TB & Outbreaks Week articles from December 2002

TB & Outbreaks Week archives from December 2002

Amikacin enhances rifampin activity against Mycobacterium ulcerans.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The antimycobacterial agent amikacin (AMK) can improve the efficacy of treament for Buruli ulcer, researchers in France report. Herve Dega and colleagues...

High relapse rate seen after "successful" drug-resistant TB treatment.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The long-term success of treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis infection may be lower than previously believed, researchers warn. G. B. Migliori and...

New research sheds light on bacterial firework display.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the Institute for Animal Health have revealed how a tropical bacterium is able invade cells, and ultimately trigger its escape using a homemade rocket. Their work is published in the...

'Dispersin' Escherichia coli all over the gut.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is an emerging pathogen that causes endemic and epidemic diarrhea in developing and industrialized countries. The bacteria stick to the surface of the cells...

Virulent mycobacteria inhibit nitric oxide release, phagosome-lysosome fusion.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Brazil have shed new light on the methods used by mycobacteria to evade immune responses in infected hosts. "The virulence of different...

Hospitalized elderly patients often not vaccinated for flu, pneumonia.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Elderly patients eligible for vaccinations against two major diseases - influenza and pneumococcal disease - are not being vaccinated during hospital admissions, according to new research. Dale W....

SRL172 ineffective as treatment adjunct for HIV coinfected patients.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Mycobacterium vaccae (SRL172) adds little if any benefit to conventional antituberculosis therapy for coinfected HIV patients, researchers in the United Kingdom...

Firefly light illuminates course of herpes infection in mice.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are using a herpes virus that produces a firefly enzyme to illuminate the virus's course of infection in mice and to help monitor the...

New 20-minute rapid HIV test nears FDA approval.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A broad, growing coalition of public health officials, health organizations, and HIV/AIDS groups are calling for widespread availability of new rapid HIV tests through a "waived" status under the...

FDA accepts Coviracil NDA for the treatment of HIV.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (VIRS) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified the company that its new drug application (NDA) for marketing approval of Coviracil for the...

New report calls for protecting at-risk civilians from anthrax.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A panel of leading bioterrorism experts warned that the United States still lacks an articulated preparedness plan for immediate immunizations of at-risk civilians, a strategic anthrax vaccine...

Infection of two Easterners creates stir.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When a pair of tourists in New York fell ill with bubonic plague - a naturally occurring though rare disease - reaction in the East was swift and scared. Fox News Channel ran an on-screen headline...

Peptide extensions simply, effectively produce detoxified CT derivatives.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Mexico have described a simple procedure to detoxify cholera toxin that maintains immunoadjuvanticity. "Peptides related to the heat-stable enterotoxin STa were fused to the N...

California company licenses DNA sample processing technology.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- MicroFluidic Systems, Inc., (MFSI), a privately held company, of Pleasanton, California, has secured an exclusive license to U.S. patent no. 6,100,084, entitled "Micro-sonicator for Spore Lysis," from...

Incara closes sale of liver cell program.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Incara Pharmaceuticals Corp. (INCR) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Incara Cell Technologies, Inc., has completed the sale of substantially all of the assets and certain related liabilities...

Outreach efforts aim to improve pneumococcal, flu vaccine rates in primary care.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two studies published recently in the British Journal of General Practice focused on efforts to boost flu and pneumococcal vaccine rates in primary practices. A.N. Siriwardena and colleagues...

Allowing pharmacists to give shots would improve New York's immunization rates.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- It might not seem like it if you've recently spent your lunch hour waiting in line for a flu shot, but New York State has one of nation's lowest immunization rates for flu and pneumonia, a factor that...

Survey of physicians' flu vaccine practices raises some concerns.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Michigan researchers reported results of a national survey of internists and family physicians that aimed "to characterize U.S. physicians' practices regarding influenza vaccine." The...

Survey reveals most Americans underestimate severity.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- While U.S. federal and state public health agencies are urging people of all ages to receive influenza vaccinations this season, a new national survey reveals that most Americans still underrate the...

Genetic variation protects against two types.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children who possess a gene that allows them to produce high levels of nitric oxide are protected from two of the deadliest forms of malaria, according to a published report by Maurine R. Hobbs, PhD,...

Aid groups say tens of thousands of Africans could die from new strain.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aid agencies have launched an urgent appeal for EUR10 million (US$10 million) to control a new strain of meningitis that was initially reported among pilgrims to Mecca and now threatens a large swathe...

