Children exposed to second hand tobacco smoke are more likely to get severe infectious diseases and have to be admitted to hospital, finds research published online ahead of print in Tobacco Control. – Second hand smoke decreases immunity in infants and thereby raises risk of infectious diseases and early hospitalization even in the first year of life in infants, revealed by researchers in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control.
First-born babies’ higher asthma and allergy rates due to pregnancy conditions. Allergic reactions are programmed during pregnancy and then effect the disease in later life. – First-born children are at higher risk of developing asthma and allergy because of different conditions they experience in the uterus, revealed by researchers.
A tiny variation in a gene known as CHI3L1 increases susceptibility to asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and decline in lung function, researchers report early online in the New England Journal of Medicine. – A tiny variation in a gene known as CHI3L1 increases susceptibility to asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and decline in lung function, researchers report early online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Expansion of a monocyte subset in HIV patients could serve as a biomarker for progression of the disease. – An increase in the CD163+/CD16+ monocyte subset could be a biomarker for the progression of HIV disease, according to researchers at Temple University, reported in the March issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.
Researchers showed that therapeutic cloning or SCNT has been successfully used to treat disease in the same subjects from whom the initial cells were derived. – Research led by investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has shown that therapeutic cloning, also known as somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), can be used to treat Parkinson’s disease in mice.
The combination of ELISpot-Plus and tuberculin skin testing is able to rule out TB within 48 hours. – A new blood test called ELISpot-Plus could enable doctors to rule out tuberculosis (TB) infection within days rather than weeks, according to a new study published this week in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Gene expression differences between those of European and African ancestry affect response to drugs and infections. – Differences in gene expression levels between people of European versus African ancestry can affect how each group responds to certain drugs or fights off specific infections, report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Expression Research Laboratory at Affymetrix Inc. of Santa Clara, CA.
CDC’s Advisory Committee Recommends Influenza Vaccination for Children 6 months through 18 years of age. – A panel of immunization experts voted to expand the recommended ages for annual influenza vaccination of children to include all children from 6 months through 18 years of age. The previous recommendation was for vaccination of children from 6 months to 59 months of age.
Growth hormone (GH) treatment was found to increase the immunity in HIV patients. It increased the thymic mass, and increased the number of immune cells HIV patients had circulating in their blood. – Growth hormone helps boost the immune system of HIV patients, revealed by researchers. Growth hormone (GH) treatment was associated with increased thymic mass, and increased the number of immune cells HIV patients had circulating in their blood.
Vitamin E supplementation may transiently increase tuberculosis risk in males who smoke heavily and have high dietary vitamin C intake. – Six-year vitamin E supplementation increased tuberculosis risk by 72% in male smokers who had high dietary vitamin C intake, but vitamin E had no effect on those who had low dietary vitamin C intake, according to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
