infectious diseases news stories on Newser

Rare Bug Kills SF Disease Researcher, 25

Rob Quinn — Fri, 04 May 2012 02:46:00 CDT

A young researcher at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center has been killed by the rare strain of bacteria that he was researching. Richard Din, 25, died in the hospital where he worked just 17 hours after coming down with a bloodstream infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis...

Alzheimer's May Be Contagious

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:17:14 CDT

Alzheimer's disease may, in some cases, be contagious, according to surprising results from a new study. "Some of the sporadic Alzheimer's cases may arise from an infectious process" similar to mad cow disease, a researcher says. In the study, mice that were injected with human brain tissue from Alzheimer's sufferers...

Malaria Jumped From Chimps to Humans

Rob Quinn — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:53:07 CDT

The parasite that causes malaria almost certainly jumped from chimpanzees to humans much like the AIDS virus did, National Geographic reports. Scientists initially believed that the malaria parasite that kills over a million people annually was older than humanity. But new research has found that it is a mutant version...

Flu-Phobic Consider Intentional Infection

Ambreen Ali — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:31:39 CDT

With panic over the H1N1 flu virus on the wane, some Americans are pondering allowing themselves to become infected in hopes of building immunity against potentially more virulent strains, the New York Times reports. Doctors are split on the idea. "I think it's totally nuts," says a flu specialist. "We...

With 20 Sick, US Declares Swine Flu Emergency

Drew Nelles — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:18:26 CDT

The White House declared today a public health emergency to fight the spread of swine flu, the New York Times reports. With 20 confirmed infections in the US, the declaration frees up money and resources for diagnosis, prevention, and antiviral medication. “We’re preparing in an environment where we really don’t...

CDC Prepares Swine Flu Vaccine

Harry Kimball — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:23:10 CDT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prepared a seed stock of vaccine for the swine flu that has killed dozens in Mexico and infected a handful of Americans, Time reports. The CDC has not begun mass production of the vaccine, opting instead to see if the outbreak reaches...

New Superbug Stalks Hospitals

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:53:00 CST

A deadly new superbug is stalking the world's hospitals, health experts warned today. The pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii is a burgeoning threat and proving extremely difficult to control, with a third of outbreaks resistant to front-line antibiotics, according to a study in the Lancet . Of 24,000 US cases in a...

Non-Profit Pharma Puts Cures Over Cash

Kristina Loew — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:04:07 CDT

Combating diseases that afflict only the poor doesn't plump the profit margins of pharmaceutical companies; now comes one that sets out to do just that as a non-profit, Good Magazine reports. Using grants to look at long-forgotten compounds, fund clinical trials, and distribute affordable meds to the world’s poorest populations,...

Eggbeater Helps Scientists Whip Disease

Clay Dillow — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:30:01 CDT

Centrifuges separate blood from plasma—but at considerable expense, in a bulky package. That leaves them beyond the reach of underfunded medical facilities that could use the help in diagnosing blood-borne ailments, such as hepatitis and other diseases. The solution, Discover reports, could be as close as the nearest kitchen....