Study assesses economics of in-hospital immunization.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A cost-benefit analysis by infectious disease specialists at Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, suggests that an inner-city hospital's emergency department may be the in-hospital location with the...

Surveillance reflects growing preparedness efforts.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Public health officials have developed an odd interest lately in the mundane and arcane. Epidemiologists are tracking orange juice sales at the local Safeway and poring over school attendance data....

Military doctors call for reinstating adenovirus vaccination program in recruits.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Navy medical researchers say an adenovirus immunization program urgently needs to be reinstituted for military recruits. "Outbreaks of adenovirus type 4 (Ad4) acute respiratory disease (ARD)...

Researchers to study Florida's public health role in control and prevention.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Florida's public health officials are worried. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain one of the most preventable yet highly prevalent types of disease in Florida, but the state-run STD...

Feds seek public input on vaccine for children.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. government is seeking public input before it decides whether to let a few dozen toddlers and preschoolers be vaccinated against smallpox, a study to test the best children's vaccine dose but...

France denies having hidden smallpox stocks.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- France says it does not have any samples of the smallpox virus, strongly denying U.S. assertions that it has retained supplies in violation of international rules. Smallpox has plagued humans for...

Vaccine study targets those already immunized as children.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Doctors and nurses at the University of Rochester Medical Center have been chosen to lead the largest study of smallpox vaccine to date, a nationwide study of approximately 900 patients that will be...

NASA to develop biohazard 'smoke' detector.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, have demonstrated a prototype device that automatically and continuously monitors the air for the presence of bacterial spores. ...

Overall U.S. rate rises for first time since 1990.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Despite continued declines among African Americans and women of all races, overall rates of primary and secondary syphilis have increased slightly in the U.S. for the first time in more than a decade,...

Technique measures immunogenicity of TB vaccines.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from the United States, "Previous studies in murine and human models have suggested an important role for CD8+ T cells in host defense to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)....

Vaccination with BCG affects TB skin testing for up to 15 years.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - A meta-analysis of 26 studies indicated that a previous Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccination affects the results of tuberculin skin tests and...

Holistic care program aids treats victims of West Nile virus.
December 3, 2002... 2002 DEC 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Many patients with acute West Nile disease are not able to perform the simplest of tasks, let alone go to work, according to CRS Rehabilitation Specialists in Chicago, Illinois. Having developed...

Gastrointestinal bleeding affects resistant Enterococcus faecium infection risk.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States have elucidated factors that modulate the risk of nosocomial infection with drug-resistant Enterococcus faecium strains. ...

M. tuberculosis CYP121 gene may be therapeutic target.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United Kingdom have elucidated the structure of a key Mycobacteria tuberculosis protein. Kirsty J. McLean and colleagues at the...

Microbiologist is secret agent in battle against E. coli.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The name is Fung. Daniel Y.C. Fung He may not possess the lethal aggression or magnetism of the fictitious secret agent James Bond, but like Agent 007, Fung is always on a mission of deadly...

Mycobacterium avium complex helps recruit monocyte HIV hosts.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States have shed new light on the deleterious effects of Mycobacterium avium infection in HIV and AIDS patients. "In lymphoid...

Targeted vaccination best, but data still lacking.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Targeted vaccination of people potentially exposed to smallpox during a bioterrorist episode, together with an appropriately low level of vaccination before an attack, provides the best protection...

Isoniazid may heighten ototoxicity during hemodialysis.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The potent antituberculosis agent isoniazid may cause or exacerbate hearing loss and/or balance problems in patients with kidney disease, researchers in Turkey...

Household disinfectant potential cause.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers from Midwestern University in Illinois, Curtin University of Technology in Australia, and Illinois State University have found that when bacteria become resistant to pine oil cleaners...

Strain of staph infection is resistant to vancomycin.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Detroit woman's bout with a virulent new strain of Staphylococcus aureus is one of the first of its kind, worrying doctors and public health officials. The 40-year-old Detroit-area woman, whose...

Oral tolerance with HSP 65 attenuates Mtb- and high-fat diet-induced lesions.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Israel conducted a study of the "efficacy of oral tolerance with heat shock protein (HSP) 65 in two apparently nonoverlapping models of murine atherosclerosis." Providing background...

