News Releases

August 2019

• Enterovirus Antibodies Detected in Acute Flaccid Myelitis Patients

  
  August 13, 2019

  A new study analyzing samples from patients with and without acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) provides additional evidence for an association between the rare but often serious condition that causes muscle weakness and paralysis, and infection with non-polio enteroviruses. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the research, which was conducted by investigators at Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity and investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Independent Monitoring Board Recommends Early Termination of Ebola Therapeutics Trial in DRC Because of Favorable Results with Two of Four Candidates

  
  August 12, 2019

  The Pamoja Tulinde Maisha (PALM [together save lives]) study is a randomized, controlled trial of four investigational agents (ZMapp, remdesivir, mAb114 and REGN-EB3) for the treatment of patients with Ebola virus disease. The study began on November 20, 2018 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of the emergency response to an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri Provinces.

• NIH-Funded Study Will Test Seasonal Flu Vaccines With Two Experimental Adjuvants

  
  August 8, 2019

  An early-stage clinical trial is evaluating two licensed seasonal influenza vaccines, administered with or without novel adjuvants, for their safety and ability to generate an immune response. Adjuvants are compounds added to vaccines to induce stronger and longer-lasting immune responses. The Phase 1 study is enrolling healthy adult volunteers at eight sites across the United States. The trial is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Experimental Treatment Slows Prion Disease, Extends Life of Mice

  
  August 2, 2019

  WHAT:

  Scientists using an experimental treatment have slowed the progression of scrapie, a degenerative central nervous disease caused by prions, in laboratory mice and greatly extended the rodents’ lives, according to a new report in JCI Insight.  The scientists used antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), synthetic compounds that inhibit the formation of specific proteins.  

• Clinical Trial to Evaluate Experimental Treatment in People Allergic to Multiple Foods

  
  August 1, 2019

  Though food allergy affects more than 4.8 million children in the United States, no approved preventative treatments currently exist. While experimental desensitization strategies are available in research settings, people with food allergies must avoid known allergens and are advised to carry injectable epinephrine to prevent potentially life-threatening allergic reactions caused by  accidental exposures. To help alleviate this risk, a new study to evaluate an experimental treatment for food allergy launched today.

• Experimental Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine Prompts Antibody Surge

  
  August 1, 2019

  A novel experimental vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a leading cause of severe respiratory illness in the very young and the old, has shown early promise in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The candidate, DS-Cav1, was engineered and developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, who were guided by their atomic-level understanding of the shape of an RSV protein.

• Scientists Discover Immune Cell Subtype in Mice That Drives Allergic Reactions

  August 1, 2019

  Allergies can be life-threatening when they cause anaphylaxis, an extreme reaction with constriction of the airways and a sudden drop in blood pressure. Scientists have identified a subtype of immune cell that drives the production of antibodies associated with anaphylaxis  and other allergic reactions.

July 2019

• NIH Awards Contract for Acute Flaccid Myelitis Natural History Study

  
  July 23, 2019

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) approximately $10 million over 5 years to study acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a rare but serious condition which causes muscle weakness and paralysis.

• Most Women Use Vaginal Ring for HIV Prevention in Open-Label Study

  
  July 23, 2019

  In an open-label study of women in southern and eastern Africa, a vaginal ring that is inserted once a month and slowly releases an antiviral drug was estimated to reduce the risk of HIV by 39%, according to statistical modeling. In addition, the study found that participants appeared to use the ring more in the open-label study than in a previous clinical trial. These and other results of the HIV Open Label Extension (HOPE) study were presented today at the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) in Mexico City.

• PrEP Use High but Wanes after Three Months Among Young African Women

  
  July 23, 2019

  In a study of open-label Truvada as daily pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV among 427 young African women and adolescent girls, 95% initiated the HIV prevention strategy, and most used PrEP for the first three months. However, PrEP use fell among participants in this critical population during a year of follow-up clinic visits, although HIV incidence at 12 months was low. The preliminary results suggest that tailored, evidence-based adherence support strategies may be needed to durably engage young African women in consistent PrEP use.

• Connection to HIV Care Helps Hardly Reached US Populations Suppress the Virus

  July 22, 2019

  Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and transgender women with HIV, who are not in care, can be engaged in care when reached and connected with HIV treatment services, according to findings from a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health. Nearly half of the study participants achieved and maintained viral suppression by one year, researchers reported today at the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) in Mexico City. 

• Persistent HIV in Central Nervous System Linked to Cognitive Impairment

  July 15, 2019

  Many people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) have viral genetic material in the cells of their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and these individuals are more likely to experience memory and concentration problems, according to new data published online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. A study of 69 individuals on long-term ART found that nearly half of the participants had persistent HIV in cells in their CSF, and 30% of this subset experienced neurocognitive difficulties.

• NIH and Partners to Launch HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trial in the Americas and Europe

  
  July 15, 2019

  The National Institutes of Health and partners today announced plans to conduct a Phase 3 HIV vaccine efficacy trial at multiple clinical research sites in North America, South America and Europe. The trial, called HPX3002/HVTN 706 or Mosaico, will assess whether an investigational vaccine regimen designed to induce immune responses against a variety of global HIV strains can safely and effectively prevent HIV acquisition among men who have sex with men and transgender people.

June 2019

• NIH Launches Large TB Prevention Trial for People Exposed to Multidrug-Resistant TB

  
  June 25, 2019

  A large clinical trial to assess treatments for preventing people at high risk from developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has begun. The study is comparing the safety and efficacy of a new MDR-TB drug, delamanid, with the decades-old TB drug isoniazid for preventing active MDR-TB disease in children, adolescents and adults at high risk who are exposed to adult household members with MDR-TB.

• NIAID Scientists Develop “Mini-Brain” Model of Human Prion Disease

  
  June 14, 2019

  National Institutes of Health scientists have used human skin cells to create what they believe is the first cerebral organoid system, or “mini-brain,” for studying sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). CJD is a fatal neurodegenerative brain disease of humans believed to be caused by infectious prion protein. It affects about 1 in 1 million people.

• NIH HIV Experts Prioritize Research to Achieve Sustained ART-Free HIV Remission

  
  June 6, 2019

  Achieving sustained remission of HIV without life-long antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a top HIV research priority, according to a new commentary in JAMA by experts at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. 

• Immune Cells Play Unexpected Role in Early Tuberculosis Infection

  
  June 5, 2019

  A class of immune cells called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) mediates the body’s initial defense against tuberculosis (TB), according to a report published online today in Nature. Boosting this response may provide a new approach to developing treatments and vaccines against TB, which causes more deaths worldwide than any other single infectious disease. The research was supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

• NIH-Supported Study Reveals a Novel Indicator of Influenza Immunity

  
  June 3, 2019

  A study of influenza virus transmission in Nicaraguan households reveals new insights into the type of immune responses that may be protective against influenza virus infection, report investigators. The findings could help scientists design more effective influenza vaccines and lead to the development of novel universal influenza vaccines.

May 2019

• Trial Evaluating Experimental Hepatitis C Vaccine Concludes

  May 29, 2019

  An experimental vaccine was not found to be effective at preventing chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in adults, according to results from a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Experimental Drug Completely Effective Against Nipah Virus Infection in Monkeys

  
  May 29, 2019

  The experimental antiviral drug remdesivir completely protected four African green monkeys from a lethal dose of Nipah virus, according to a new study in Science Translational Medicine from National Institutes of Health scientists and colleagues.

• NIAID Announces Two Awards for Multi-Year Studies of Influenza Immunity in Children

  
  May 22, 2019

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced two awards for the study of influenza immunity in children. The awards, which may total more than $64 million over seven years, will support studies led by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, examining how young children’s immune systems respond over multiple years to their initial influenza infection and their first vaccination.

• HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2019

  
  May 18, 2019

  Since the first cases of what would become known as HIV/AIDS were initially reported in 1981, scientists and public health officials have been working to better understand HIV, develop strategies to effectively treat and prevent infection, and bring about an end to the pandemic. This effort remains a critical focus globally and for the United States.

• Human Antibody Reveals Hidden Vulnerability in Influenza Virus

  
  May 16, 2019

  The ever-changing “head” of an influenza virus protein has an unexpected Achilles heel, report scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health. The team discovered and characterized the structure of a naturally occurring human antibody that recognizes and disrupts a portion of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein that the virus uses to enter and infect cells.

• NIH Trial Evaluates Long-acting HIV Medication in People Unable to Adhere to Strict Daily Regimens

  
  May 9, 2019

  A clinical trial to evaluate long-acting antiretroviral therapy (ART) for maintaining HIV suppression in people for whom adhering to conventional daily oral ART has been a challenge has begun at research sites across the United States. The study, called Long-Acting Therapy to Improve Treatment Success in Daily Life, or LATITUDE, will help determine whether a combination of two experimental injectable formulations of ART are superior to conventional oral ART in managing HIV infection in this population.

• NIH Awards Will Advance Development of Vaccines for Sexually Transmitted Infections

  
  May 9, 2019

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced awards to establish four Cooperative Research Centers (CRCs) focused on developing vaccines to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The grants, totaling $41.6 million over five years, will support collaborative, multidisciplinary research on the bacteria that cause syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. At the end of the program, each center is expected to identify at least one candidate vaccine ready for testing in clinical trials.    

• NIH Statement on World Asthma Day 2019

  May 7, 2019

  On World Asthma Day 2019, the National Institutes of Health stands with patients, families, advocates, researchers and health care professionals around the globe to raise awareness about this common chronic respiratory disease. 

April 2019

• The Importance of Childhood Vaccinations

  April 29, 2019

  Vaccines are essential for protecting children against infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella and whooping cough.  Many of these diseases are largely forgotten in our country.  Before vaccines became available, however, these diseases exacted a huge toll.  For example, before the measles vaccine was licensed in 1963, the virus infected at least 2 million Americans a year, causing 500 deaths and 48,000 hospitalizations. 

• World Malaria Day

  April 25, 2019

  Eliminating malaria—one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases—remains a critically important public health and biomedical research challenge. Despite remarkable advances in reducing malaria incidence and deaths since 2000, recent progress has become stagnant and has even reversed in some regions.

• Scratching the Skin Primes the Gut for Allergic Reactions to Food, Mouse Study Suggests

  April 23, 2019

  Scratching the skin triggers a series of immune responses culminating in an increased number of activated mast cells—immune cells involved in allergic reactions—in the small intestine, according to research conducted in mice. This newly identified skin-gut communication helps illuminate the relationship between food allergy and atopic dermatitis (a type of eczema), a disease characterized by dry, itchy skin.

• In Rare Cases, Immune System Fails Despite HIV Suppression

  April 18, 2019

  Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is usually very effective at suppressing HIV in the body, allowing a person’s immune system to recover by preventing the virus from destroying CD4+ T cells. Scientists have now identified a rare, paradoxical response to ART known as extreme immune decline, or EXID.

