EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases

The premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Researchers track Lyme disease spirochetes - June 19, 2008

(Public Library of Science) Microbiologists at the University of Calgary have demonstrated the first direct visualization of the dissemination of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. This real-time, three-dimensional look at spirochete dissemination in a living mammalian host is published June 20 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/plos-rtl061808.php

Yale researchers discover Legionnaire microbe's tricks - June 19, 2008

(Yale University) Yale University researchers have shed new light how bacteria like the ones that cause Legionnaires' disease and Q-fever raise such havoc in human patients.In order to survive, the gram-negative bacteria use genes that have evolved in tandem with ones in their hosts to essentially disarm immune system cells trying to kill them, the scientists report Friday in the journal Science.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/yu-yrd061808.php

World research leaders gather in Finland to accelerate the development of bioactive paper - June 19, 2008

(McMaster University) Researchers working to develop inexpensive paper that can destroy, deactivate and detect deadly pathogens, such as salmonella and SARS, will share their expertise at the first ever international conference on bioactive paper in Espoo, Finland, from June 24-26, 2008.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/mu-wrl061908.php

Best code for disease detection, bar none - June 18, 2008

(Research Australia) Malaria and dengue fever will be the early targets of new trans-Pacific research using minuscule "barcodes" to detect disease.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ra-bcf061808.php

Effective health messages may yield vaccine compliance among ER workers - June 18, 2008

(Temple University) Temple University researchers are looking into the minds of ER workers to see what prevents them from getting vaccinated. Healthy first responders will be crucial to caring for the sick in the event of a pandemic.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/tu-ehm061108.php

Tracking prions - June 17, 2008

(Wiley-Blackwell) A team headed by Beat Meier and Raimon Sabat has examined two different forms of a prion-forming protein domain by means of NMR spectroscopy and found that the infectious and noninfectious forms differ markedly in their molecular structure.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/w-tp061708.php

Test of bacteria toxin delivery system could pave way for new antibiotic drugs - June 16, 2008

(The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have achieved a breakthrough in monitoring the toxin-delivery system of highly pathogenic bacteria -- an accomplishment that could help pave the way for new drugs that will be capable of neutralizing those germs.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/thuo-tob061608.php

LIAI researchers discover new cellular mechanism that will significantly advance vaccine development - June 16, 2008

(La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology) La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology scientists have discovered one for the textbooks. Their finding, reported Friday in the scientific journal Immunity, illuminates a new, previously unknown mechanism in how the body fights a virus. The finding runs counter to traditional scientific understanding of this process and will provide scientists a more effective method for developing vaccines.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ljif-lrd061608.php

Immune molecule that plays a powerful role in avoiding organ rejection identified - June 16, 2008

(Medical College of Georgia) When a mouse's immune system is deciding whether to reject a skin graft, one powerful member of a molecular family designed to provoke such a response can effectively reduce the visibility of the mouse's own cells and help the graft survive, researchers say.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/mcog-imt061608.php

Abortion drug's off-label use may have led to deaths - June 16, 2008

(University of Michigan Health System) A new study by University of Michigan scientists suggests that the immunosuppressive effect of the drug misoprostol, if given vaginally rather than orally along with RU-486 to terminate a pregnancy, is likely the reason a small number of women taking the two-drug combination have contracted a rare, fatal bacterial infection.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uomh-ado061608.php