Orphan drug designation granted for P113D.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Demegen, Inc., (DBOT) announced that orphan drug status was granted for the company's patented P113D peptide for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) infections by the U.S. Food and Drug...

Steris Corp. reports 100% increase in second quarter revenues.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Steris Corp. (STE) announced financial results for its second quarter and 6 months ended September 30, 2002. Fiscal 2003 second quarter net income was $18.4 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, an...

Study evaluates the effectiveness of valacyclovir HCl in HIV-infected persons.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Twice-daily treatment with Valtrex (valacyclovir HCl) caplets is effective in suppressing genital herpes recurrences in HIV-infected patients, according to data presented at the Infectious Diseases...

Results in diabetic foot infection study presented at meeting.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Data indicate that Zyvox (linezolid injection, tablets and for oral suspension) was as effective as two standard therapies in treating diabetic foot infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria such as...

Immunization with Hap adhesin found protective in murine study.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Washington University researchers suggest intranasal immunization with the protein Hap adhesin formulated with mutant cholera toxin may help prevent nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae disease. ...

Priority Healthcare Corp. selected as the distributor for Pegasys Sampling Program.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Priority Healthcare Corp. (PHCC) announced their selection by Roche Labs as the distributor for the Pegasys Monotherapy Sampling Program. Pegasys is Roche's pegylated interferon alfa-2a for...

Dartmouth receives $7.2 million grant to study new ways to tackle infections.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dartmouth Medical School researchers are exploring the role sex hormones play in the body's rapid-response protection system through a National Institutes of Health grant for collaboration that could...

Hantaan virus prevalent in Thailand rats.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Rats in Thailand may contribute to the spread of Hantaan virus and similar pathogens, researchers warn. Narong Nitatpattana and colleagues at Mahidol...

CDC reports not enough seniors getting flu shots.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fewer than two-thirds of the nation's senior citizens are getting vaccinated against flu and pneumonia - well short of the government's goal of 90% by 2010, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and...

Shire announces vaccines alliance.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, plc, announced that it has entered into a commercial agreement with Berna Biotech, AG, of Switzerland. Under the agreement, Shire will manufacture and supply its...

Trivalent, cold-adapted flu vaccine well-tolerated by preschool-aged children.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The trivalent, cold-adapted influenza vaccine (CAIV-T) appears safe in children under age 6, according to a recent study. Baylor College of Medicine researcher P.A. Piedra and colleagues conducted...

Roche launches 2002-2003 FluSTAR surveillance system.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Roche announced the 2002-2003 influenza season launch of FluSTAR, a surveillance system that provides timely and reliable reporting of flu activity on a regional and nationwide basis. FluSTAR,...

New findings in vaccine development announced at international conference.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The largest malaria conference in the world, the Third Pan-African Malaria Conference of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) recently convened in Tanzania; it was organized by the U.S....

New study provides molecular-level understanding of common antimalarial drugs.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has announced a new understanding of the connection between the physical chemistry and mechanism of action of quinoline-based drugs used to treat malaria. These...

Proposal to shake down protozoans wins top award.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Agricultural Research Service scientist Benjamin M. Rosenthal has won the agency's T.W. Edminster Research Associate Award for the top-ranked proposal for the ARS 2003 Postdoctoral Research Associate...

U.N. campaign under way to vaccinate 60 million African children.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An immunization campaign to vaccinate 60 million children under 5 years old in 16 West African countries is under way as part of a global campaign to eradicate polio, the virus that cripples children,...

Residents in senior housing, nursing homes need flu shot.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Not surprisingly, results of a public health study conducted in Canada indicate that people living in nursing homes or senior residences should get the flu shot to help combat respiratory diseases...

Congress to protect workers who give vaccine.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. is set to give special legal protection for health care workers who will be delivering smallpox vaccines, clearing one of the stickiest issues in the smallpox debate. Under a new...

Targeted vaccinations could be effective intervention against deliberate attack.
December 10, 2002... 2002 DEC 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Targeted vaccination of the close contacts of infected individuals following a smallpox outbreak could rival the effectiveness of mass vaccination, given a sufficiently high level of immunity within...

Cytokine profile affects response to Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Cytokine profile plays a key role in the response to infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans, the pathogen that causes Buruli ulcer, researchers in Australia...

Isoniazid safe for liver transplant candidates.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The potent antituberculosis agent isoniazid can be safely administered to patients who may undergo liver transplantation, researchers in the United States say....