• Decline in Measles Vaccination Is Causing a Preventable Global Resurgence of the Disease

  
  April 18, 2019

  In 2000, measles was declared to be eliminated in the United States, when no sustained transmission of the virus was seen in this country for more than 12 months. Today, however, the United States and many other countries that had also eliminated the disease are experiencing concerning outbreaks of measles because of declines in measles vaccine coverage.

• Gene Therapy Restores Immunity in Infants with Rare Immunodeficiency Disease

  
  April 17, 2019

  A small clinical trial has shown that gene therapy can safely correct the immune systems of infants newly diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening inherited disorder in which infection-fighting immune cells do not develop or function normally. Eight infants with the disorder, called X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID), received an experimental gene therapy co-developed by National Institutes of Health scientists. They experienced substantial improvements in immune system function and were growing normally up to two years after treatment.

• Novel Antibody May Suppress HIV for Up to Four Months

  
  April 17, 2019

  Regular infusions of an antibody that blocks the HIV binding site on human immune cells may have suppressed levels of HIV for up to four months in people undergoing a short-term pause in their antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens, according to a report published online today in The New England Journal of Medicine. Results of the Phase 2, open-label study indicate the antibody, known as UB-421, was safe and did not induce the production of antibody-resistant HIV.

• NIH Researchers Make Progress Toward Epstein-Barr Virus Vaccine

  
  April 9, 2019

  A research team led by scientists from NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has determined how several antibodies induced by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpesvirus that causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with certain cancers, block infection of cells grown in the laboratory. They then used this information to develop novel vaccine candidates that, in animals, elicited potent anti-EBV antibody responses that blocked infection of cell types involved in EBV-associated cancers.

• Scientists Review Influenza Vaccine Research Progress and Opportunities

  
  April 8, 2019

  In a new series of articles, experts in immunology, virology, epidemiology, and vaccine development detail efforts to improve seasonal influenza vaccines and ultimately develop a universal influenza vaccine. The 15 articles are part of a supplement in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and scientists supported by NIAID, are among the contributing authors. Barney S.

• FDA-Approved Drug Effectively Treats Rare Chronic Immune Disorders

  
  April 3, 2019

  A drug approved to treat a severe form of asthma dramatically improved the health of people with rare chronic immune disorders called hypereosinophilic syndromes (HES) in whom other treatments were ineffective or intolerable. This finding comes from a small clinical trial led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted through a partnership with the global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The results were published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

• NIH Begins First-in-Human Trial of a Universal Influenza Vaccine Candidate

  
  April 3, 2019

  The first clinical trial of an innovative universal influenza vaccine candidate is examining the vaccine’s safety and tolerability as well as its ability to induce an immune response in healthy volunteers. Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, developed the experimental vaccine, known as H1ssF_3928. 

• Opioid Epidemic is Increasing Rates of Some Infectious Diseases

  April 3, 2019

  The United States faces a converging public health crisis as the nation’s opioid epidemic fuels growing rates of certain infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, heart infections, and skin and soft tissue infections. Infectious disease and substance use disorder professionals must work together to stem the mounting public health threat, according to a new commentary in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

• Acute Flaccid Myelitis Requires Galvanized Research Response

  
  April 2, 2019

  Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) presents significant challenges not only to patients but also to researchers, and efforts must be accelerated to learn more about the condition, experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, write in a new perspective published in mBio. 

March 2019

• Retinal Prion Disease Study Redefines Role for Brain Cells

  
  March 27, 2019

  National Institutes of Health scientists studying the progression of inherited and infectious eye diseases that can cause blindness have found that microglia, a type of nervous system cell suspected to cause retinal damage, surprisingly had no damaging role during prion disease in mice. In contrast, the study findings indicated that microglia might delay disease progression. 

• NIH Statement on World Tuberculosis Day, March 24, 2019

  March 22, 2019

  Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s leading infectious cause of death. In the 137 years since Dr. Robert Koch’s discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes TB, as many as one billion people worldwide have died of TB disease. This year’s World TB Day theme is “It’s Time” to end tuberculosis once and for all. We at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, are committed to accelerating the cutting-edge research necessary to ending this ancient disease.

• NIH to Test Experimental Drug to Curb Opioid Cravings

  
  March 21, 2019

  A clinical trial of an experimental drug designed to treat cravings associated with opioid use disorder (OUD) has begun in the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. The Phase I trial in healthy adults will assess the safety of the experimental compound, ANS-6637, and how it is processed in the body when given with another drug that is processed by the same liver enzyme pathway.

• Researchers Report High Rate of Viral Suppression Among People New to HIV Care

  March 7, 2019

  Eighty-six percent of individuals who entered HIV care soon after diagnosis maintained viral suppression after 48 weeks during a clinical trial conducted at four National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Centers for AIDS Research (CFARs) across the United States. Participants in the clinical trial, called iENGAGE, achieved viral suppression in an average of just 63 days.

• Study Finds Ebola Survivors in Liberia Face Ongoing Health Issues

  
  March 6, 2019

  Survivors of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Liberia had a higher prevalence of certain health issues—including uveitis (eye redness and pain), abdominal, chest, neurologic, and musculoskeletal abnormalities upon physical exam—when compared to a control group of household and community members who did not have a history of EVD, according to findings from an ongoing study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, even participants in the control group experienced a relatively high burden of health issues overall. 

• Tuberculosis Diagnosis in People with HIV Increases Risk of Death Within 10 Years

  
  March 6, 2019

  Among people with HIV in Latin America, those diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) at an initial clinic visit were about twice as likely to die within 10 years as people not initially diagnosed with TB, according to findings from a large observational study. This increased risk persisted despite the availability of TB treatment and mirrored patterns seen previously in HIV-negative populations, according to research supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Results of Trial to Stem Hospital-Acquired Bacterial Infections Published

  
  March 5, 2019

  New findings from a large, randomized clinical trial that compared two infection control techniques are already being incorporated into practice within the network of U.S. community hospitals where the trial took place. The trial evaluated whether daily bathing with the antiseptic soap chlorhexidine (CHG)—and in those patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), adding the nasal antibiotic mupirocin—more effectively reduced hospital-acquired bacterial infections than bathing with ordinary soap and water.

• HIV Prevention Study Finds Universal "Test and Treat" Approach Can Reduce New HIV Infections

  
  March 4, 2019

  New HIV infections declined by 30 percent in southern African communities where health workers conducted house-to-house voluntary HIV testing, referred people who tested positive to begin HIV treatment according to local guidelines, and offered other proven HIV prevention measures to those who tested negative. Local guidelines evolved during the study from offering HIV treatment based on immune health to offering immediate treatment for all. 

February 2019

• Scientists Identify Unique Subtype of Eczema Linked to Food Allergy

  
  February 20, 2019

  Atopic dermatitis, a common inflammatory skin condition also known as allergic eczema, affects nearly 20 percent of children, 30 percent of whom develop food allergies. Scientists have now found that children with both atopic dermatitis and food allergy have structural and molecular differences in the top layers of healthy-looking skin near the eczema lesions, whereas children with atopic dermatitis alone do not.

• NIH Clinical Trial to Track Outcomes of Liver Transplantation from HIV-Positive Donors to HIV-Positive Recipients

  
  February 14, 2019

  The first large-scale clinical trial to study liver transplantation between people with HIV has begun at clinical centers across the United States. The HOPE in Action Multicenter Liver Study will determine the safety of this practice by evaluating liver recipients for potential transplant-related and HIV-related complications following surgery. The study is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and follows the 2018 launch of a similar study evaluating kidney transplantation between people with HIV.

• Study of PrEP and Vaginal Ring for HIV Prevention Begins in Girls and Young Women

  
  February 7, 2019

  A clinical trial has begun to examine the safety and use of two HIV prevention tools—oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and a vaginal ring—in adolescent girls and young women in southern Africa. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the trial is designed to contribute to the delivery of safe, effective and desirable choices of HIV prevention methods for adolescent girls and young women, who are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic.

January 2019

• NIH-Supported Scientists Develop Tool to Measure Success of HIV Cure Strategies

  
  January 30, 2019

  Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new assay to accurately and easily count the cells that comprise the HIV reservoir, the stubborn obstacle to an HIV cure. This advance will enable researchers who are trying to eliminate the HIV reservoir to clearly understand whether their strategies are working. The research was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH.

• NIH Scientists Explore Tick Salivary Glands as Tool to Study Virus Transmission and Infection

  
  January 29, 2019

  The salivary glands of some tick species could become important research tools for studying how viruses are transmitted from ticks to mammals, and for developing preventive medical countermeasures. Tick salivary glands usually block transmission, but a new study conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health focuses on the role of salivary glands in spreading flaviviruses from black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) to mammals.

• Investigational Monoclonal Antibody to Treat Ebola Is Safe in Adults

  
  January 24, 2019

  The investigational Ebola treatment mAb114 is safe, well-tolerated, and easy to administer, according to findings from an early-stage clinical trial published in The Lancet. Eighteen healthy adults received the monoclonal antibody as part of a Phase 1 clinical trial that began in May 2018 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of NIH, developed the investigational treatment and conducted and sponsored the clinical trial.

• Temperature-Stable Experimental Tuberculosis Vaccine Enters Clinical Testing

  
  January 23, 2019

  Vaccinations have begun in a Phase 1 human clinical trial testing a freeze-dried, temperature-stable formulation of an experimental tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate. The trial is being conducted at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development and will enroll as many as 48 healthy adult volunteers aged 18 to 55 years. The experimental vaccine, called ID93, was developed by scientists at the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) in Seattle.

• Dengue Immunity May Be Protective Against Symptomatic Zika, Study Finds

  
  January 22, 2019

  Children with a history of prior dengue virus infection had a significantly lower risk of being symptomatic when infected by Zika virus, according to a study in Nicaragua of more than 3,000 children aged 2 to 14 years. Experts have worried that prior dengue virus infection could exacerbate severe Zika disease. However, the new findings, published in PLOS Medicine, indicate that prior dengue immunity in children may in fact be protective against symptomatic Zika disease. 

• Gut Microbes from Healthy Infants Block Milk Allergy Development in Mice

  
  January 14, 2019

  New research suggests that the gut microbiome may help prevent the development of cow’s milk allergy. Scientists at the University of Chicago found that gut microbes from healthy human infant donors transplanted into mice protected animals exposed to milk from experiencing allergic reactions, while gut microbes transplanted from infants allergic to milk did not. The work, described online today in Nature Medicine, was supported in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

• Clinical Trial Testing Fecal Microbiota Transplant for Recurrent Diarrheal Disease Begins

  
  January 14, 2019

  A research consortium recently began enrolling patients in a clinical trial examining whether fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) by enema—putting stool from a healthy donor in the colon of a recipient—is safe and can prevent recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD), a potentially life-threatening diarrheal illness. Investigators aim to enroll 162 volunteer participants 18 years or older who have had two or more episodes of CDAD within the previous six months. 

