A huge rise in the numbers of UK residents travelling to malaria endemic areas, combined with a failure to use prevention measures, has significantly increased cases of imported falciparum malaria in the UK over the past 20 years, as per a research studypublished on BMJ.com. Between 1987and#56033;and#57287; there were 5120 reported cases of the potentially fatal faliciparum malaria, increasing to 6753 in 2002and#55312;and#56516;. These findings highlight the urgent need for health messages and services targeted at travellers from migrant groups visiting friends and family abroad, say the authors........

Patients harboring methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for long periods of time continue to be at increased risk of MRSA infection and death, as per a new study in the July 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online. MRSA is an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that can cause a variety of serious infections. The bacterium most usually colonizes the nostrils, eventhough it can be found in other body sites. Most research has focused on people who are newly colonized by the bacteria and has observed that they are at substantial risk of subsequent infections. The new study shows that the increased risk of infection continues, with almost a quarter of MRSA-colonized patients developing infections after a year or more has passed since the colonization was confirmed. The infections include pneumonia and bloodstream events, and some infections were associated with deaths........

West Nile virus is apparently here to stay despite Montana's cool, wet spring, says Montana State University entomologist Greg Johnson. Urging Montanans to protect themselves with repellents, Johnson said the mosquitoes that carry the virus are sure to emerge when temperatures reach the 70s and 80s. Infection rates and deaths may not always be as high as they were in 2003 and 2007, but Montanans should be aware of the threat........

Scientists at The University of Texas School of Public Health have observed that patients given a travelers' diarrhea vaccine were significantly less likely to suffer from clinically significant diarrhea than those who received placebo, as per a research studypublished in this week's edition of the Lancet The patch-based vaccine is part of the Phase 2 study in conjunction with the Iomai Corporation........

Researchers have isolated a new bacterium in pigs' stomachs thanks to a pioneering technique, offering hope of new therapys to people who suffer with stomach ulcers, as per research reported in the recent issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. The bacterium that usually causes stomach ulcers in humans is called Helicobacter pylori. Extensive research has been carried out on this bacterium and the two researchers who discovered it were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 2005. However, in a small percentage of biopsies a similar but previously unidentified bacterium is present. Numerous research papers have described failed attempts to culture this microbe in the laboratory since it was first observed in 1990. Now, researchers from Belgium have succeeded........

After studying chimpanzees in the wilds of Tanzania's Mahale Mountains National Park for the past year as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, Virginia Tech researcher Dr. Taranjit Kaur and her team have produced powerful scientific evidence that chimpanzees are becoming sick from viral infectious diseases they have likely contracted from humans........

Its the case of the missing flu virus. When the flu isnt making people sick, it seems to just vanish. Yet, every year, everywhere on Earth, it reappears in the appropriate season and starts its attack. So where does it go when it disappears? Does it hibernate, lying dormant in a few people and preparing for its next onslaught? Does it bounce around from the Northern hemisphere to the Southern hemisphere and back, following the seasons?........

On the 25th anniversary of the first scientific article linking a retrovirus to AIDS, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, reflects in an essay in Nature on his experience treating and studying HIV/AIDS for the past quarter century. Outlining the peaks and valleys of the scientific communitys journey so far, Dr. Fauci writes, we must learn from our mis-steps, build on our successes in therapy and prevention, and renew our commitment to developing the truly transforming tools that will one day put this scourge behind us........

A team of Canadian researchers using a lotion which glows under ultraviolet light have shown that up to a third of patient toilets are not properly cleaned. Their findings, published in BioMed Centrals journal, BMC Infectious Diseases, also show that spores from the nasty bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) linger in the loo even when it has been thoroughly wiped down........

As per a new policy analysis led by scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of California, Berkeley, the most common HIV prevention strategiescondom promotion, HIV testing, therapy of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), vaccine and microbicide research, and abstinenceare having a limited impact on the predominantly heterosexual epidemics found in Africa. Furthermore, some of the assumptions underlying such strategiessuch as poverty or war being major causes of AIDS in Africaare unsupported by rigorous scientific evidence. The scientists argue that two interventions currently getting less attention and resourcesmale circumcision and reducing multiple sexual partnershipswould have a greater impact on the AIDS pandemic and should become the cornerstone of HIV prevention efforts in the high-HIV-prevalence parts of Africa........

Its the virus, stupid: immune exhaustion in HIV infection As HIV disease progresses in a person infected with the HIV virus, a group of cells in the immune system, the CD8+ T lymphocytes, become exhausted, losing a number of of their abilities to kill other cells infected by the virus. For a number of years researchers have debated whether this exhaustion of CD8+ T cells is the cause, or the consequence, of persistence of the HIV virus. As per a research findings published this week in PLoS Medicine, Marcus Altfeld and his colleagues studied the immune response over time amongst 18 individuals who had very recently become infected with HIV........

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered how some bacteria can survive antibiotic therapy by turning on resistance mechanisms when exposed to the drugs. The findings, reported in the April 24 issue of the journal Molecular Cell, could lead to more effective antibiotics to treat a variety of infections........

Despite their reputation for deadly attacks on humans and pets, alligators are wiggling their way toward a new role as potential lifesavers in medicine, biochemists in Louisiana reported today at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. They described how proteins in gator blood may provide a source of powerful new antibiotics to help fight infections linked to diabetic ulcers, severe burns, and superbugs that are resistant to conventional medication........

Hepatitis C-related deaths in the United States increased by 123 percent from 1995 through 2004, the most recent year for which data are available. Mortality rates peaked in 2002, then declined slightly overall, while continuing to rise among people 55 to 64 years old. These findings are reported in the recent issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The article is also available online at Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com)........

Researchers in Japan have discovered a new species of bacteria that can live in hairspray, as per the results of a study reported in the recent issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. Contamination of cosmetic products is rare but some products may be unable to suppress the growth of certain bacteria, says Dr Bakir from the Japan Collection of Microorganisms, Saitama, Japan. We discovered a new species of bacteria called Microbacterium hatanonis, which we found contaminates hairspray........