Trial To Test Use Of TB Vaccine Against Type 1 Diabetes.

Researchers are launching a clinical trial to see if a vaccine approved long ago to prevent tuberculosis may also hold promise as a treatment for type 1 diabetes. The proposed five-year study is designed to investigate whether repeated injections of the tuberculosis vaccine bacille Calmette-Guerin (or BCG vaccine) can quiet the immune system attack that causes type 1 diabetes and improve blood sugar levels in people with long-standing diabetes. "BCG is showing so much promise in worldwide trials [for conditions such as multiple sclerosis]," said study author Dr. Denise Faustman, director of the immunobiology laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. http://consumer.healthday.com/clinical-trials-information-35/clinical-trials-news-136/new-trial-to-test-whether-tb-vaccine-fights-type-1-diabetes-700171.html

Patient with drug-resistant tuberculosis being treated in Maryland

The patient traveled in April from India to the United States, through Chicago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Seven weeks after arriving, the patient -- who also spent time in Missouri and Tennessee -- sought treatment and was diagnosed with active tuberculosis. She has an extensively drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, which is a relatively rare form of the disease that is resistant to at least four of the core anti-TB drugs, according to the World Health Organization. Contact tracing is underway, and the CDC is seeking people who may have had prolonged close contact with the woman, including those who sat in the same row or near the woman on the flight. http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/08/health/us-tuberculosis-patient/

Drinking Water Can Become Contaminated With Viruses, Bacteria Through Leaky Pipes: Study

Water companies around the world take heed: A new University of Sheffield study overturns the previous understanding of how leaky pipes and water pressure function together within major distribution networks. Though it is commonly assumed pressure forces water out through leaks, thus preventing water from getting in, a new research study finds evidence confirming the opposite. Contaminants can enter pipes through leaks and travel throughout a water network. Importantly, then, our drinking water may become contaminated by way of leaky pipes. ADVERTISING “Previous studies have shown that material around water pipes contains harmful contaminants, including viruses and bacteria from feces, so anything sucked into the network through a leak is going to include things we don't want to be drinking,” Dr. Joby Boxall, lead researcher and a professor in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, stated in a press release. http://www.medicaldaily.com/drinking-water-can-become-contaminated-viruses-bacteria-through-leaky-pipes-study-337018

Toothbrushes in shared bathrooms may be contaminated by poop

Two years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study about public pools contamination with fecal materials. Researchers at the health institute said that 58 percent of communal pools tested during the summer of 2012 were contaminated with E. Coli bacteria. http://stgist.com/2015/06/toothbrush-feces-research-quinnipiac-hygiene-communal-bathroom-3452

Death Toll From AIDS-Defining Opportunistic Infections Has Fallen Dramatically Since Early Days Of The Epidemic.

“The death toll from AIDS-defining opportunistic infections has fallen dramatically since the early days of the epidemic,” according to research published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Nevertheless, “despite advances in therapy, only about 65% of patients survive more than five years after they have an AIDS-defining illness,” the study found. Still, “that’s a dramatic improvement on the 7% observed before drug therapy for HIV existed and the 18% seen in the era of mono- and dual-therapy,” researchers found. http://www.medpagetoday.com/HIVAIDS/HIVAIDS/51981

CDC Announces Influenza Vaccine Makeup For Next Season.

reported that in its June 5 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC announced that it has “ramped up next season’s” influenza vaccines “for broader protection.” The vaccines “for the coming flu season will contain two influenza type A viruses – H1N1...and last year’s virulent H3N2 – plus an influenza B component, according to the CDC researchers.” Those strains are the ones that “appear to be circulating in the United States and around the world, and they’re expected to be the main strains in the 2015-2016 flu season...said” CDC epidemiologist Lynnette Brammer. http://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/centers-for-disease-control-news-120/cdc-tweaking-flu-vaccine-for-a-better-responsec-says-700112.html

Many American College Students Do Not Get Vaccinated Against HPV.

reported that research suggests that “many American college students don’t get vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), and many don’t fully understand the threat posed by the virus or their risk for infection.” Investigators surveyed nearly 200 female undergraduate students. The survey indicated that while “most of the respondents knew about the HPV vaccine...54 percent were not vaccinated.” The research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. http://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/vaccine-news-689/college-kids-don-t-get-the-hvp-threat-699995.html