LSUHSC research shows drug blocks enzyme that activates bacterial and viral toxins.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A paper published in the December 2002 issue of Infection and Immunity by a research team at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center in New Orleans provides clear evidence that the...

Scientists address challenge of getting botulinum toxin inside the cell.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Botulinum toxins are pulling double duty these days. On one hand, they are the toxins implicated in the food poisoning botulism, and their potentially deadly effects have been discussed in the context...

PAHO analyzes social, economic and epidemiological trends.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dengue has become a major international public health problem, with a dramatic expansion in recent decades. The mosquito that transmits dengue is found in nearly 100 tropical countries. Every...

Surfactant protein A heightens macrophage mannose receptor activity.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States have elucidated the early immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other bacterial pathogens. "Inhaled...

Physicians prescribing antibiotics more appropriately for children.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Physicians are gradually improving their antibiotic prescription patterns for children with respiratory tract infections, but the use of inappropriate antibiotics is still common, according to research...

States unite to reduce national threat of antibiotic resistance.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Healthcare leaders from over 30 states recently gathered in Sacramento, California, looking for answers to the national epidemic of antibiotic resistance - a growing problem preventing antibiotic...

M.C. Hull joins Air Quality Sciences as a senior consultant and biosecurity expert.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Air Quality Sciences, Inc., (AQS) has announced that M. C. Hull has joined the company as a senior chemical/biological safety and biosecurity consultant. With more than 17 years of experience in...

Azithromycin possible new treatment option for children.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of a new study suggest that the antibiotic azithromycin could be an effective treatment option for children with cholera. Cholera is a major public health problem which is greatly...

ProQuest to collaborate on developing prodrug-based anti-infective products.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ricerca Biosciences, LLC, and ProQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced that they have entered into a collaborative research and development agreement to create new drug products by combining...

Allovectin-7 developer announces third-quarter 2002 financial results.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vical, Inc., (VICL) reported revenues of $2.5 million for the third quarter which ended September 30, 2002, compared with revenues of $2.4 million for the third quarter of the prior year. Revenues...

Cases of serious food poisoning rise in real terms, but overall rates down.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cases of serious food poisoning in England and Wales requiring hospital admission have risen in real terms over the past decade, shows new research. This is despite rates of overall illness having...

Major vaccine trial launched in women.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A pivotal efficacy trial of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent genital herpes in women has begun enrolling volunteers. The study will determine the vaccine's ability to prevent genital...

Meteorlogix provides emergency preparedness for Colorado Springs.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Minneapolis-based Meteorlogix, a largest commercial weather-service provider, announced it will provide Colorado Springs, Colorado, with MxInsight for Homeland Defense, an advanced weather system...

AMA says there's still time to get vaccinated against the flu.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- This year's flu season will soon be making its way across the nation, and the American Medical Association is reminding people that the best defense is to get immunized against the flu as soon as...

Preservative-free influenza vaccine available for pediatric use.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aventis Pasteur announced that the company has begun shipping Fluzone Preservative-free: Pediatric Dose, influenza virus vaccine to customers. The company received Food and Drug Administration...

Transmission of virus strain successfully interrupted in the Americas.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Measles is one of the most infectious diseases known to man and remains the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths worldwide, responsible for 590,000 deaths of children under 5 annually. ...

Electronic nose detects pneumonia in critically ill patients.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a team of researchers from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an electronic nose - a relatively new version of a sensor previously used in the food, wine and perfume industries...

New study shows cold and flu germs spread easily throughout the office.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to new research from University of Arizona microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba, staying healthy this season is nothing to sneeze at when everyone in the vicinity is coughing and sniffling. ...

Protecting babies from RSV could reduce chances asthma during childhood.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers from Imperial College London and St Mary's NHS Trust have discovered that keeping people with coughs and sneezes away from young babies may cut the likelihood of developing wheeze or asthma...

Existing antiviral could be potential treatment.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A drug currently licensed for treatment of an opportunistic infection in AIDS patients may be an effective treatment against smallpox, say researchers from the Rega Institute for Medical Research in...

Drug resistance doesn't affect outcome for Vietnamese tuberculous meningitis patients.
December 17, 2002... 2002 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United Kingdom and Asia have shed new light on the course of tuberculous meningitis in Vietnamese patients. "The factors that determine...