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Leicester, England (UPI) Nov 13, 2010 British and Irish scientists say they are close to developing a vaccine that would protect against 92 strains of the bacterium that causes pneumonia. Dr. Aras Kadioglu of the University of Leicester and Dr. Ed Lavelle of Trinity College said the prospect is the result of their discovery that pneumolysin, a toxin produced by Streptococcus pneumoniae, triggers the human body to produce proteins that then protect against disease, The Daily Telegraph reported. "This is a very exciting discovery and offers a whole new approach to protecting against the bacteria," Kadioglu said. "The holy grail would be to find a vaccine against all the strains." Existing vaccines protect against seven strains of the pneumoniae bacterium. It can cause meningitis as well as pneumonia and is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 1 million babies every year and to be one of the major killers of the elderly. Kadioglu and Lavelle have published their findings in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
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Bangladeshi cholera experts fly to HaitiDhaka (AFP) Nov 13, 2010 A team of Bangladeshi cholera experts left for Haiti on Saturday to help the quake-ravaged nation fight an epidemic of the water-borne disease, officials said. The experts are from the renowned International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, which is credited with developing a simple but effective treatment for diarrhoeal diseases worldwide. The eight-member team consis ... read more |
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