• The Science Is Clear: With HIV, Undetectable Equals Untransmittable

  January 10, 2019

  In recent years, an overwhelming body of clinical evidence has firmly established the HIV Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) concept as scientifically sound, say officials from the National Institutes of Health. U=U means that people living with HIV who achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load—the amount of HIV in the blood—by taking and adhering to antiretroviral therapy (ART) as prescribed cannot sexually transmit the virus to others.

December 2018

• NIH-Developed Test Detects Protein Associated with Alzheimer’s and CTE

  
  December 20, 2018

  An ultrasensitive test has been developed that detects a corrupted protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma. This advance could lead to early diagnosis of these conditions and open new research into how they originate, according to National Institutes of Health scientists and their colleagues.

• NIH to Fund HIV Care and Prevention Research in Vulnerable Southern U.S. Communities

  
  December 11, 2018

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will fund a series of collaborations with medical research institutions in the southern United States to test new ways of implementing HIV treatment and prevention tools in counties with some of the highest rates of new HIV cases nationwide. The U.S. South overall has the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses, people living with HIV, and HIV-related deaths of any U.S. region. 

November 2018

• NIH Statement on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2018

  
  November 30, 2018

  Each year on World AIDS Day, we reflect on the remarkable progress that has been made against HIV. Indeed, we have come a long way since the disease now known as AIDS was first reported in 1981. 

• Meeting the Challenge of Engaging Men in HIV Prevention and Treatment

  
  November 29, 2018

  A new commentary from National Institutes of Health scientists asserts that engaging men in HIV prevention and care is essential to the goal of ending the HIV pandemic. The article by Adeola Adeyeye, M.D., M.P.A., and David Burns, M.D., M.P.H., of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Michael Stirratt, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) also discusses potential solutions.

• Clinical Trial of Investigational Ebola Treatments Begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  
  November 27, 2018

  An international research team has begun patient enrollment in a clinical trial testing multiple investigational Ebola therapies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The randomized, controlled trial is enrolling patients of any age with confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) at a treatment unit in the city of Beni operated by The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), a medical humanitarian organization. 

• NIH-Funded Researchers Identify How Hantaviruses Infect the Lungs

  
  November 21, 2018

  A human protein associated with asthma is key to how hantaviruses infect the lungs and sometimes cause a life-threatening pulmonary condition known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health. They say the most prevalent hantaviruses in North America (Sin Nombre virus) and South America (Andes virus) can recognize the protein, protocadherin-1 (PCDH1), and exploit it to infect the lungs. They hope that disrupting that recognition event could lead to a therapeutic against HPS.

• Eyes of CJD Patients Show Evidence of Prions

  
  November 20, 2018

  National Institutes of Health scientists and their colleagues have found evidence of the infectious agent of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in the eyes of deceased CJD patients. The finding suggests that the eye may be a source for early CJD diagnosis and raises questions about the safety of routine eye exams and corneal transplants. Sporadic CJD, a fatal neurodegenerative prion disease of humans, is untreatable and difficult to diagnose.

• NIH Scientists Illuminate Causes of Hepatitis B Virus-Associated Acute Liver Failure

  
  November 13, 2018

  National Institutes of Health scientists and their collaborators found that hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated acute liver failure (ALF)—a rare condition that can turn fatal within days without liver transplantation—results from an uncommon encounter between a highly mutated HBV variant and an unusual immune response in the patient’s liver that is mainly sustained by antibody-producing B cells.

• Novel Antibiotic Shows Promise in Treatment of Uncomplicated Gonorrhea

  
  November 7, 2018

  An investigational oral antibiotic called zoliflodacin was well-tolerated and successfully cured most cases of uncomplicated gonorrhea when tested in a Phase 2 multicenter clinical trial, according to findings published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, sponsored the clinical study. 

October 2018

• Genomic Analysis Offers Insight into 2018 Nigeria Lassa Fever Outbreak

  
  October 17, 2018

  A surge in Lassa fever cases in Nigeria in 2018 does not appear to be linked to a single virus strain or increased human-to-human transmission, according to a genomic analysis published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Multiple institutions collaborated on the report, including the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Redeemer’s University in Ede, Nigeria; the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California; and Tulane University in New Orleans, among others.

• Scientists Develop Novel Vaccine for Lassa Fever and Rabies

  
  October 11, 2018

  A novel vaccine designed to protect people from both Lassa fever and rabies showed promise in preclinical testing, according to new research published in Nature Communications. The investigational vaccine, called LASSARAB, was developed and tested by scientists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia; the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal; the University of California, San Diego; and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• NIH Study Finds Probiotic Bacillus Eliminates Staphylococcus Bacteria

  
  October 10, 2018

  A new study from National Institutes of Health scientists and their Thai colleagues shows that a “good” bacterium commonly found in probiotic digestive supplements helps eliminate Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that can cause serious antibiotic-resistant infections. The researchers, led by scientists at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), unexpectedly found that Bacillus bacteria prevented S. aureus bacteria from growing in the gut and nose of healthy individuals.

September 2018

• Combination HIV Antibody Infusions Safely Maintain Viral Suppression in Select Individuals

  September 26, 2018

  A small group of people living with HIV sensitive to two potent anti-HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs)—3BNC117 and 10-1074—tolerated multiple infusions of the antibodies and suppressed HIV for more than 15 weeks after stopping antiretroviral therapy (ART). The new findings, from a pilot clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others, are reported today in Nature.

• NIAID Releases Strategic Plan to Address Tuberculosis Research

  
  September 26, 2018

  WHAT:Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious cause of death worldwide, killing roughly 1.6 million people in 2017. In the past 200 years, TB claimed the lives of more than one billion people—more deaths than from malaria, influenza, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, cholera and plague combined.

• Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Helps Restore Beneficial Bacteria in Cancer Patients

  
  September 26, 2018

  Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have shown that autologous fecal microbiota transplantation (auto-FMT) is a safe and effective way to help replenish beneficial gut bacteria in cancer patients who require intense antibiotics during allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In their study, patients who underwent the procedure were randomly assigned into two groups: one group received standard care and the other received auto-FMT.

• NIH Launches Study to Test Combination Antibody Treatment for HIV Infection

  
  September 20, 2018

  A clinical trial testing infusions of combination antibodies in people living with HIV has begun at the National Institutes of Health. The early-phase clinical trial will evaluate whether periodic infusions of two highly potent, HIV-specific, broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs)—3BNC117 and 10-1074—are safe in people living with HIV. The study also will gather preliminary data on how effectively the bNAb infusions, delivered together every two to four weeks, suppress HIV following discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). 

• NIAID and Children’s National Partner to Advance Pediatric Clinical Research

  September 17, 2018

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Children’s National Health System, a pediatric academic medical center in Washington, D.C., have launched a clinical research partnership devoted to treating and preventing allergic, immunologic and infectious diseases in children. An inaugural symposium will take place at Children’s National on Sept. 17, 2018, to highlight the partnership and discuss current and future directions for its research activities. 

• Experimental Nasal Influenza Vaccine Tested in Kids, Teens

  September 17, 2018

  An early-stage clinical trial testing the safety and immune-stimulating ability of an experimental nasal influenza vaccine in healthy 9- to 17-year-old children and teens has begun enrolling participants at a Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) site at Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri. The VTEU is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Early-Stage Clinical Trial of Antimalarial Drug Begins

  
  September 10, 2018

  Enrollment has begun in a Phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety of a new investigational drug designed to treat malaria, as well as its effect on the human body. The first-in-human study is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is being conducted at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina.     

• Clinical Trial Testing Topical Cream Plus Influenza Vaccine in Progress

  
  September 5, 2018

  A Phase 1 clinical trial examining whether a topical cream can enhance the immune response conferred by a “pre-pandemic” influenza vaccine is underway at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Investigators are evaluating whether imiquimod cream, which is commonly used to treat genital warts and certain skin cancers, can boost the body’s immune response to an H5N1 influenza vaccine. The trial is enrolling 50 healthy adults ages 18-50 years.

August 2018

• Novel Intervention Halves Rate of Death Among People Living with HIV Who Inject Drugs

  
  August 30, 2018

  An intervention designed to facilitate treatment for HIV and substance use was associated with a 50 percent reduction in mortality for people living with HIV who inject illicit drugs, a study has found. In addition, the people who received the intervention were nearly twice as likely to report being in treatment for HIV and substance use after one year as those who received their national standard of care. They also were about twice as likely to have suppressed their HIV to undetectable levels after one year.

• HIV/AIDS Research Yields Dividends Across Medical Fields

  
  August 28, 2018

  Since the first cases of AIDS were reported in the United States 37 years ago, the National Institutes of Health has invested more than $69 billion in the understanding, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Beyond the development of life-saving medications and innovative prevention modalities, such research has led to numerous advances outside the HIV field, according to a new commentary from experts at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). 

• Rapid Development in Central Africa Increases the Risk of Infectious Disease Outbreaks

  
  August 22, 2018

  The Central Africa region is experiencing rapid urbanization and economic growth, and infrastructure development. These changes, while generally positive and welcome, also make the region more vulnerable to explosive infectious disease outbreaks, according to an international group of scientists.

• NIH Officials: Closing Treatment Gaps Critical to Ending the U.S. HIV Epidemic

  
  August 20, 2018

  Daily antiretroviral therapy (ART) that suppresses HIV to levels undetectable by standard blood tests is lifesaving for individuals living with HIV and prevents sexual transmission of the virus to others. The public health community must use targeted interventions, however, to do a better job of reaching populations with low levels of viral suppression, according to experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. 

• NIH Begins Clinical Trial of Live, Attenuated Zika Vaccine

  
  August 16, 2018

  Vaccinations have begun in a first-in-human trial of an experimental live, attenuated Zika virus vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The trial will enroll a total of 28 healthy, non-pregnant adults ages 18 to 50 at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Immunization Research in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the Vaccine Testing Center at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington. NIAID is sponsoring the trial. 

• NIH Study Shows How MERS Coronavirus Evolves to Infect Different Species

  
  August 14, 2018

  In the past 15 years, two outbreaks of severe respiratory disease were caused by coronaviruses transmitted from animals to humans. In 2003, SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) spread from civets to infect more than 8,000 people, leading to a year-long global public health emergency. MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus), first identified in 2012, consistently jumps from dromedary camels to people, resulting in periodic outbreaks with a roughly 35 percent fatality rate.

• During HIV Infection, Antibody Can Block B Cells from Fighting Pathogens

  
  August 13, 2018

  For the first time, scientists have shown that in certain people living with HIV, a type of antibody called immunoglobulin G3 (IgG3) stops the immune system’s B cells from doing their normal job of fighting pathogens. This phenomenon appears to be one way the body tries to reduce the potentially damaging effects of immune-system hyperactivity caused by the presence of HIV, according to the investigators, but in so doing, it also impairs normal immune function. 

