Immunology, Health
Protecting health by improved building efficiency
Protecting health by improved building efficiency Home sweet home. Houses are supposed to be our nest, a shelter from the world outside. But how healthy are European homes? Nowadays most of our time is spent indoors, often at home, one reason being the current shift to “desk jobs”.
Bacterial BioArt
Bacterial BioArt Around 700,000 people are killed by antibiotic resistant infections in the world every year, estimates say. Antimicrobials are increasingly overused and misused, while some organisms are becoming more resistant to antibiotics.
The bacteria talk
The bacteria talk “Let’s start from the end. Our project will not really end in our lifetime”. Puzzling as it may sound, the statement comes from Sarah Goldberg, researcher at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, one of the leading scientific institutions in Israel.
Is it a real food allergy?
Is it a real food allergy? Whenever you eat strawberries, does your throat start to swell and itch? Do you also get a burning or prickling sensation in your lips, gums, tongue or inside your cheeks? Or perhaps drinking milk ...
New drug tackles transplant complications
New drug tackles transplant complications Every year nearly 50.000 dialysis patients worldwide receive a kidney transplant, but depending on the type of donor between 20 to 60% of the implanted kidneys are not working .
Mary Reilly – fast-tracking rare disease drug candidates’ approval
Mary Reilly – fast-tracking rare disease drug candidates’ approval Aspiring new drugs face long and stringent tests on safety and effectiveness before making it to market. And rightly so. But giving drugs special designations that bring with them the right incentives can help bring them to patient.
New treatment against transplantation complications tested
New treatment against transplantation complications tested It is not uncommon for kidney transplants to fail. Once transplanted, the kidney must connect back with the blood supply to start working properly and be truly accepted by the body. Delays can cause complications.
Fighting resistance to antimalarial drug
Fighting resistance to antimalarial drug When it comes to the emergence of antimalarial drug resistance, it’s not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.
Gordon Langsley – Focus on biological signalling to defeat malaria
Gordon Langsley – Focus on biological signalling to defeat malaria Millions of people die each year of malaria – a disease transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito. There are major barriers in vaccine development as well as increased resistance to currently available therapies.
On the track of the deadly parasite Leishmania
On the track of the deadly parasite Leishmania Leishmaniasis is one of the most underreported and insufficiently monitored diseases in the world affecting mainly the poorest and most disadvantaged people on the Indian Subcontinent, Latin America and East Africa.
Parasite surveillance to support policy against drug resistance
Parasite surveillance to support policy against drug resistance Leishmaniasis is a tropical disease known in Europe because it affects dogs. It is caused by the Leishmania parasite carried by sandflies . However, several types of the parasite also affect humans in several regions in the world.
Jean-Claude Dujardin – Overcoming Leishmania’s drug-resistant Trojan horse effect
Jean-Claude Dujardin – Overcoming Leishmania’s drug-resistant Trojan horse effect Visceral leishmaniasis, or Kala-Azar, is a tropical disease caused by several types of Leishmania parasites transmitted by sandflies.
Mum’s diet mirrors child’s food allergies
Mum’s diet mirrors child’s food allergies About 20 million Europeans are subject to food allergies. Now scientists are looking at these allergies in new ways. It involves the food industry in its work and pays special attention to the link between early diets and allergy in later life .
The fight against hepatitis C in Egypt
The fight against hepatitis C in Egypt There is a hepatitis C epidemic in Egypt. Ironically, this is in large part due to a public health campaign in the 1960s and 1970s, during which injection needles were being re-used.
Camille Locht – an innovative solution to infant whooping cough
Camille Locht – an innovative solution to infant whooping cough Scientists involved in the EU-funded project ChildInnovac are about to publish in the online journal Plos One the results of their first clinical trial of a new nasal vaccine.
Nasal vaccine: towards an alternative to injection for infants
Nasal vaccine: towards an alternative to injection for infants Whooping cough and bronchiolitis are respiratory infections frequently affecting young children. In particular, infants under three months are very sensitive to these illnesses, which can lead to death in the most severe cases .
New Vaccine to Protect Babies from Whooping Cough
New Vaccine to Protect Babies from Whooping Cough In Europe, whooping cough ( Pertussis ) is in the increase, with more than 20.000 cases reported annually . Often infants fall victim to the disease, where it can be life-threatening.
Does Too Much Hygiene Cause Diabetes?
Does Too Much Hygiene Cause Diabetes? The incidence of auto-immune diseases like type 1 diabetes and allergies has risen dramatically in developed countries over the past fifty years .
Vallo Tillman: the hygiene hypothesis is not yet a theory
Vallo Tillman: the hygiene hypothesis is not yet a theory The so-called hygiene hypothesis claims young children need to get in contact with a number of relatively benign pathogens to develop a robust immune system .
Kids can be too clean
Kids can be too clean Are allergies and so-called autoimmune diseases, like type 1 diabetes, likely to be caused by a lack of exposure to relatively benign pathogens in early childhood? This theory is referred to as the hygiene hypothesis.
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