Patients infected with schistosomes, a parasitic worm, may be more likely to become infected with HIV than persons without worm infections, according to a new government study.

Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School found that the infectious dose of an HIV-like virus necessary to infect rhesus macaques was 17-times lower in animals with acute schistosomiasis than in control groups.

The research represents a novel in vivo demonstration that parasitic worms increase a patient’s susceptibility to becoming infected with an AIDS-causing virus.

The macaques co-infected with Schistosoma mansoni also demonstrated higher peak viral loads and higher memory cell concentrations of virus. This research is consistent with the thesis that patients living in areas highly endemic for parasitic worms may also have a higher risk of acquiring AIDS.

Previous research have demonstrated that presence of schistosome infections increases viral replication in animal or human hosts with established immunodeficiency virus infections.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

                                Conditions associated with AIDS infection. 

Posted: July 23rd, 2008 under Diseases, HIV, Parasites and Lice.
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Seven patients have been diagnosed by doctors with the West Nile Virus in California so far this year. The latest victim — a 24-year-old San Diego man. The man was hospitalized with encephalitis, inflammation of the brain, according to county health officials.

West Nile Virus is transmitted by a bite from an infected mosquito. County health authorities warned people to take infection control precautions, such as using insect repellent when spending time outdoors.

Other precautions include not sleeping outside unprotected whilst camping, and wearing long sleeves and pants when conducting daily business.

Last year, the first human case was reported in September, with another 14 reported by the end of the year.

Infected birds have been reported around Southern California this spring and summer, according to media reports.

“We need the public’s help to find mosquito breeding sites throughout the county,” said Gary Erbeck, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Health. “People should check their property weekly to eliminate any standing water sources where mosquitoes can breed.”

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Posted: July 23rd, 2008 under Developing Diseases, West Nile Virus.
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Scientists have discovered the secret to the fatal Ebola virus — a single protein that resides on the surface of the microorganism. The research opens the possibility of new therapies, stopping a virus that, though somewhat rare, can kill up to 90 percent of the people it infects.

The so-called Ebola virus glycoprotein was first discerned years ago, but, until now, researchers did not understand the protein’s structure—and thus, the best way to stop it.

“It’s the only thing that the virus puts on its surface that is absolutely critical for attaching to a host and driving into that host for infection,” says Erica Ollmann Saphire, an immunologist at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and a co-author of the report in Nature Magazine.

Scientists found that the compound is wrapped in benign carbohydrates that mask the virus’s deadliness, allowing it to elude immune system scouts.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Posted: July 22nd, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Diseases, Ebola Virus.
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More than 50 horses have died in Florida this year from the most devastating outbreak in recent years of an infection spread by mosquitos called Eastern equine encephalitis, according to media reports.Thus far, no humans have been infected, but the state confirmed 56 cases of Eastern equine encephalitis in horses as of this month.

Animals from Orange, Volusia, Lake, Osceola and Polk counties were among the infected beasts. By contrast, there were 18 cases in horses during all of 2007, and 17 in 2006.

“This infection is almost always fatal,” said Dr. Michael Short, a veterinarian and equine program manager with the Florida Department of Agriculture. “These horses get very sick, very fast. It’s horrible.” The disease is caused by the Eastern equine virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes and passed to people or animals through bites. EEE always exists at some level in Florida’s insect population, but it tends to spike in July and August, doctors said.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Posted: July 22nd, 2008 under Diseases, Encephalitis.
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Doctors are testing 50 people in Australia for the potentially deadly Hendra virus, a microorganism spread by bats to horses and then humans, according to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Queensland Health is taking blood samples from staff at a Brisbane bayside veterinary clinic and from people who came into contact with three horses which tested positive to the virus two weeks ago.One horse was killed and another died, while a third is recovering.

Veterinarian Ben Cunneen and a nurse at the Redlands Veterinary Clinic fell ill with the virus last week after treating the infected creatures.

Doctors say it takes 14 days for the virus to incubate and a negative testing after this period would clear individuals of the potential of contracting the virus.

Horses being held in quarantine at the clinic would be retested on Wednesday.

Clinic owner Dr David Lovell said staff were anxious for the retest and to finally put the matter to rest.

“No one else has been showing clinical signs of the virus,” Dr Lovell said. “So I’m hopeful we’ll all test negative.”

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Bat virus infecting humans down under.

Posted: July 21st, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Hendra Virus.
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A bi-partisan bill that would lift the law prohibiting HIV-positive visitors or immigrants from coming to the U.S. has been passed by the Senate.

The ban first enforced 20 years ago required foreigners with HIV to apply for special waivers to enter the U.S.

The travel ban law was repealed as part of an amendment to a bill providing increased funding to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa and elsewhere overseas. The bill passed by an 80-16 vote.

Senator John F. Kerry, the failed 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, and Republican Gordon Smith of Oregon sponsored the amendment of the ban.

Some experts had said that the infection protection and control ban was ill-advised health policy, “a ban based on myth and misinformation,” Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, said.