• Experts Highlight Ebola Vaccine Progress and Suggest Next Steps

  
  August 10, 2018

  Despite promising advances, important scientific questions remain unanswered in the effort to develop a safe and effective Ebola vaccine, according to members of an international Ebola research consortium. In a Viewpoint published in The Lancet, the experts review the current field of Ebola vaccine candidates and clinical trials and highlight key gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed by future research. 

• Obesity Extends Duration Of Influenza A Virus Shedding

  
  August 2, 2018

  Obesity, which increases influenza disease severity, also extends by about 1.5 days how long influenza A virus is shed from infected adults compared to non-obese adults, according to a multi-year study of two cohorts of Nicaraguan households. The findings implicate chronic inflammation caused by obesity as well as increasing age as reasons for extended viral shedding, which puts others at risk of infection. 

July 2018

• Fauci: HIV Remission Free of Antiretroviral Therapy Is a Feasible Goal

  
  July 25, 2018

  Long-lasting control of HIV infection without antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a feasible goal that deserves vigorous pursuit, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., will assert during a lecture on Wednesday, July 25 at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam. Dr. Fauci directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. His lecture is titled, “Durable Control of HIV Infection in the Absence of Antiretroviral Therapy: Opportunities and Challenges.”

• Multi-Disease Health Fairs, Universal "Test and Treat" Help East African Communities Achieve HIV Benchmarks

  
  July 25, 2018

  People living with HIV in rural East African communities that hosted annual community health campaigns initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) earlier and had higher levels of overall survival and viral suppression than communities receiving standard HIV care, according to study data presented today at a press conference at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam.

• Tickborne Diseases Are Likely to Increase, Say NIAID Officials

  
  July 25, 2018

  The incidence of tickborne infections in the United States has risen significantly within the past decade. It is imperative, therefore, that public health officials and scientists build a robust understanding of pathogenesis, design improved diagnostics, and develop preventive vaccines, according to a new commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine from leading scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

• Broadly Acting Antibodies Found in Plasma of Ebola Survivors

  
  July 17, 2018

  Recent Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks, including the 2013-2016 epidemic that ravaged West Africa and the 2018 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, highlight the need for licensed treatments for this often-deadly disease. ZMapp, an experimental therapy comprising three monoclonal antibodies, has shown promise in a clinical trial, but it targets only one of the five known species of Ebola virus.

• Imaging Technique Illuminates Immune Status of Monkeys with HIV-Like Virus

  July 12, 2018

  Findings from an animal study suggest that a non-invasive imaging technique could, with further development, become a useful tool to assess immune system recovery in people receiving treatment for HIV infection. Researchers used single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and a CD4-specific imaging probe to assess immune system changes throughout the bodies of macaques infected with SIV, a simian form of HIV, following initiation and interruption of antiretroviral therapy (ART).

• NIAID Scientists Create 3D Structure of 1918 Influenza Virus-Like Particles

  
  July 11, 2018

  Virus-like particles (VLPs) are protein-based structures that mimic viruses and bind to antibodies. Because VLPs are not infectious, they show considerable promise as vaccine platforms for many viral diseases, including influenza. Realizing that fine details about influenza VLPs were scant, a team of researchers who specialize in visualizing molecular structures developed a 3D model based on the 1918 H1 pandemic influenza virus.

• Natural Lipid Acts as Potent Anti-Inflammatory

  
  July 6, 2018

  National Institutes of Health researchers have identified a naturally occurring lipid—a waxy, fatty acid—used by a disease-causing bacterium to impair the host immune response and increase the chance of infection. Inadvertently, they also may have found a potent inflammation therapy against bacterial and viral diseases. 

• Pregnancy Loss Occurs in 26 Percent of Zika-Infected Monkeys

  July 2, 2018

  Fetal death in utero occurred in more than one-fourth of monkeys infected in the laboratory with Zika virus in early pregnancy, according to new research published in Nature Medicine. The finding raises the concern that Zika virus-associated pregnancy loss in humans may be more common than currently thought, according to the study authors. 

June 2018

• Early-Stage Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine Trial Begins

  
  June 14, 2018

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched a clinical trial of an investigational vaccine designed to protect against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The Phase 1 study will enroll a small group of healthy adult volunteers to examine the safety of an experimental intranasal vaccine and its ability to induce an immune response. The study is being conducted at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, one of the NIAID-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs).

• Eosinophilic Esophagitis May be Due to Missing Protein

  June 6, 2018

  Scientists have discovered that the absence of a specific protein in cells lining the esophagus may cause inflammation and tissue damage in people with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).  EoE affects as many as 150,000 people in the United States, many of whom are children. People with EoE experience difficult or painful swallowing, vomiting and nutritional problems because an accumulation of immune cells called eosinophils scars the esophagus.

• HIV Vaccine Elicits Antibodies in Animals that Neutralize Dozens of HIV Strains

  
  June 4, 2018

  An experimental vaccine regimen based on the structure of a vulnerable site on HIV elicited antibodies in mice, guinea pigs and monkeys that neutralize dozens of HIV strains from around the world. The findings were reported today in the journal Nature Medicine by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues. 

May 2018

• NIH Scientists Show How Tularemia Bacteria Trick Cells to Cause Disease

  May 30, 2018

  Francisella tularensis is the bacterium that causes tularemia, a life-threatening disease spread to humans via contact with an infected animal or through mosquito, tick or deer fly bites.  As few as 10 viable bacteria can cause the disease, which has a death rate of up to 60 percent. Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—part of the National Institutes of Health—have unraveled the process by which the bacteria cause disease. They found that F. tularensis tricks host cell mitochondria, which produce energy for the cell, in two different phases of infection. In the first eight hours of infection, the bacteria increase mitochondria function, which inhibits cell death and prevents the cell from mounting an inflammatory response to avoid an immune system attack. In the 24 hours after, the bacteria impair mitochondrial function, undergo explosive replication and spread. These basic science findings could play a role in developing effective treatment strategies, according to the researchers.

• NIH Begins Testing Ebola Treatment in Early-Stage Trial

  
  May 23, 2018

  A first-in-human trial evaluating an experimental treatment for Ebola virus disease has begun at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The Phase 1 clinical trial is examining the safety and tolerability of a single monoclonal antibody called mAb114, which was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, and their collaborators. Investigators aim to enroll between 18 and 30 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 60. The trial will not expose participants to Ebola virus.

• NIH-Funded Researchers Identify Target for Chikungunya Treatment

  
  May 21, 2018

  Scientists have identified a molecule found on human cells and some animal cells that could be a useful target for drugs against chikungunya virus infection and related diseases, according to new research published in the journal Nature. A team led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis conducted the research, which was funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Experimental MERS Treatments Enter Clinical Trial

  
  May 18, 2018

  Enrollment has begun in an early-stage clinical trial testing the safety of two human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) designed to treat people infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The trial is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is funded in part by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Department Health and Human Services. 

• NIH Statement on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, May 18, 2018

  May 18, 2018

  As a result of the many scientific research advances over 37 years, we now have highly effective methods of HIV treatment and prevention. These tools have allowed us to make important strides in reducing the burden of HIV in the United States and globally.

• Microglia Are Key Defenders Against Prion Diseases

  
  May 17, 2018

  Prion diseases are slow degenerative brain diseases that occur in people and various other mammals. No vaccines or treatments are available, and these diseases are almost always fatal. Scientists have found little evidence of a protective immune response to prion infections. Further, microglia—brain cells usually involved in the first level of host defense against infections of the brain—have been thought to worsen these diseases by secreting toxic molecules that can damage nerve cells.

• Despite Mutations in Makona Ebola Virus, Disease Consistent in Mice, Monkeys

  
  May 8, 2018

  Early during the recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa, scientists speculated that the genetic diversity of the circulating Makona strain of virus (EBOV-Makona) would result in more severe disease and more transmissibility than prior strains. However, using two different animal models, National Institutes of Health scientists have determined that certain mutations stabilized early during the epidemic and did not alter Ebola disease presentation or outcome.

• NIH Clinical Trial to Track Outcomes of Kidney Transplantation From HIV-Positive Donors to HIV-Positive Recipients

  May 7, 2018

  The first large-scale clinical trial to study kidney transplantations between people with HIV has begun at clinical centers across the United States. The HOPE in Action Multicenter Kidney Study will determine the safety of this practice by evaluating kidney recipients for potential transplant-related and HIV-related complications following surgery. The study is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• NIAID-Sponsored Trial of a Universal Influenza Vaccine Begins

  May 4, 2018

  A Phase 2 clinical trial of an investigational universal influenza vaccine intended to protect against multiple strains of the virus has begun in the United States. The study is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is being conducted at four U.S. sites that are part of the NIAID-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs).

• Essential Malaria Parasite Genes Revealed

  
  May 3, 2018

  Researchers have exploited a quirk in the genetic make-up of the deadly malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to create 38,000 mutant strains and then determine which of the organism’s genes are essential to its growth and survival. P. falciparum is responsible for about half of all malaria cases and 90 percent of all malaria deaths. New information about the parasite’s critical gene repertoire could help investigators prioritize targets for future antimalarial drug development.

• Bacteria Therapy for Eczema Shows Promise in NIH Study

  
  May 3, 2018

  Topical treatment with live Roseomonas mucosa—a bacterium naturally present on the skin—was safe for adults and children with atopic dermatitis (eczema) and was associated with reduced disease severity, according to initial findings from an ongoing early-phase clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health. Preclinical work in a mouse model of atopic dermatitis had suggested that R. mucosa strains collected from healthy skin can relieve disease symptoms.

• NIH Statement on World Asthma Day 2018

  May 1, 2018

  On World Asthma Day 2018, the National Institutes of Health stands with people worldwide to renew our commitment to advance understanding of asthma and develop effective strategies to manage, treat and ultimately prevent the disease. A new three-minute NIH video provides a glimpse into the stories of patients and doctors who are working to advance research. Patients discuss the impact asthma has had on their lives, and investigators highlight promising areas of research and the critical role that clinical trial volunteers play in combatting the disease.  

April 2018

• NIH Statement on World Malaria Day, April 25, 2018

  April 25, 2018

  Significant global progress has been made since 2000 to reduce the incidence and mortality of malaria. However, recent evidence suggests that the trend toward fewer malaria cases and deaths has stalled, or in some regions of the world, reversed course. As a global community, we cannot afford to cede the hard-fought gains in the battle to control and eliminate this devastating mosquito-borne disease.

• NIH Study: No Chronic Wasting Disease Transmissibility in Macaques

  April 25, 2018

  Chronic wasting disease (CWD) did not cross the species barrier to infect cynomolgus macaque monkeys during a lengthy investigation by National Institutes of Health scientists exploring risks to humans. 

