the flu vaccine is recommended for all pregnant women and children, no vaccine is approved for infants less than six months of age. Preventive strategies for this age group include general infection control and vaccination of those coming in close contact with them. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of the flu vaccine during pregnancy.

Led by Marietta Vzquez, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, this newly released study is a case-control trial of the effectiveness of vaccinating pregnant women to prevent hospitalization of their infants. During nine flu seasons from 2000 to 2009, Vzquez and his colleagues identified and tracked over 350 mothers and infants from 0 to 12 months of age who were hospitalized at Yale-New Haven Hospital. They compared 157 infants hospitalized due to influenza to 230 influenza-negative infants matched by age and date of hospitalization. The team interviewed parents to determine risk factors for influenza and evaluated medical records of both infants and their mothers to determine rates of vaccination with the influenza vaccine......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source

November 2, 2009, 8:52 AM CT

Hepatitis B does not increase pancreatic cancer risk

A Henry Ford Hospital study observed that hepatitis B does not increase the risk for pancreas cancer and that only age is a contributing factor.

The results contradict a prior study in 2008 that suggested a link between pancreas cancer and prior hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis B is an inflammation of the liver caused by a viral infection.

Study results will be presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases' Annual Meeting in Boston.

Using data from Henry Ford Health System, physicians looked at more than 74,000 patients who were tested for hepatitis B between 1995 and 2008. In the overall analysis, only age was found to be a significant predictor for pancreas cancer.

"We looked at the occurence rate of pancreas cancer among hepatitis B-infected patients over a 13-year period and observed that we could not confirm a higher risk for those with a prior exposure to hepatitis B, as a previous study suggested," says Jeffrey Tang, M.D., gastroenterologist at Henry Ford Hospital and main author of the study.

"When other factors are considered such as age, race, sex, HIV status, and the presence of diabetes only older age and presence of diabetes proved significant, whereas previous exposure to hepatitis B was no longer an important variable"......... Posted by: Sue      Read more         Source

October 29, 2009, 10:39 PM CT

Antioxidants against the flu virus

As the nation copes with a shortage of vaccines for H1N1 influenza, a team of Alabama scientists have raised hopes that they have found an Achilles' heel for all strains of the fluantioxidants. In an article appearing in the November 2009 print issue of the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) they show that antioxidantsthe same substances found in plant-based foodsmight hold the key in preventing the flu virus from wreaking havoc on our lungs.

"The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza and the rapid spread of this strain across the world highlights the need to better understand how this virus damages the lungs and to find new therapys," said Sadis Matalon, co-author of the study. "Additionally, our research shows that antioxidants may prove beneficial in the therapy of flu".

Matalon and his colleagues showed that the flu virus damages our lungs through its "M2 protein," which attacks the cells that line the inner surfaces of our lungs (epithelial cells). Specifically, the M2 protein disrupts lung epithelial cells' ability to remove liquid from inside of our lungs, setting the stage for pneumonia and other lung problems. The scientists made this discovery by conducting three sets of experiments using the M2 protein and the lung protein they damage. First, frog eggs were injected with the lung protein alone to measure its function. Second, scientists injected frog eggs with both the M2 protein and the lung protein and observed that the function of the lung protein was significantly decreased. Using molecular biology techniques, researchers isolated the segment of the M2 protein responsible for the damage to the lung protein. Then they demonstrated that without this segment, the protein was unable to cause damage. Third, the full M2 protein (with the "offending" segment intact) and the lung protein were then re-injected into the frog eggs along with drugs known to remove oxidants. This too prevented the M2 protein from causing damage to the lung protein. These experiments were repeated using cells from human lungs with exactly the same results......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 29, 2009, 10:05 PM CT

Learn from past flu season

Pregnant women who catch the flu are at serious risk for flu-related complications, including death, and that risk far outweighs the risk of possible side effects from injectable vaccines containing killed virus, as per an extensive review of published research and data from prior flu seasons.

