Infants born to HIV-positive mothers had high rates of congenital cytomegalovirus or CMV. Infants who were also infected before birth by the virus that causes AIDS were especially prone to CMV infection.
In the fight against drug-resistant bacteria, MIT researchers have enlisted the help of beneficial bacterium known as probiotics. In a new study, the researchers showed that by delivering a combination of antibiotic drugs and probiotics, they could eradicate two strains of drug-resistant bacteria that often infect wounds. To achieve this, they encapsulated the probiotic bacterium in a protective shell of alginate, a biocompatible material that prevents the probiotic from being killed by the antibiotic.
The research was conducted by Kazan Federal University, Kazan State Medical University, City Clinical Children's Hospital No. 1, and Republican Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital. K. pneumoniae is known to cause a number of infectious diseases of lungs, kidneys, intestines, liver, and blood. It has become widely known in recent years because of the rapidly growing drug resistance supported by the production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs).
In an advance that could help scientists develop and test new drugs for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), engineers have developed the first 3-D human tissue model of the interface between motor neurons and muscle fibers, known as the neuromuscular junction. The study is published in the issue of Science Advances
A team of researchers has now engineered a virus nanoparticle vaccine against Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis, tier 1 agents that pose serious threats to national security of the United States. B. anthracis and Y. pestis are the pathogens that cause anthrax and plague, respectively. The study is published in mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Scotland has confirmed its first case of Mad Cow disease or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) since 2018 on a cattle farm. The case was confirmed after a cow died. The numbers show that there have been a total of 16 cases in the United Kingdom over the past seven years.
BSE wrecked havoc among cattle in the 1980s and 1990s when it affected and killed thousands of cows. A further 4.4 million cattle were slaughtered to avoid the spread of the disease. The disease was first identified in 1995. The last recorded case in Wales was seen in 2015.
Young cancer patients at the crossroads of childhood and adulthood seem to be stuck in a treatment impasse. A study to be presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich, you have highlighted the existence of barriers to the inclusion of 12 to 25-year-olds in both adult and early childhood clinical trials, suggesting a need for more tailored approaches to give this patient population better access to therapeutic innovation.
A new triple-combination drug treatment being trialed at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane could increase the life expectancy of patients with cystic fibrosis. Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland (MRI-UQ) researcher Dr. Lucy Burr said these patients were enrolled in Phase 2 of the clinical trial, which aimed at treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis.
According to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), cases of dangerous and rare Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) are being noted across the United States. This disease manifests similar to flaccid paralysis caused by poliovirus say the experts. There is no treatment for this condition that primarily affects children and leads to paralysis of the limbs.
A statistical method could fill the gaps in the US cancer registry data to estimate the short- and long-term risk of recurrence of hormone receptor (HR) -positive and HR-negative breast cancers.
The study found that while women diagnosed with HR-positive breast cancer have lower risk of progression to metastatic disease soon after the diagnosis, their risk persists for several years. In contrast, for women diagnosed with HR-negative disease, the risk of progression to metastatic disease is high after the diagnosis, but the long-term risk is lower than that for HR-positive disease. The study is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
Good relationships between teammates are essential to a team's success, but athletes who feel more closely connected to their teammates may also be more likely to be swayed by their fellow players' behavior.
Most people with lung cancer are unaware of the benefits of regular exercise, yet new data show it can significantly reduce fatigue and improve well being. Results of two studies to be presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich underline the value of exercise, including in patients with advanced or metastatic lung cancer