• Epstein-Barr Virus Protein Can “Switch On” Risk Genes for Autoimmune Diseases

  April 16, 2018

  Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the cause of infectious mononucleosis, has been associated with subsequent development of systemic lupus erythematosus and other chronic autoimmune illnesses, but the mechanisms behind this association have been unclear. Now, a novel computational method shows that a viral protein found in EBV-infected human cells may activate genes associated with increased risk for autoimmunity. Scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases report their findings today in Nature Genetics.

• Genetically Altered Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Protect Monkeys from HIV-Like Virus

  April 16, 2018

  Two genetically modified broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) protected rhesus macaques from an HIV-like virus, report scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. After introducing genetic mutations into two potent HIV bNAbs, researchers prepared intravenous infusions of two bNAbs known as 3BNC117-LS and 10-1074-LS.

• NIH Scientists Develop Macaque Model to Study Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

  
  April 9, 2018

  Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral disease spread by ticks in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. Infection with CCHF virus is fatal in nearly one of every three cases. No specific treatments or vaccines for CCHF exist, primarily because a suitable animal model for studying the disease has not been available. Scientists have used mice to study CCHF but had to weaken their immune systems to cause infection. Studies in larger animals have not consistently replicated human disease.

• Research Offers Clues for Improved Influenza Vaccine Design

  
  April 6, 2018

  Influenza vaccines that better target the influenza surface protein called neuraminidase (NA) could offer broad protection against various influenza virus strains and lessen the severity of illness, according to new research published in Cell. Current seasonal influenza vaccines mainly target a different, more abundant influenza surface protein called hemagglutinin (HA). However, because influenza vaccines offer varying and sometimes limited protection, scientists are exploring ways to improve vaccine effectiveness.

• New Coronavirus Emerges From Bats in China, Devastates Young Swine

  
  April 4, 2018

  A newly identified coronavirus that killed nearly 25,000 piglets in 2016-17 in China emerged from horseshoe bats near the origin of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which emerged in 2002 in the same bat species. The new virus is named swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV). It does not appear to infect people, unlike SARS-CoV which infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774. No SARS-CoV cases have been identified since 2004. The study investigators identified SADS-CoV on four pig farms in China’s Guangdong Province.

March 2018

• NIH Scientists Say Advanced Vaccines Could Limit Future Outbreaks

  March 22, 2018

  Novel vaccine technologies are critical to improving the public health response to infectious disease threats that continually emerge and re-emerge, according to scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. In a perspective in The Journal of the American Medical Association, the experts highlight innovations that could significantly shorten the typical decades-long vaccine development timeline.

• NIH Statement on World Tuberculosis Day, March 24, 2018

  March 22, 2018

  In the 130 years since the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)—the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB)—at least 1 billion people have died from TB. That death toll is greater than the combined number of deaths from malaria, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, cholera, plague and influenza. Today, in commemoration of World TB Day, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), renews and reinvigorates its commitment to the research needed to end this ancient scourge. 

• Islet Transplantation Improves Quality of Life for People with Hard-to-Control Type 1 Diabetes

  March 21, 2018

  Quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes who had frequent severe hypoglycemia—a potentially fatal low blood glucose (blood sugar) level—improved consistently and dramatically following transplantation of insulin-producing pancreatic islets, according to findings published online March 21 in Diabetes Care.

• Newly Described Human Antibody Prevents Malaria in Mice

  
  March 19, 2018

  Scientists have discovered a human antibody that protected mice from infection with the deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The research findings provide the basis for future testing in humans to determine if the antibody can provide short-term protection against malaria, and also may aid in vaccine design. Investigators at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, led the research with colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

• H7N9 Influenza Vaccine Clinical Trials Begin

  March 15, 2018

  Two new clinical trials testing an experimental vaccine to prevent influenza caused by an H7N9 influenza virus are now enrolling volunteers at sites across the United States. The Phase 2 studies, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will test different dosages of the inactivated influenza vaccine candidate (called 2017 H7N9 IIV) as well as different vaccination schedules. The studies also will evaluate whether an adjuvant boosts the immune responses of people receiving the vaccine. 

• NIH Scientists Describe Potential Antibody Approach for Treating Multidrug-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae

  
  March 13, 2018

  Researchers are developing a promising alternative to antibiotic treatment for infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria resistant to carbapenem antibiotics. The approach uses antibodies to target the K. pneumoniae protective capsule polysaccharide, allowing immune system cells called neutrophils to attack and kill the bacteria. The early stage, in vitro research was conducted by scientists at NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories and the New Jersey Medical School-Rutgers University.

• NIH Experts Call for Transformative Research Approach to End Tuberculosis

  March 9, 2018

  A more intensive biomedical research approach is necessary to control and ultimately eliminate tuberculosis (TB), according to a perspective published in the March 2018 issue of The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. In the article, authors Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Robert W.

• NIAID Scientists Assess Transmission Risk of Familial Human Prion Diseases to Mice

  
  March 8, 2018

  Familial human prion diseases are passed within families and are associated with 34 known prion protein mutations. To determine whether three of the unstudied mutations are transmissible, scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, exposed research mice to brain samples from three people who died from a familial prion disease. After observing the mice for about two years, they found two of the mutations, Y226X and G131V, are transmissible.

• Monoclonal Antibodies Crucial to Fighting Emerging Infectious Diseases, Say NIAID Officials

  March 8, 2018

  Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs)—preparations of a specific type of antibody designed to bind to a single target—have shown promise in the fight against cancer and autoimmune diseases. They also may play a critical role in future battles against emerging infectious disease outbreaks, according to a new article by scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• High Uptake and Use of Vaginal Ring for HIV Prevention Observed in Open-Label Study

  March 6, 2018

  Nearly 90 percent of participants in an open-label study of a vaginal ring infused with a drug to prevent HIV are using the monthly ring at least some of the time, according to an interim analysis of study data. In addition, the rate of HIV infection among participants in the open-label study, which has no placebo arm for comparison, is half of what might be expected in the absence of the ring, according to mathematical modeling that has significant limitations. 

• One-Month Tuberculosis Prophylaxis as Effective as Nine-Month Regimen for People Living with HIV

  March 5, 2018

  A one-month antibiotic regimen to prevent active tuberculosis (TB) disease was at least as safe and effective as the standard nine-month therapy for people living with HIV, according to the results of a large international clinical trial. Adults and adolescents in the trial were more likely to complete the short-course regimen—consisting of daily doses of the antibiotics rifapentine and isoniazid for four weeks—than the standard nine-month regimen of daily isoniazid.

• Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Treatment May Target Viral Reservoir in Monkeys

  March 4, 2018

  After receiving a course of antiretroviral therapy for their HIV-like infection, approximately half of a group of monkeys infused with a broadly neutralizing antibody to HIV combined with an immune stimulatory compound suppressed the virus for six months without additional treatment, according to scientists supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

February 2018

• NIAID Unveils Strategic Plan for Developing a Universal Influenza Vaccine

  
  February 28, 2018

  Developing a universal influenza vaccine—a vaccine that can provide durable protection for all age groups against multiple influenza strains, including those that might cause a pandemic—is a priority for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Writing in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, NIAID officials detail the institute’s new strategic plan for addressing the research areas essential to creating a safe and effective universal influenza vaccine.

• U.S. Hospitals Testing Experimental Therapies to Prevent Two Common Bacterial Infections

  February 23, 2018

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is supporting U.S. clinical sites participating in two ongoing international Phase 2 clinical trials evaluating investigational antibody-based therapies aimed at preventing potentially antibiotic-resistant infections. By aligning the NIAID Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG) with a large international consortium leading the effort, the U.S. investigators hope to enroll 30 adult patients from 15 intensive care units in the trials.

• NIH Study Will Assess Biomarker as Potential Indicator of Whether Lower Respiratory Tract Infections Improve with Antibacterial Treatment

  February 13, 2018

  A new clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, aims to determine whether low blood levels of the protein procalcitonin can reliably indicate whether a person’s lower respiratory tract infection will improve with antibiotic treatment. 

• NIH Scientists Adapt New Brain Disease Test for Parkinson’s, Dementia with Lewy Bodies

  
  February 9, 2018

  National Institutes of Health scientists developing a rapid, practical test for the early diagnosis of prion diseases have modified the assay to offer the possibility of improving early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. The group, led by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), tested 60 cerebral spinal fluid samples, including 12 from people with Parkinson’s disease, 17 from people with dementia with Lewy bodies, and 31 controls, including 16 of whom had Alzheimer’s disease.

• Ebola Virus Infects Reproductive Organs in Monkeys

  
  February 8, 2018

  Ebola virus can infect the reproductive organs of male and female macaques, according to a study published in The American Journal of Pathology, suggesting that humans could be similarly infected. Prior studies of survivors of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa have revealed sexual transmission of  Ebola virus, and that viral RNA (Ebola virus genetic material) can persist in semen following recovery.

January 2018

• NIH Begins Large HIV Treatment Study in Pregnant Women

  January 24, 2018

  The National Institutes of Health has launched a large international study to compare the safety and efficacy of three antiretroviral treatment regimens for pregnant women living with HIV and the safety of these regimens for their infants. The study will evaluate the current preferred first-line regimen for pregnant women recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and two regimens containing newer antiretroviral drugs that are becoming more widely used.

• Study Links Gut-Homing Protein Levels with HIV Infection Risk, Disease Progression

  
  January 24, 2018

  For the first time, scientists have shown a relationship between the proportion of key immune cells that display high levels of a gut-homing protein called alpha-4 beta-7 at the time of HIV infection and health outcomes. Previous research illustrated this relationship in monkeys infected with a simian form of HIV. 

• 15 Years Later, PEPFAR Continues to Save Lives

  
  January 24, 2018

  Experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have penned a New England Journal of Medicine perspective recognizing the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for 15 years of implementing an innovative program to prevent, treat, and care for persons living with HIV and AIDS. The authors stress that continued support for the U.S.

• Flu Infection Study Increases Understanding of Natural Immunity

  
  January 23, 2018

  People with higher levels of antibodies against the stem portion of the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein have less viral shedding when they get the flu, but do not have fewer or less severe signs of illness, according to a new study published in mBio. HA sits on the surface of the influenza virus to help bind it to cells and features a head and stem region.

• NIH Scientists Find Microbes on the Skin of Mice Promote Tissue Healing, Immunity

  January 18, 2018

  Beneficial bacteria on the skin of lab mice work with the animals’ immune systems to defend against disease-causing microbes and accelerate wound healing, according to new research from scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers say untangling similar mechanisms in humans may improve approaches to managing skin wounds and treating other damaged tissues. The study was published online today in Cell.

• NIH Study Supports Use of Short-Term HIV Treatment Interruption in Clinical Trials

  January 11, 2018

  A short-term pause in HIV treatment during a carefully monitored clinical trial does not lead to lasting expansion of the HIV reservoir nor cause irreversible damage to the immune system, new findings suggest. 