The review, a collaboration among researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Emory University and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and published online Oct. 22 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, found substantial and persistent evidence of high complication risk among pregnant women -- both healthy ones and those with underlying medical conditions -- infected with the flu virus, while confirming vaccine safety. The findings, scientists say, solidify existing CDC recommendations that make pregnant women the highest-priority group to receive both the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines.

"The lessons learned from flu outbreaks in the distant and not-too-distant past are clear and so are the messages," says lead investigator Pranita Tamma, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "If you are an expectant mother, get vaccinated. If you are a doctor caring for pregnant women, urge your patients to get vaccinated"......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 21, 2009, 11:32 PM CT

Psychological trauma in HIV patients

The feeling of stigmatization that people living with HIV often experience doesn't only exact a psychological toll new UCLA research suggests it can also lead to quantifiably negative health outcomes.

As per a research findings reported in the recent issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, scientists from the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA observed that a large number of HIV-positive individuals who reported feeling stigmatized also reported poor access to care or suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART).

In fact, individuals who experienced high levels of internalized stigma were four times as likely as those who didn't to report poor access to medical care; they were three times as likely to report suboptimal adherence to HIV medications.

These findings were due, at least in part, to the poor mental health found among a number of of the participants. Scientists observed that HIV stigma was one of the strongest predictors of poor access to medical care and that both HIV stigma and poor mental health predicted suboptimal adherence to medication. Adherence to HIV medications is already known to lead to better health outcomes, including survival, among people living with HIV......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 20, 2009, 8:32 AM CT

Major swine flu outbreak at US Air Force Academy

With the 2009 influenza season upon us, characterization of the epidemiology and duration of shedding for the nH1N1 virus is critical. Investigators from the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine Epidemiology Consult Service capitalized on a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights about the natural behavior of the nH1N1 virus, including shedding patterns, during a recent large-scale swine flu outbreak at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA). Their results are reported in an article published online on October 20, 2009 by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine It is the first published study of its kind.

Findings from serial nasal washes indicated the presence of viable virus shedding among about one quarter of confirmed nH1N1 patients sampled on Day 7 from symptom onset. Further, being afebrile and asymptomatic did not guarantee the patient was no longer shedding viable nH1N1 virus; in fact, 19% of those who reported being symptom-free for greater than 24 hours were still found to have viable virus shedding. While viable virus shedding does not necessarily mean the virus can be transmitted, these findings do indicate that the virus may persist even after the individual is feeling well and has returned to work. Furthermore, the results of this study may assist development of appropriate protocols for isolation in high-risk settings or if the scale and/or severity of the current nH1N1 situation increases. The current study also provides groundwork to other researchers for further study of the shedding characteristics of the virus......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 15, 2009, 5:39 PM CT

Girls aware of HPV vaccine's benefits

Contrary to concerns that the human papillomavirus vaccine might promote promiscuity, a national survey of girls and young women observed that the majority of respondents did not believe the HPV vaccine protected them against other sexually transmitted infections.

The study, conducted by University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Chicago researchers, appears online and in the recent issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health

The findings are reassuring in that girls and young women did not believe that the vaccine provided benefits beyond protecting them from HPV, said Dr. Rachel Caskey, assistant professor of pediatrics and general internal medicine at UIC and main author of the study. "We also observed that they did not believe that they could stop cervical cancer screening, or pap smears, which is critical".

Scientists used a national sample, representative of the U.S. population, to conduct an online survey of more than 1,000 females ages 13 to 26.

The data provide some of the first nationally representative estimates of both adolescents' and young women's adoption of the HPV vaccine, barriers to vaccination, and sources of information about HPV and the HPV vaccine, as per the researchers.

Knowledge about the HPV virus itself ran the gamut, said Caskey. Some people knew absolutely nothing and a few people were moderately informed. Knowledge about the HPV vaccine, however, was better......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 15, 2009, 5:31 PM CT

Misuse of antibiotics not the only cause of resistance

The perception that antibiotic resistance is primarily the undesirable consequence of antibiotic abuse or misuse is a view that is simplistic and inaccurate, as per a recent report by the American Academy of Microbiology. The reasons behind the spread of resistance are much more complex, including appropriate antibiotic use, lack of proper sanitation and hygiene, and even the environment.