The US is one of a dozen countries - including Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Russia - that ban travel and immigration for HIV-positive people. The bill now goes to a joint committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate, where any differences will be ironed out, before going to President Bush for approval. The president indicated earlier that he supports the bill.  – by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Senator Kerry and other politicians support lifting restrictions on travelers with HIV.

Posted: July 21st, 2008 under Diseases, HIV.
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is giving a grant of $1 million to researchers who are developing a vaccine for Chlamydia, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world.  Chlamydia infects more than 92 million people around the world every year, and is linked to 60,000 maternal deaths per year due to ectopic pregnancy and is a major co-factor facilitating HIV transmission.

Experimental trials of the vaccine in animals have shown success in preventing infection.  “Our approach represents an important new tool in the arsenal against infectious diseases. With control programs failing in many countries, including Canada, the development of a safe and effective Chlamydia vaccine would represent a fundamental breakthrough in global health,” said Robert Brunham, a professor of medicine at UBC.

Researchers have identified T-cell antigens as a viable Chlamydia vaccine candidate. A T-cell is a type of white blood cell.

“The emerging science of proteomics — the study of proteins that are the building blocks of human life — will likely underpin life sciences research for the next 50 years,” says Foster. “By using the latest generation of mass spectrometry equipment, we can use immunoproteomics to identify T-cell antigens that appear in Chlamydia- infected cells. As shown by the development of UBC’s Chlamydia vaccine, our proteomics facility can take the guesswork out of vaccine and drug discovery, and hopefully make it easier for vaccines to move out of labs and help those who need them.”

NIAID is a division of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Posted: July 18th, 2008 under Chlamydia, Developing Diseases, Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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The National Cancer Institute is collaborating with a private firm, GlobeImmune, Inc., to develop vaccines to treat an array of cancers. GlobeImmune will utilize its proprietary Tarmogen technology to develop multiple immunotherapy products expressing various cancer antigens provided by the NCI. NCI will conduct and fund preclinical and early clinical development of the product candidates.

Dr. Jeffrey Schlom, Chief of the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology at the NCI, will be the principal investigator for these studies. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is the first cancer antigen to be evaluated in this collaboration. The antigen is over-expressed in a number of human cancers, including over 90 percent of gastrointestinal cancers — colorectal, pancreas — and  70 percent of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) and 50 percent of breast cancers.

According to Dr. Timothy C. Rodell, CEO of GlobeImmune, the collaboration with the NCI “will bring substantial expertise and resources to investigate the potential of our technologies with these important cancer targets. This collaboration has the potential to allow GlobeImmune to bring additional products into the clinic.”

The project is being conducted through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA).

GlobeImmune is a private Colorado-based company developing active immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.

– by Nancy Bruening, Managing Editor

Posted: July 18th, 2008 under Cancer, Developing Diseases, Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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Another patient has been infected with the potentially deadly Legionnaires’ disease in upstate New York,  and public health officials there are saying that the bacteria which causes the deadly respiratory ailment has been found at a second site, a Syracuse nursing home.

Scientists searching for the source of the outbreak discovered the “Legionella bacteria that causes the illness in the water system of the 526-bed Van Duyn Home and Hospital,” said Gary Sauda, the Onondaga County director of environmental health.

The disease is a frightful form of pneumonia. Patients become infected by inhaling airborne water droplets that contain the bacteria. In epidemics of this disease, people up to two miles away from the source can be infected. The nursing home and hospital are located less than a half mile apart.

Thu far one person has died since the outbreak began June 30, and another 12 have been infected.

Investigators suspect the outbreak was caused by Legionella bacteria discovered in one of the air conditioning cooling towers at Community General Hospital of Syracuse, N.Y. but they have not yet definitively proven that hypothesis. Six of 13 people infected by the bacteria were Community General patients.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

Nursing home patients at risk of infection by Legionella bacteria.

Posted: July 17th, 2008 under Droplet Precautions, Hand Hygiene, Impaired Immunity, Legionnaires' Disease, Masks Control Transmission.
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Researchers say that Salmonella has been the cause of illnesses and infections for more than 1,000 people in more than 40 states since April.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the lethal bacteria is present in some raw tomatoes, chili peppers, and the coriander used to make salsa.

The epidemic is the worst outbreak of a food-borne illness in the U.S. for more than a decade.

Two people have died from the disease and 200 people have been taken to the hospital.

Those most at risk of developing severe illness are the elderly, infants, and people with weakened immune systems.

Doctors think there are several sources for the outbreak, as many of those ill say they did not eat hot peppers, or foods like salsa. According to Dr. Robert Tauxe, food safety chief at the CDC,  neither tomatoes, nor jalapenos, explain the entire outbreak at this point. “We’re presuming that both of them have caused illness,” he told the news media. “We really are working as hard and as fast as we can to sort out this complicated situation.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned consumers against eating raw plum, round or Roma red tomatoes unless they are from certain states or abroad.

Symptoms of Salmonella usually appear within 12 to 72 hours of eating contaminated food, and include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, headaches, stomach cramps, and fever.

The symptoms of Salmonella can last for several days.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, MA, Editorial Director

A case of Salmonella infection. Image courtesy of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Posted: July 17th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Diseases, Impaired Immunity, Salmonella.
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