Researchers at the Radboudumc Amalia Children’s Hospital and UMC Utrecht Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, in the Netherlands, report they have developed a saliva test to indicate the severity of recurrent respiratory infections in children that outperforms the standard blood test. Reporting in the European Respiratory Journal, the investigators noted that if…

Researchers at McMaster University, in collaboration with Laval University, have developed a new method to store, identify, and share bacteriophages, making these lifesaving viruses more accessible to patients in need. Published in Nature Communications, the new technique addresses critical barriers in the use of phages for combating antibiotic-resistant infections, promising…

Patients with chronic lymphoblastic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) were less likely to experience severe infection if they received frequent testing for immunoglobulin G (IgG)—proteins in the immune system that are at low levels in patients with these blood cancers. The new research, published today in the journal Blood…

New research involving mice and with observations corroborated by fetal, neonatal, and adult human data from Cornell University demonstrates that a newborns’ T cells surpass those of adults at fighting off numerous infections. The new study clarifies why adults and infants respond differently to infection and may pave the way…

New research from investigators in the U.K. has shown that markers of brain injury are present many months after COVID-19 infection, despite standard blood testing that is normal. The research, published in Nature Communications, helps provide potential therapy pathways for patients that experience cognitive difficulties after recovering from COVID-19 by…

Research led by Washington State University shows a new 3D printed material could help reduce infections linked to medical implants such as knee and hip joint replacements in the future. As reported in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, the researchers added a small amount of a corrosion-resistant metal called…

Research conducted by the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, has revealed that the gut microbiome can have a significant impact on the acquisition of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV) infections as well as on the course of the disease. Reporting in Nature Biotechnology, scientists…

Bacterial bloodstream infections in extremely preterm babies may originate from their gut microbiomes, research suggests. Identical or nearly identical gut bacteria were found in more than half of the cases before a bloodstream infection was diagnosed, according to the study in Science Translational Medicine. Numerous babies in the same neonatal…

Decisions about how to treat antimicrobial resistance can be made much faster with metagenomic sequencing than by conventional laboratory tests, new research shows. This approach could save lives and better manage care. In this study, rapid metagenomics provided accurate results within just six hours. The new research was presented at…

Research in mice shows that previous urinary tract infections (UTIs) can result in bladder remodeling through epigenetic changes that can help fight future infections, but can also result in high levels of inflammation and chronic health issues. UTIs are an extremely common bacterial infection and can cause significant health problems…

A new molecular testing method in the early stages of development by researchers at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Biology (CCB) can potentially identify COVID-19 infections just hours after exposure with near perfect accuracy, much earlier than current tests can detect the virus. According to Frank Zhang a research…

An off-the-shelf T-cell therapy has successfully treated drug-resistant viral infections in 95 percent of patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplants, according to final results from an open label Phase II trial. Patients that have received allogeneic bone marrow transplants have their immune system suppressed so that their body doesn’t reject…

A “domesticated” viral gene incorporated into the genome of mammals millions of years ago helps protect human embryos from infections, research in the journal Science suggests. The viral envelope gene Suppressyn prevents embryonic viral infections by expressing a protein in the human placenta. This counteracts vulnerabilities caused by an even…

Hospital-treated infections are associated with an increased subsequent risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease at a relatively early age, research shows. The Swedish study found that infections treated with either in- or out-patient specialized care were linked with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, primarily before the age…

A new artificial intelligence model developed by Mass Eye and Ear, an international center for treatment and research and a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, has been shown to be significantly more accurate at diagnosing pediatric ear infections than clinicians—the first head-to-head evaluation of its kind. The new study,…