The report, "Antibiotic Resistance: An Ecological Perspective on an Old Problem," is based on a colloquium convened by the Academy in October 2008. It states that resistance development is founded in the inevitability of microbial evolution. There are no scapegoats, and responsibility is partly due to medical practice, including patient demand, industrial practices, politics, and antibiotics themselves.

"Antibiotic resistance is an international pandemic that compromises the therapy of all infectious diseases. At the present time, resistance essentially is uncontrollable. The reasons behind the establishment and spread of resistance are complex, mostly multi-factorial, and mostly unknown. The colloquium consensus was that efforts must target both the bacterial transmission and antimicrobial use," states colloquium co-chair, Jacques F. Acar, M.D. More research bridging medical, chemical, and environmental disciplines is needed now as per the Academy report......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 15, 2009, 5:30 PM CT

Paradigm shift needed to combat drug resistance

When people travel, bacteria and other infectious agents travel with them. As about a billion people cross international borders each year, a number of more billions of the bugs come along for the ride.

However, the trend is contributing to substantial domestic and international public health threats and risks, as seen with SARS and more recently with the H1N1 flu virus.

In a paper published recently in Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID), a journal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a McMaster University infectious disease expert explores the relationship between population mobility, globalization and antimicrobial drug resistance.

In collaboration with a team of international scientists, Douglas MacPherson, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, assesses the link between human travel and the international movement of drug-resistant infectious diseases around the world.

Citing published data, the authors conclude that population mobility affects the spread and distribution of resistant organisms. But despite this, it has not been considered a primary factor in developing approaches for disease control. The authors propose a paradigm shift is needed to tackle the problem, as well as greater international collaboration and standardization across borders......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 15, 2009, 5:19 PM CT

Treating HIV-AIDS patients with interleukin-2 is Ineffective

An international research team has demonstrated that treating HIV-AIDS with interleukin-2 (IL-2) is ineffective. As a result, the scientists recommend that clinical trials on this compound be stopped. Their finding was reported in the New England Journal (NEJM) in an article co-authored by 14 researchers, including Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC).

IL-2 is currently used as a complement to highly active antiretroviral treatment (known as HAART), which is administered to patients with HIV-AIDS. Since HAART controls replication of viruses in the blood, doctors thought that IL-2 would help regenerate more CD4+ immune cells, which serve as an indicator of viral progression. It was thought that IL-2 increased the natural immunity of patients by helping immune cells mature and multiply.

"Our results show that IL-2 has no effect on the development of AIDS or on patient survival," says Dr. Routy. "More precisely, while the presence of IL-2 leads to a faster increase of CD4+ immune cells, these cells are less functional than the CD4+ cells that regenerate naturally in patients who do not receive IL-2. This means that IL-2 therapy provides no benefit and does not prevent AIDS-related infectious diseases"......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 6, 2009, 7:09 AM CT

Why HIV is more prevalent in African Americans?

HIV prevalence among African Americans is ten times greater than the prevalence among whites. This racial disparity in HIV prevalence haccording tosisted in the face of both governmental and private actions, involving a number of billions of dollars, to combat HIV. In the November 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examine factors responsible for the stark racial disparities in HIV infection in the U.S. and the now concentrated epidemic among African Americans.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 45% of new HIV infections in the U.S. in 2006 occurred among non-Hispanic blacks. Among the 13,184 adolescents and young adults in The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative study, HIV seroprevalence was almost 0.5% among blacks 20 times that of whites.

