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Pregnancy problems not necessarily tied to Zika viral load or Dengue fever

Congenital Zika virus syndrome -- a pattern of birth defects found among fetuses and babies infected with the virus -- is a newly identified condition that occurs when women are infected during pregnancy. It is unknown to what degree the amount of Zika virus in the mother, the extent of Zika symptoms or the presence of prior dengue antibodies contribute to the syndrome. Laboratory studies suggest there is a phenomenon called antibody dependent enhancement, in which the presence of pre-existing dengue antibodies would enhance Zika's virulence, increasing risk to the fetus. Clinical studies, however, have found no evidence of this. It has also been unclear whether a high viral load, or the presence of Zika symptoms, would be associated with risk of harm to the fetus, or if there is a direct relationship between the amount of virus in the blood and severity of symptoms in the mother. Researchers developed an assessment tool to gauge severity of symptoms based on duration of fever,...
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New technology enables effective simultaneous testing for multiple blood-borne pathogens

Some highly virulent pathogens may have a low prevalence rate and/or be restricted seasonally or geographically . However, the impact of transfusion-transmitted infection of such agents can have fatal consequences, particularly in highly vulnerable populations such as newborns, the elderly, or immunocompromised individuals. The cost effectiveness of a multiple agent test means that more testing could be done, resulting in safer blood. "All blood for transfusion must be tested for infectious agents. The increasing number of agents that may infect blood and the recognition that some of them only pose a risk in certain areas or certain times means that new methods to streamline blood testing must be developed. The major feature of our OpenArray device, the ability to test for multiple infectious agents at the same time, could be an answer to that need," explained Robert Duncan, PhD, an investigator with the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation ...
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Plant compound more powerful than AZT against HIV

The chemical, patentiflorin A, is derived from the willow-leaved  Justicia , and was identified in a screening of more than 4,500 plant extracts for their effect against the HIV virus . The discovery is one of the results of a multi-year research partnership made up of scientists from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology working together as an International Cooperative Biodiversity Group. These groups, funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, look for natural products that may have applications in health and medicine, and also work to support sustainable use of these resources in low-income countries. Lijun Rong, professor of microbiology and immunology in the UIC College of Medicine; Harry Fong, associate director of the World Health Organization Program for Traditional Medicine; and Doel Soejarto, professor emeritus of med...
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Knowing HIV levels are 'undetectable' may affect sexual behavior

"NHBS is able to guide local and national high-impact prevention strategies by identifying who is highest risk, what they are doing, and what services they need most," according to an introduction by Cyprian Wejnert, PhD, and colleagues of the NHBS Study Group. NHBS Data Helps to Guide HIV Prevention in High-Risk Groups The NHBS is an ongoing surveillance project that monitors behavioral risk factors, HIV testing behaviors, and use of prevention services and strategies in three high-risk groups: men who have sex with men (MSM), persons who inject drugs (PWID), and heterosexuals of low socioeconomic status in urban areas. "Accurate data on the behaviors in these populations are critical for understanding trends in HIV infection and planning and evaluating effective HIV prevention activities," Dr. Wejnert and coauthors write. The special issue presents 21 new research papers using NHBS data to evaluate and inform HIV prevention efforts. Among the findings are ...
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New antibiotic effective against drug-resistant bacteria

In a paper published in  Cell  today, the researchers report the discovery and the new antibiotic's mechanism of action. Pseudouridimycin inhibits bacterial RNA polymerase, the enzyme responsible for bacterial RNA synthesis, through a binding site and mechanism that differ from those of rifampin, a currently used antibacterial drug that inhibits the enzyme. Because pseudouridimycin inhibits through a different binding site and mechanism than rifampin, pseudouridimycin exhibits no cross-resistance with rifampin, functions additively when co-administered by rifampin and, most important, has a spontaneous resistance rate that is just one-tenth the spontaneous resistance rate of rifampin. Pseudouridimycin functions as a nucleoside-analog inhibitor of bacterial RNA polymerase, meaning that it mimics a nucleoside-triphosphate (NTP), the chemical "building block" that bacterial RNA polymerase uses to synthesize RNA. The new antibiotic binds tightly to the NTP binding site...
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Ebola vaccine developed in Canada shows promising results

The research team conducted the clinical trial "as part of a coordinated, international effort to expeditiously evaluate candidate EVD vaccines and make them available to control the epidemic," writes lead author Dr. May ElSherif, Canadian Center for Vaccinology, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, with coauthors. There have been some recent clusters of Ebola cases in Africa and more expected as survivors may still spread the virus to uninfected people. The trial involved 40 healthy people aged 18 to 65 years and looked at safety of the vaccine and the lowest dose required for an immune response after injection with one of 3 doses. At a ratio of 3:1, thirty participants received the vaccine and 10 received placebo injections. The researchers found that adverse events were mild to moderate, with only 3 severe reactions, including headache , diarrhea and fatigue, which completely resolved. "The results of this trial were positive and very promising; all 3 dos...
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Scientists a step closer to drug treatment for hepatitis B

The team at the Universities of York and Leeds identified an "assembly code" in the genetic material of Hepatitis B Virus that allows it to create a protective casing in which it can produce new infectious virus particles. They found that the signal, generated by ribonucleic acid (RNA), helps viral proteins to overcome an 'engineering problem', assembling them into in a particular geometric pattern. Professor Reidun Twarock, mathematical biologist at the University of York's Department of Mathematics and Biology , said: "It is a bit like the chain on a bicycle. If we don't assemble the chain on the sprockets, it becomes tangled and won't function. Once assembled correctly, it connects the pedals with the wheels allowing the component parts to work together." "We see the same process happening between the Hepatitis B RNA signals and the viral proteins. The proteins are attracted by these signals, which then promote their assembly int...
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