• MERS Antibodies Produced in Cattle Safe, Treatment Well Tolerated in Phase 1 Trial

  
  January 9, 2018

  An experimental treatment developed from cattle plasma for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus infection shows broad potential, according to a small clinical trial led by National Institutes of Health scientists and their colleagues. The treatment, SAB-301, was safe and well tolerated by healthy volunteers, with only minor reactions documented.

• Stem Cell Transplant for Severe Scleroderma Improves Survival, Quality of Life

  January 3, 2018

  New clinical trial findings show that a therapeutic regimen involving transplantation of a person’s own blood-forming stem cells can improve survival and quality of life for people with severe scleroderma, a life-threatening autoimmune disease. The regimen, known as myeloablative autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), includes chemotherapy and total body radiation to destroy the bone marrow followed by transplantation of the person’s own blood-forming stem cells to reconstitute the marrow and immune system.

December 2017

• Zika Remains a Research and Public Health Challenge, Say NIAID Scientists

  December 21, 2017

  Since 2016, when Zika was declared by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency of international concern, the virus has become established in more than 80 countries, infected millions of people, and left many babies with birth defects (collectively called congenital Zika syndrome).

• Omalizumab Improves Efficacy of Oral Immunotherapy for Multiple Food Allergies

  December 11, 2017

  Combining a 16-week initial course of the medication omalizumab with oral immunotherapy (OIT) greatly improves the efficacy of OIT for children with allergies to multiple foods, new clinical trial findings show. After 36 weeks, more than 80 percent of children who received omalizumab and OIT could safely consume two-gram portions of at least two foods to which they were allergic, compared with only a third of children who received placebo and OIT. 

• Gene-Based Zika Vaccine is Safe and Immunogenic in Healthy Adults

  
  December 4, 2017

  Results from two Phase 1 clinical trials show an experimental Zika vaccine developed by government scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is safe and induces an immune response in healthy adults. The findings will be published on Dec. 4 in The Lancet. NIAID is currently leading an international effort to evaluate the investigational vaccine in a Phase 2/2b safety and efficacy trial.

• Trials Show Inactivated Zika Virus Vaccine Is Safe and Immunogenic

  
  December 4, 2017

  The investigational Zika purified inactivated virus (ZPIV) vaccine was well-tolerated and induced an immune response in participants, according to initial results from three Phase 1 clinical trials. Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), part of the U.S. Department of Defense, are developing the vaccine as well as leading one of the trials. WRAIR also is co-funding the trials together with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The results will appear on Dec. 4 in The Lancet.

• NIH Statement on World AIDS Day 2017

  December 1, 2017

  Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesMaureen M. Goodenow, Ph.D., Director, Office of AIDS Research

November 2017

• NIH Launches HIV Prevention Trial of Long-Acting Injectable Medication in Sexually Active Women

  November 30, 2017

  The first large-scale clinical trial of a long-acting injectable medication for HIV prevention in sexually active women has begun. The study in southern and eastern Africa will examine whether a long-acting form of the investigational anti-HIV drug cabotegravir injected once every eight weeks can safely protect women at risk for HIV infection. The only drug regimen currently licensed for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is the anti-HIV medication Truvada taken daily as an oral tablet. The U.S.

• NIH and Partners Launch HIV Vaccine Efficacy Study

  November 30, 2017

  The National Institutes of Health and partners have launched a large clinical trial to assess whether an experimental HIV vaccine regimen is safe and able to prevent HIV infection. The new Phase 2b proof-of-concept study, called Imbokodo, aims to enroll 2,600 HIV-negative women in sub-Saharan Africa. Of 1.8 million new HIV infections worldwide in 2016, 43 percent occurred in eastern and southern Africa, with women and girls disproportionately affected.

• Combination HIV Prevention Reduces New Infections by 42 Percent in Ugandan District

  
  November 29, 2017

  A study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine provides real-world evidence that implementing a combination of proven HIV prevention measures across communities can substantially reduce new HIV infections in a population.

  Investigators found that HIV incidence dropped by 42 percent among nearly 18,000 people in Rakai District, Uganda, during a seven-year period in which the rates of HIV treatment and voluntary medical male circumcision increased significantly.

• Fighting the Flu, Year after Year

  
  November 29, 2017

  In a New England Journal of Medicine perspective, experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne discuss how the process of preparing seasonal influenza vaccines in eggs may contribute to their limited effectiveness. The authors offer research strategies that might yield more protective vaccine candidates.

• NIAID Scientists Link Cases of Unexplained Anaphylaxis to Red Meat Allergy

  
  November 28, 2017

  While rare, some people experience recurrent episodes of anaphylaxis—a life-threatening allergic reaction that causes symptoms such as the constriction of airways and a dangerous drop in blood pressure—for which the triggers are never identified. Recently, researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, found that some patients’ seemingly inexplicable anaphylaxis was actually caused by an uncommon allergy to a molecule found naturally in red meat.

• NIH Scientists and Collaborators Find Infectious Prion Protein in Skin of CJD Patients

  
  November 22, 2017

  National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and collaborators at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have detected abnormal prion protein in the skin of nearly two dozen people who died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The scientists also exposed a dozen healthy mice to skin extracts from two of the CJD patients, and all developed prion disease.

• Three Decades of Responding to Infectious Disease Outbreaks

  
  November 14, 2017

  Soon after his appointment in 1984 as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., testified before Congress showing a world map annotated with a single emerging infectious disease threat, HIV/AIDS.

• Cell Phone-Based Microscope Leads to Possible Strategy for Treating River Blindness

  
  November 8, 2017

  River blindness, or onchocerciasis, is a disease caused by a parasitic worm found primarily in Africa. The worm (Onchocerca volvulus) is transmitted to humans as immature larvae through bites of infected black flies. Symptoms of infection include intense itching and skin nodules. Left untreated, infections in the eye can cause vision impairment that leads to blindness. Mass distribution of ivermectin is currently used to treat onchocerciasis. However, this treatment can be fatal when a person has high blood levels of another filarial worm, Loa loa.

October 2017

• Experts Outline Pathway to a Universal Influenza Vaccine

  
  October 17, 2017

  Scientists and clinicians from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the California Institute of Technology discuss key considerations for developing a universal influenza vaccine in a meeting report appearing in the October 17 issue of Immunity. The report summarizes discussions from a workshop NIAID held June 28-29, 2017, in Rockville, Maryland, entitled, “Pathway to a Universal Influenza Vaccine.” The workshop brought together U.S.

• Experimental Ebola Vaccines Elicit Year-Long Immune Response

  
  October 11, 2017

  Results from a large randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial in Liberia show that two candidate Ebola vaccines pose no major safety concerns and can elicit immune responses by one month after initial vaccination that last for at least one year. The findings, published in the October 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, are based on a study of 1,500 adults that began during the West Africa Ebola outbreak.

• Durable End to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic Likely Will Require an HIV Vaccine

  October 9, 2017

  Despite remarkable gains in the treatment and prevention of HIV infection, development of an effective HIV vaccine likely will be necessary to achieve a durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, according to a new commentary from Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. 

• Monoclonal Antibodies Against Zika Show Promise in Monkey Study

  
  October 5, 2017

  Using blood samples from an individual previously infected with Zika virus, scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have developed an antibody-based Zika virus therapeutic that protected monkeys from infection.

• Multiple Research Approaches Are Key to Pandemic Preparedness, NIAID Officials Say

  October 4, 2017

  Preparedness in the face of major disease outbreaks can save thousands of lives: Rapid deployment of effective diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines may even stop the disease from potentially exploding into a pandemic. A new article by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues examines the multifaceted nature of effective preparedness and the particular role that biomedical research plays.

September 2017

• Disease Resistance Successfully Spread from Modified to Wild Mosquitoes

  
  September 28, 2017

  Using genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes to reduce or prevent the spread of infectious diseases is a new but rapidly expanding field of investigation. Among the challenges researchers face is ensuring that GM mosquitoes can compete and mate with their wild counterparts so the desired modification is preserved and spread in the wild population. Investigators at Johns Hopkins University have engineered GM mosquitoes to have an altered microbiota that suppresses human malaria-causing parasites.

• Three-in-One Antibody Protects Monkeys from HIV-Like Virus

  
  September 20, 2017

  A three-pronged antibody made in the laboratory protected monkeys from infection with two strains of SHIV, a monkey form of HIV, better than individual natural antibodies from which the engineered antibody is derived, researchers report in Science today.

• Exposure to Pet and Pest Allergens During Infancy Linked to Reduced Asthma Risk

  September 19, 2017

  Children exposed to high indoor levels of pet or pest allergens during infancy have a lower risk of developing asthma by 7 years of age, new research supported by the National Institutes of Health reveals. The findings, published September 19 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, may provide clues for the design of strategies to prevent asthma from developing.

• Zika Virus Selectively Infects and Kills Glioblastoma Cells in Mice

  
  September 5, 2017

  The Zika virus (ZIKV) may infect and kill a specific type of brain cancer cells while leaving normal adult brain tissue minimally affected, according to a new study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In the paper, published online on September 5 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers describe the impact of ZIKV on glioblastoma cells in both human tissue samples and mice.

August 2017

• NIAID Scientists Illuminate Mechanism of Increased Cardiovascular Risks with HIV

  August 30, 2017

  Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have expanded the understanding of how chronic inflammation and persistent immune activation associated with HIV infection drive cardiovascular disease risk in people living with HIV. People living with HIV are up to twice as likely to experience heart attacks, strokes and other forms of cardiovascular disease as people who do not have the virus, even when HIV infection is well-controlled with the use of antiretroviral therapy. 

• Scientists Develop Infection Model for Tick-borne Flaviviruses

  
  August 22, 2017

  National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have filled a research gap by developing a laboratory model to study ticks that transmit flaviviruses, such as Powassan virus.  Powassan virus was implicated in the death of a New York man earlier this year. The unusual model involves culturing organs taken from Ixodes scapularis ticks and then infecting those organ cultures with flaviviruses, according to researchers at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, part of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

• NIH Herpesvirus Study in Mice Leads to Discovery of Potential Broad-Spectrum Antiviral

  
  August 15, 2017

  After herpesviruses infect a cell, their genomes are assembled into specialized protein structures called nucleosomes. Many cellular enzyme complexes can modulate these structures to either promote or inhibit the progression of infection. Scientists studying how one of these complexes (EZH2/1) regulated herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection unexpectedly found that inhibiting EZH2/1 suppressed viral infection.

• NIH Scientists Track Zika Virus Transmission in Mice

  
  August 3, 2017

  National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have developed a mouse model to study Zika virus transmitted sexually from males to females, as well as vertically from a pregnant female to her fetus. They are using the model to study how and when the virus is spread, including how the virus crosses the placenta, as well as to investigate potential treatments to block virus transmission.