While individual-level sexual behaviors can contribute to the disparity in HIV prevalence, these observed differences in individual behaviors do not fully explain the marked racial differences in HIV infection prevalence. Even when comparisons are stratified by education, poverty index, marital status, age at first sexual intercourse, lifetime number of sex partners, history of male homosexual activity, illicit drug use, injection drug use, and HSV-2 antibody positivity, HIV prevalence among African Americans exceeds that of whites, typically substantially......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

September 30, 2009, 6:42 AM CT

HIV-AIDS in American prison system

HIV/Aids is up to five times more prevalent in American prisons than in the general population. Adherence to therapy programs can be strictly monitored in prison. However, once prisoners are released, medical monitoring becomes problematic. A newly released study by Dr. Nitika Pant Pai an Assistant professor of Medicine and a medical scientist at the Research Institute of the MUHC suggests the majority (76%) of inmates take their antiretroviral therapy (ART) intermittently once they leave prison, representing a higher risk to the general population.

"Over a period of 9 years, we studied 512 HIV positive repeat offender inmates from the San Francisco County jail system," says Dr. Pant Pai. "Our results show that only 15% continuously took their ART between incarcerations or after their release." As per the study, reported in the journal PLoS one, these figures highlight a lack of effectiveness on the part of medical monitoring services for these people outside prison.

"Taking ART intermittently is a problem because it depletes the CD4 count - the immunizing cells that fight infection and increases the probability of developing resistance to the virus," says Dr. Pant Pai. "The risk for rapid disease progression becomes higher and presents a risk for public health transmission of HIV to their partners." As per the study those on intermittent treatment were 1.5 times more likely to have higher virus load than those on continuous treatment; those who never received treatment were 3 times more likely to have a higher VL......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

September 29, 2009, 10:43 PM CT

Explaining HIV spread in Central and East Africa

Researchers studying biology and geography may seem worlds apart, but together they have answered a question that has defied explanation about the spread of the HIV-1 epidemic in Africa.

Writing in the recent issue of AIDS, a research team led by researchers at the University of Florida explained why two subtypes of HIV-1 the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS held steady at relatively low levels for more than 50 years in west central Africa before erupting as an epidemic in east Africa in the 1970s.

Essentially, the explanation for the HIV explosion obscured until now involves the relative ease with which people can travel from city to city in east Africa as opposed to the difficulties faced by people living in the population centers of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the point where HIV emerged from west central Africa in its spread to the east.

Later, as the epidemic raged in the east, cities in the Democratic Republic of Congo a vast country almost as big as all of Western Europe remained disconnected and isolated, explaining why the virus affected only about 5 percent of the country's population, a level that has not changed much since the 1950s.

"We live in a world that is more interconnected every day, and we have all seen how pathogens such as HIV or the swine flu virus can arise in a remote area of the planet and quickly become a global threat," said Marco Salemi, an assistant professor of pathology, immunology, and laboratory medicine at the UF College of Medicine and senior author of the study. "Understanding the factors that can lead to a full-scale pandemic is essential to protect our species from emerging dangers"......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

September 29, 2009, 8:03 AM CT

More effective mode of delivery for measles vaccine

Worldwide, there are estimated to be 10 million cases of measles and 197,000 deaths from the disease each year. While vaccines exist to protect children against measles, the vaccines are often difficult to store, costly to transport and appears to be prone to contamination when shipped to developing countries. Research to be presented at the 2009 American Association of Pharmaceutical Researchers (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition will reveal new methods for delivering measles vaccines that could potentially reduce costs and improve safety.

"Vaccination has become controversial in some international communities which believe vaccines might be hazardous," said Robert Sievers, Ph.D., from the University of Colorado and one of the study's principal investigators. "However, in a number of parts of the world, the disease itself is a serious hazard, killing hundreds of thousands of children each year." .

While a liquid vaccine using a hypodermic needle is presently the only way to prevent the disease, Dr. Sievers' study shows promise for a new method that allows the patient to inhale a finely-powdered. In order to produce the inhalant, the weakened measles virus must be mixed with high-pressure carbon dioxide to produce microscopic bubbles and droplets, which are then gently dried to produce an inhalable powder. The powder is then puffed into a small inhaler-like device and administered. The aerosol vaccine was shown effective in test animals, and human trials are expected to begin next year in India, where more than half of the world's measles cases occur......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source