A new report shows the second-year results (2007-2008) of the ground-breaking U-M M-Flu study found up to a 75 percent reduction in flu-like illness over the study period when using hand hygiene and wearing surgical masks in residence halls, said Allison Aiello, associate professor of epidemiology in the U-M School of Public Health. Aiello and Dr. Arnold Monto, SPH professor of epidemiology, are co-principal investigators of the M-Flu study.

Research describes advantages of new vaccine adjuvant

Saranac Lake, N.Y. — New research from the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Leadbetter at the Trudeau Institute may lead to a whole new class of vaccines. Dr. Leadbetter's lab has discovered new properties of a potential vaccine adjuvant that suggest it could be useful for enhancing protection against a number of different infections. This new data will be published in the January 2012 issue of the journal Nature Immunology (Vol. 13, pp. 44-50). The paper, "iNKT cells direct B cell responses to cognate lipid antigen in an interleukin 21-dependent manner," is now available through Advance Online Publication (AOP) on Nature Immunology's website at http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ni.2172.html.

In populations with a low prevalence of tuberculosis (TB), the majority of positives with the three tests commercially available in the U.S for the diagnosis of TB are false positives, according to a new study.

December 7, 2011—(BRONX, NY)—An antimalarial agent developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University proved effective at clearing infections caused by the malaria parasite most lethal to humans – by literally starving the parasites to death. The novel research, carried out on a small number of non-human primates, could bolster efforts to develop more potent therapies against one of the world's leading killers. The study, published in the November 11, 2011 issue of PLoS ONE, was led by senior author Vern Schramm, Ph.D., professor and Ruth Merns Chair in Biochemistry at Einstein.

A new weapon has emerged to prevent HIV infection. Called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, it is a strategy of providing medications to at-risk people before they are exposed to the virus. Having shown great promise in recent phase 3 clinical trials, PrEP may soon be rolled out for public use.

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) researchers have created a vaccine that is more potent than traditional vaccines available today. The glycoconjugate vaccine prototype is 100 times more effective than traditional glycoconjugate vaccines. Their work is published in the December 2011 issue of Nature Medicine.   

NIH-led study advances HIV vaccine research

WHAT:

HIV is coated in sugars that usually hide the virus from the immune system. Newly published research reveals how one broadly neutralizing HIV antibody actually uses part of the sugary cloak to help bind to the virus. The antibody binding site, called the V1/V2 region, represents a suitable HIV vaccine target, according to the scientists who conducted the study. In addition, their research reveals the detailed structure of the V1/V2 region, the last part of the virus surface to be visualized at the atomic level.

Infectious disease experts support 'Get Smart About Antibiotics Week,'

With antibiotic-resistant infections increasingly common, and a dangerous lack of new infection fighters in the drug development pipeline, it's more important than ever to use existing antibiotics appropriately. This week, infectious disease experts are helping to educate consumers, health care providers, and policymakers about when antibiotics can help, when misuse of these lifesaving drugs can do more harm than good, and the tremendous need for new antibiotics to protect patients.

University of Minnesota research suggests that wastewater treated with standard technologies contributes far greater quantities

A new University of Minnesota study reveals that the release of treated municipal wastewater – even wastewater treated by the highest-quality treatment technology – can have a significant effect on the quantities of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, often referred to as "superbacteria," in surface waters.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 11, 2011) Infectious diseases specialists from Austin Health are working closely with Microbiologists from the University of Melbourne to understand how Staph is becoming resistant to all antibiotic therapies.