July 2017

• In Adolescents, Oral Truvada and Vaginal Ring for HIV Prevention Are Safe, Acceptable

  July 25, 2017

  A monthly vaginal ring and a daily oral tablet, both containing anti-HIV drugs, were safe and acceptable in studies of adolescents, two teams of investigators reported today at the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science in Paris. The experimental ring is designed for HIV prevention and the oral tablet is already used for this purpose in adults. Adherence to the ring was high, while adherence to the tablet was moderate and diminished substantially when study visits became less frequent.

• Drug Interaction Concerns May Negatively Affect HIV Treatment Adherence Among Transgender Women

  July 24, 2017

  Transgender women—people whose birth certificates indicate or once indicated male sex but who identify as women—are at high risk of HIV acquisition, and thus are a key population for HIV prevention and treatment efforts.

• Child Living with HIV Maintains Remission Without Drugs Since 2008

  July 24, 2017

  A nine-year-old South African child who was diagnosed with HIV infection at one month of age and received anti-HIV treatment during infancy has suppressed the virus without anti-HIV drugs for eight and a half years, scientists reported today at the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science in Paris. This case appears to be the third reported instance of sustained HIV remission in a child after early, limited anti-HIV treatment. 

• Experimental HIV Vaccine Regimen Is Well-Tolerated, Elicits Immune Responses

  July 24, 2017

  Results from an early-stage clinical trial called APPROACH show that an investigational HIV vaccine regimen was well-tolerated and generated immune responses against HIV in healthy adults. The APPROACH findings, as well as results expected in late 2017 from another early-stage clinical trial called TRAVERSE, will form the basis of the decision whether to move forward with a larger trial in southern Africa to evaluate vaccine safety and efficacy among women at risk of acquiring HIV.

• NIH-Supported Scientists Elicit Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies to HIV in Calves

  

  Credit: NIAID
  July 20, 2017

  Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have achieved a significant step forward, eliciting broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) to HIV by immunizing calves. The findings offer insights for HIV vaccine design, and support further study of modified bovine antibodies as HIV therapeutics or prevention tools in humans, scientists reported in a paper published online today in Nature.

• Experimental Zika Virus Vaccines Restrict In Utero Virus Transmission in Mice

  
  July 13, 2017

  Two experimental vaccines can restrict Zika virus transmission from pregnant mice to their fetuses and can prevent Zika virus-induced placental damage and fetal demise, according to new findings published July 13 in Cell. Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB); and other partners conducted the research.

June 2017

• Common Antimicrobials Help Patients Recover from MRSA Abscesses

  
  June 29, 2017

  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria are resistant to multiple antibiotics and commonly cause skin infections that can lead to more serious or life-threatening infection in other parts of the body. In new findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that two common, inexpensive antimicrobials can help patients heal from MRSA skin abscesses. The findings suggest that current treatment options for MRSA still have a role, even as scientists continue to search for new antimicrobial products.

• NIH Study Sheds Light on Immune Responses Driving Obesity-Induced Liver Disease

  
  June 28, 2017

  New findings from mouse models reveal that the type of immune response that helps maintain healthy metabolism in fatty tissues, called type 2 immunity, also drives obesity-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The work, led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, shows that the inflammatory environment in the fatty liver is more complex than previously thought.

• NIAID Scientists Identify Cause, Possible Treatment for Life-Threatening Gut Condition

  
  June 28, 2017

  Investigators at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and international colleagues have discovered a genetic cause and potential treatment strategy for a rare immune disorder called CHAPLE disease. Children with the condition can experience severe gastrointestinal distress and deep vein blood clots. No effective treatments are available to ameliorate or prevent these life-threatening symptoms. 

• Study to Examine Effects of Zika Infection in Guatemalan Infants and Children

  
  June 19, 2017

  A large natural history study examining the neurologic, neurodevelopmental and other clinical outcomes of Zika virus infection in infants and young children has begun in rural Guatemala. It will focus on those infected with Zika virus after birth rather than those infected congenitally. The study is being conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S.

• Scientists Identify Single-Gene Mutations that Lead to Atopic Dermatitis

  June 19, 2017

  Researchers have identified mutations in a gene called CARD11 that lead to atopic dermatitis, or eczema, an allergic skin disease. Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and other institutions discovered the mutations in four unrelated families with severe atopic dermatitis and studied the resulting cell-signaling defects that contribute to allergic disease.

• NIH Study: Glutamine Suppresses Herpes in Mice and Guinea Pigs

  June 16, 2017

  Glutamine supplements can suppress reactivation of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in mice and guinea pigs, according to findings recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The research was conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

• NIAID Scientists Discover Rare Genetic Susceptibility to Common Cold

  June 12, 2017

  Scientists have identified a rare genetic mutation that results in a markedly increased susceptibility to infection by human rhinoviruses (HRVs)—the main causes of the common cold. Colds contribute to more than 18 billion upper respiratory infections worldwide each year, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study.

• NIAID-Sponsored Trial of Experimental Chikungunya Vaccine Begins

  June 5, 2017

  A clinical trial of an experimental vaccine to prevent infection with chikungunya virus is now enrolling healthy adult volunteers at sites in the United States. The Phase 1/2 trial, which is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is being conducted at several NIAID-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units. The candidate vaccine, MV-CHIKV, was developed by Themis Bioscience of Vienna, Austria. 

• Details of Lassa Virus Structure Could Inform Development of Vaccines, Therapies

  
  June 2, 2017

  A 10-year Lassa virus research project has yielded structural and functional details of a key viral surface protein that could help advance development of Lassa vaccines and antibody-based therapeutics, which are currently lacking. The work was led by the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

May 2017

• Mycobacteria Use Protein to Create Diverse Populations, Avoid Drugs

  
  May 31, 2017

  Subgroups of tuberculosis (TB)-causing bacteria can persist even when antibiotics wipe out most of the overall population. The need to eliminate these persistent subpopulations is one reason why TB treatment regimens are so lengthy. Now, researchers have shown that a single protein allows mycobacteria to generate diverse populations that can avoid TB drugs. The protein may be a target for intervention; blocking it might result in less mycobacterial diversity and shorten TB treatment courses.

• NIH Scientists Find Real-Time Imaging in Mice a Promising Influenza Study Tool

  May 30, 2017

  Real-time imaging of influenza infection in mice is a promising new method to quickly monitor disease progression and to evaluate whether candidate vaccines and treatments are effective in this animal model, according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists.

• Zika Virus Spread Undetected for Many Months, NIH-Supported Study Finds

  
  May 24, 2017

  Genetic analysis of samples collected as the Zika virus (ZIKV) spread throughout the Americas after its introduction in 2013 or 2014 has shown that the virus circulated undetected for up to a year in some regions before it came to the attention of public health authorities. Genetic sequencing has also enabled scientists to recreate the epidemiological and evolutionary paths the virus took as it spread and split into the distinct subtypes—or clades—that have been detected in the Americas. The research, published in Nature today, was supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Modified Experimental Vaccine Protects Monkeys from Deadly Malaria

  
  May 22, 2017

  WHAT:Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, modified an experimental malaria vaccine and showed that it completely protected four of eight monkeys that received it against challenge with the virulent Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite. In three of the remaining four monkeys, the vaccine delayed when parasites first appeared in the blood by more than 25 days. 

• Antibodies from Ebola Survivor Protect Mice and Ferrets Against Related Viruses

  
  May 18, 2017

  WHAT: The fight to contain the 2013-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was hampered by the lack of an effective treatment or vaccine. Researchers funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have studied the blood of an Ebola survivor, searching for human antibodies that might effectively treat not only people infected with Ebola virus, but those infected with related viruses as well. Now the researchers have identified two such antibodies that hold promise as Ebola treatments. 

• NIH Statement on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2017

  May 18, 2017

  Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesCarl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D., Director, Division of AIDS, NIAID

• FDA-Approved Drug Helps Treat Rare Immunologic Disease, Study Finds

  May 17, 2017

  Adding the injectable drug mepolizumab to standard treatment for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare immunologic disease, significantly improved clinical outcomes among participants in an advanced clinical trial, scientists report.

• Enterococci May Have Evolved Antimicrobial Resistance Millions of Years Ago

  May 11, 2017

  Enterococci bacteria are the bane of hospitals, causing thousands of multidrug-resistant infections in patients each year. Now, researchers have traced evidence of the bacteria’s evolutionary history back 425 million years and theorize that the same traits that allow the bacteria to thrive in hospitals likely emerged when they were carried onto land in the guts of the world’s first terrestrial animals. The study was funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• NIH Research Improves Health for People with Asthma

  May 1, 2017

  May is Asthma Awareness Month, and the National Institutes of Health is finding solutions to improve the health of the nearly 25 million people in the United States who currently have asthma. In recent decades, the prevalence of asthma has been increasing, resulting in millions of urgent medical visits and missed days of work and school each year. 

April 2017

• Zika Virus Persists in the Central Nervous System and Lymph Nodes of Rhesus Monkeys

  April 28, 2017

  Zika virus can persist in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), lymph nodes and colorectal tissue of infected rhesus monkeys for weeks after the virus has been cleared from blood, urine and mucosal secretions, according to a study published online in Cell. The research was led by Dan H. Barouch, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School and was funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

• World Malaria Day 2017

  April 25, 2017

  Statement of B. Fenton Hall, M.D., Ph.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesNational Institutes of Health

• NIH Funds Eleven International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research

  April 21, 2017

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced approximately $12.9 million in first-year funding, subject to availability, for eleven malaria research centers around the world. The 7-year awards continue NIAID’s 2010 program that created the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMRs) in regions where malaria is endemic. The awards fund four new and seven existing centers that work in 17 countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands and Latin America. 

• NIH Scientists Advance Understanding of Herpesvirus Infection

  
  April 12, 2017

  Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections last a lifetime. Once a person has been infected, the virus can remain dormant (latent) for years before periodically reactivating to cause recurrent disease. This poorly understood cycle has frustrated scientists for years. Now, National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have identified a set of protein complexes that are recruited to viral genes and stimulate both initial infection and reactivation from latency.  Environmental stresses known to regulate these proteins also induce reactivation.

• NIH Study of Ebola Patient Traces Disease Progression and Recovery

  
  April 12, 2017

  Analysis of daily gene activation in a patient with severe Ebola virus disease cared for at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2015 found changes in antiviral and immune response genes that pinpointed key transition points in the response to infection. The changes included a marked decline in antiviral responses that correlated with clearance of virus from white blood cells. The analysis also showed that the preponderance of host responses shifted rapidly from activation of genes involved in cell damage and inflammation toward those linked to promotion of cellular and organ repair.

• Ebola: New Trial Launched in West Africa to Evaluate Three Vaccination Strategies

  
  April 6, 2017

  The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), in collaboration with health authorities in Guinea and Liberia, are launching a large clinical trial of candidate Ebola vaccines under the aegis of the PREVAC international consortium (Partnership for Research on Ebola VACcination). 

