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Infectious Diseases
Encouraging results from study into new TB vaccine
Final results from M72/AS01E candidate vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) announced at the TB Science Conference, Hyderabad, India. Scientists from the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine...
Measles wipes out immune system's memory — 2 studies
Inoculation with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine did not impair children’s overall immunity. Importantly, it also prevented measles from depleting people’s antibody...
Does latent TB last for life? Researchers say 'mostly not'
An analysis challenges the longstanding notion that tuberculous infection is a life-long infection that could strike at any time and cause tuberculosis (TB). Based...
Once-daily Dolutegravir-based regimen safe and effective for people taking rifampicin for TB
A study from Botswana provides important scientific evidence, but not strong enough data for a policy change, on the use of a dolutegravir-based antiretroviral...
Treatment-decision score for children with HIV and suspected tuberculosis
A new treatment-decision score for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in children with HIV performed well, and when used in an algorithm may facilitate...
Updated guidelines on diagnosis treatment of community-acquired pneumonia
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have published updated guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of adults...
Ingestible sensor could revolutionise TB treatment
An ingestible sensor that enables health workers to check that patients have taken their medication could revolutionise tuberculosis treatment, particularly in developing countries, The...
New test assists with quicker treatment decisions for sepsis
A new rapid blood culture test system for sepsis can reduce identification to 12 hours, from the two-to-three days of standard-of- care culture...
Surgical masks match respirators for flu and respiratory virus protection
A US study reported “no significant difference in the effectiveness” of medical masks versus more expensive N95 respirators for prevention of influenza or other viral respiratory...
Electronic nose detects bacteria in breath
An ‘electronic nose’ that can sniff out bacteria could be used to curb the use of antibiotics when not necessary, according to scientists at...
Vaccine could have prevented over 90% of HPV-related cancers
Nearly 35,000 people develop cervical, anal, oral and other cancers linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) each year, and most of these are caused by...
WHO withdraws UK's 'measles free' status; PM blames social media
The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said social media firms must share the responsibility for the rising spread of measles in the UK...
Results from 7-country project highlights the need for new vaccines
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other viruses now appear to be the main causes of severe childhood pneumonia in low- and middle-income countries, highlighting...
NIH launches prevention trial of people exposed to multidrug-resistant TB
A large clinical trial to assess treatments for preventing people at high risk from developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has begun. The study is comparing...
More than 1m new curable STIs reported worldwide every day
Every day, there are more than 1m new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among people aged 15-49 years, according to data released...
Throat a major source of gonorrhoeal infection in MSM
The throat is a major source of gonorrhoea transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM), according to Australian research. The study involved...
Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir hepatitis C treatment found safe and highly effective
Once-daily combination pills that can treat all genotypes of hepatitis C infection are curing almost everyone who completes a course of treatment, and drop-out...
First validated prognostic proteomic signatures
South African TB Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) authors Drs Adam Penn-Nicholson, Stanley Kimbung Mbandi, Michelle Fisher, Professors Mark Hatherill and Tom Scriba have co-authored a...
First malaria vaccination for children launched in Malawi
Malawi will begin immunising young children against malaria this week, in a landmark large-scale pilot programme of the first vaccine to give partial protection...
Mass drug administration reduces scabies cases
Mass drug administration (MDA) of two antibiotics can be highly effective at reducing cases of scabies and the bacterial infection impetigo, according to research....
Fast and deadly spread of C.auris hits SA also
A drug-resistant fungus called Candida auris, which preys on people with weakened immune systems, is quietly spreading across the globe, reports The New York...
Do we need youth-friendly TB clinics?
Tuberculosis treatment programmes in Cape Town, South Africa, do not currently distinguish between adolescent and adult TB patients, and in so doing, may miss...
Efficacy, safety and economic impact of shortened MDR-TB treatment
Final results from Stage 1 of the STREAM randomised clinical trial show that a 9-11-month treatment regimen is as effective in treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis...
Ground-breaking research facility samples TB from breathed air
Part of the research at the University of Cape Town's new new Aerobiology TB Research Facility involves measuring the amount of air individuals exchange, which may range...
Using smartphones in sub-Saharan Africa to control infectious diseases
An international review outlines how healthcare workers in low-income countries, like those in sub-Saharan Africa, could use existing smartphones to diagnose, track and control infectious...
New assay detects subclinical infection of malaria parasite
The gametocyte sexual form of Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite that causes human malaria, is responsible for mosquito-borne transmission of infection. Some individuals carry low...
Vitamin D in the fight against multi-drug resistant TB
Vitamin D speeds up the clearance of tuberculosis (TB) bacteria from the lungs of people with multi-drug resistant TB, according to a study of...
2011 guidelines on management of gonorrhoea updated
A new guideline on the management of gonorrhoea has been issued by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, says a MDmagazine report....
First diagnostic saliva test for malaria 'imminent', says SA firm
An SA company, ERADA Technology Alliance, has announced the "imminent launch" of what it says is a world-first diagnostic saliva test for malaria.
The saliva-based diagnostic...
New oral antibiotic successful with uncomplicated gonorrhoea
An investigational oral antibiotic called zoliflodacin was well-tolerated and successfully cured most cases of uncomplicated gonorrhoea when tested in a Phase 2 multicentre clinical...
UCT in infectious diseases treatment breakthrough
University of Cape Town (UCT) scientists have offered the first hope of addressing the risk of tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS), which is...
Combo treatment highly effective in chronic HCV patients
Data found the combination of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir is highly effective and well tolerated in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype-1 infections...
Link between appendix removal and development of Parkinson's
Removing the appendix early in life reduces the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by 19% to 25%, according to the largest and most comprehensive...
Diagnostic platform screens for all known human pathogenic bacteria
Scientists at the Centre for Infection and Immunity (CII) in the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have developed the first diagnostic platform...
Not to be sniffed at: Dogs diagnose malaria to better-than WHO standards
In recent tests trained sniffer dogs successfully diagnosed malaria infections simply by sniffing samples from socks worn briefly by children from a malaria endemic...
NICD rebuts research claiming an outbreak of MDR-TB in SA
The SA National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says it “does not support” the findings of a research study reporting an outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB),...
Gilead reduces price of amphotericin B for cryptococcal meningitis
Gilead Sciences have expanded their access initiative for AmBisome (a liposomal preparation of amphotericin B) to include cryptococcal meningitis, where previously it was only...
Candidate vaccine significantly reduces pulmonary TB in trial
A candidate tuberculosis vaccine significantly reduced the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-negative adults who were already infected with latent TB at the time...
Single dose of new drug can shorten flu duration by a day
A single dose of a new influenza drug can significantly shorten the duration of the illness in teens and adults, according to a study....
Airport security plastic trays a hotbed of viruses
The plastic trays used at airport security checkpoints have been found to harbour the highest levels of viruses at airports, in a scientific investigation...