• Monoclonal Antibody Cures Marburg Infection in Monkeys

  
  April 5, 2017

  Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that an experimental treatment cured 100 percent of guinea pigs and rhesus monkeys in late stages of infection with lethal levels of Marburg and Ravn viruses, relatives of the Ebola virus. Although the Marburg and Ravn viruses are less familiar than Ebola virus, both can resemble Ebola in symptoms and outcomes in people, and both lack preventive and therapeutic countermeasures.

March 2017

• Phase 2 Zika Vaccine Trial Begins in U.S., Central and South America

  March 31, 2017

  Vaccinations have begun in a multi-site Phase 2/2b clinical trial testing an experimental DNA vaccine designed to protect against disease caused by Zika infection. The vaccine was developed by government scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• NIH Designates $42.7 Million for Food Allergy Research Consortium

  March 29, 2017

  The National Institutes of Health intends to award $42.7 million over seven years to the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) so it may continue evaluating new approaches to treat food allergy. Established in 2005, the CoFAR has been continuously funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH. The first year of funding has been awarded, and awards will be made in subsequent years based on the availability of funds.

• NIH Statement on World Tuberculosis Day

  March 24, 2017

  Statement of Christine F. Sizemore, PhD., Richard Hafner, M.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesNational Institutes of Health

• New Adjuvant Permits Early Pneumococcal Immunization in Newborn Monkeys

  March 23, 2017

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children receive pneumococcal conjugate vaccinations (PCV13) against potentially life-threatening pneumococcal disease at two, four and six months of age. Earlier immunization would confer greater protection when infants are most vulnerable to disease, but newborns’ immature immune systems limit their capacity to respond effectively to PCV13 and establish immunity. 

• Experimental Ebola Vaccine Regimen Induced Durable Immune Response, Study Finds

  March 14, 2017

  A two-vaccine regimen intended to protect against Ebola virus disease induced an immune response that persisted for approximately one year in healthy adult volunteers, according to results from a Phase 1 clinical trial published in the March 14th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The investigational vaccines included Ad26.ZEBOV, developed by Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and MVA-BN-Filo, developed by Bavarian Nordic.

• Immune Molecule Protects Against Zika Virus Infection in Animal Models

  March 14, 2017

  A molecule naturally produced by the immune system protects mice and monkeys against Zika virus infection, an international team of researchers has found. Administering the molecule, called 25-hydroxycholesterol or 25HC, to pregnant mice reduced Zika virus infection in the fetal brain and protected against Zika-induced microcephaly. The work was supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

• Monkeys Suppress HIV-Like Virus for Extended Period after Dual-Antibody Treatment

  
  March 13, 2017

  Giving monkeys two powerful anti-HIV antibodies immediately after infection with an HIV-like virus enabled the immune systems of some of the animals to control the virus long after the antibodies were gone, scientists at the National Institutes of Health and The Rockefeller University have found.  

• Investigational Vaccine Protects Cattle from Respiratory Syncytial Virus

  March 10, 2017

  A novel vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, protected cattle from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, according to research published online in npj Vaccines on March 8. The research was conducted by a team of experts at NIAID, the Pirbright Institute based in the United Kingdom, and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Switzerland.

• NIH-Funded Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group Details Progress, Challenges

  March 9, 2017

  In June 2013, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provided $2 million in funding to establish an Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG) to develop, prioritize and implement a clinical research agenda to address the growing public health threat of antibiotic resistance. A new series of articles appearing in the March 15th issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases details the group’s progress and outlines its ongoing and future efforts.

• Yellow Fever in the Americas

  

  Credit: NIAID
  March 8, 2017

  The unusually large outbreak of yellow fever now occurring in rural Brazil deserves careful attention by world health authorities, notes Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health. Writing in a Perspectives piece for the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Fauci and his associate Catharine I.

February 2017

• Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine Enters Clinical Testing

  
  February 22, 2017

  A Phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety and tolerability of an investigational vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has begun at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The trial also will assess the vaccine’s ability to prompt an immune response in healthy adult participants. The investigational vaccine was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH.

• Experimental PfSPZ Malaria Vaccine Provides Durable Protection Against Multiple Strains in NIH Clinical Trial

  February 21, 2017

  An investigational malaria vaccine has protected a small number of healthy U.S. adults from infection with a malaria strain different from that contained in the vaccine, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, sponsored and co-conducted the Phase 1 clinical trial.

• NIH Begins Study of Vaccine to Protect Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases

  
  February 21, 2017

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial to test an investigational vaccine intended to provide broad protection against a range of mosquito-transmitted diseases, such as Zika, malaria, West Nile fever and dengue fever, and to hinder the ability of mosquitoes to transmit such infections. The study, which is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, will examine the experimental vaccine’s safety and ability to generate an immune response. 

• Investigational PfSPZ Malaria Vaccine Demonstrates Considerable Protection in Malian Adults for Duration of Malaria Season

  
  February 15, 2017

  An investigational malaria vaccine given intravenously was well-tolerated and protected a significant proportion of healthy adults against infection with Plasmodium falciparum malaria—the deadliest form of the disease—for the duration of the malaria season, according to new findings published in the February 15th issue of the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study participants live in Mali, Africa, where they are naturally exposed to the parasite.

• NIH Research Helps Explain How Antibody Treatment Led to Sustained Remission of HIV-Like Virus

  February 15, 2017

  Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have found that the presence of the protein alpha-4 beta-7 integrin on the surface of HIV and its monkey equivalent—simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV—may help explain why an antibody protected monkeys from SIV in previous experiments. 

• Experimental Malaria Vaccine Plus Chloroquine Protects Against Controlled Infection, Study Finds

  February 15, 2017

  An experimental malaria vaccine strategy known as PfSPZ-CVac, together with antimalarial medication, protected all nine clinical trial volunteers given three high-dose vaccinations, according to study results published today in Nature. 

• NIH Scientists Illuminate Role of Staph Toxins in Bacterial Sepsis

  February 2, 2017

  Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria are a significant health concern for hospitalized infants, children and anyone with implanted medical devices. The bacteria—typically skin dwellers—can infect the bloodstream and cause a life-threatening condition known as sepsis. Between 1 and 3 million people a year in the United States are diagnosed with sepsis, and between 15 and 30 percent of them die. Severe bacterial sepsis is characterized by an extreme immune response, inflammation, reduced blood flow, clotting, and organ failure. Methicillin-resistant strains of S.

• Investigational mRNA Vaccine Protects Mice and Monkeys from Zika Virus Infection

  February 2, 2017

  A novel, gene-based investigational vaccine protected mice and monkeys against Zika virus infection after a single dose, according to a study appearing online in the journal Nature on Feb. 2. The research was conducted by investigators funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NIAID scientists, and other partners. The candidate vaccine, called ZIKV prM-E mRNA-LNP, uses messenger RNA (mRNA) with which the body produces Zika virus proteins designed to elicit infection-neutralizing antibodies.

• Stem Cell Transplants May Induce Long-Term Remission of Multiple Sclerosis

  February 1, 2017

  New clinical trial results provide evidence that high-dose immunosuppressive therapy followed by transplantation of a person's own blood-forming stem cells can induce sustained remission of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system. 

January 2017

• NIH Advances Understanding of Defenses Against Antibiotic-Resistant Klebsiella Bacteria

  January 24, 2017

  Klebsiella bacteria cause about 10 percent of all hospital-acquired infections in the United States. K. pneumoniae sequence type 258 (ST258) is one of the Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae organisms labeled an urgent threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This strain of bacteria is particularly concerning because it is resistant to most antibiotics and kills nearly half of people with bloodstream infections.

• NIAID Flu Experts Examine Evolution of Avian Influenza

  January 18, 2017

  Few influenza viruses are as widespread and adaptable as avian influenza viruses, and scientists are not entirely sure why. 

  In a new commentary published online in Emerging Infectious Diseases, two leading influenza experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, examine how the evolution of proteins found on the surfaces of flu viruses has impacted their ability to infect migratory birds and poultry and cause avian disease. 

• NIH Scientists Identify Early Impact of Ebola Virus on Immune System

  January 17, 2017

  A new mouse model of early Ebola virus (EBOV) infection has shown National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and colleagues how early responses of the immune system can affect development of EBOV disease. The model could help identify protective immune responses as targets for developing human EBOV therapeutics.

  Scientists from NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases led the study with colleagues from the University of Washington and Columbia University.

• NIAID Officials Call for Continued Zika Research

  January 13, 2017

  Although cases of Zika virus infection appear to be decreasing, the mosquito-borne virus likely will become endemic in the Americas and continue to cause outbreaks and sporadic cases. Given the serious complications of Zika virus infection, particularly in cases of congenital infection, researchers must continue their work to better understand how the virus causes disease and to develop effective vaccines and treatments, according to a new commentary. The article, by Anthony S.

• NIH Scientists Repair Gene Defect in Stem Cells from Patients with Rare Immunodeficiency

  January 11, 2017

  Scientists have developed a new approach to repair a defective gene in blood-forming stem cells from patients with a rare genetic immunodeficiency disorder called X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD). After transplant into mice, the repaired stem cells developed into normally functioning white blood cells, suggesting the strategy could potentially be used to treat people with this disease.

• NIH-Sponsored Expert Panel Issues Clinical Guidelines to Prevent Peanut Allergy

  January 5, 2017

  An expert panel sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, issued clinical guidelines today to aid health care providers in early introduction of peanut-containing foods to infants to prevent the development of peanut allergy.

December 2016

• NIAID Research Aids Discovery of Genetic Immune Disorder

  December 23, 2016

  Investigators at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and international colleagues have identified a genetic immune disorder characterized by increased susceptibility and poor immune control of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and, in some cases, an EBV-associated cancer called Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The researchers studied two unrelated sets of siblings with similar immune problems and determined their symptoms were likely caused by a lack of CD70, a protein found on the surface of several types of immune cells.

• NIH-Supported Scientists Accelerate Immune Response to Tuberculosis in Mice

  December 22, 2016

  WHAT:New research findings provide insight into the immune system pathways that may be key to developing an effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccine. The study, to be published Thursday in the journal Nature Communications, was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Shortened Treatment for Middle Ear Infection is Less Effective than Standard Course

  December 21, 2016

  A five-day antimicrobial treatment regimen for middle ear infections in young children is inferior to the standard 10-day regimen, according to newly published research in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Middle ear infections (or “acute otitis media”) are common childhood illnesses often caused by bacteria and usually treated with antibiotics. However, overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics (for example, to treat viral infections of the middle ear) can accelerate the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance.

• NIH Launches First Large Trial of a Long-Acting Injectable Drug for HIV Prevention

  December 20, 2016

  The first large-scale clinical trial of a long-acting injectable drug for HIV prevention began today. The study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, will examine whether a long-acting form of the investigational anti-HIV drug cabotegravir injected once every 8 weeks can safely protect men and transgender women from HIV infection at least as well as the anti-HIV medication Truvada taken daily as an oral tablet.

• NIH Scientists Develop New Mouse Model to Study Salmonella Meningitis

  
  December 9, 2016

  National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have established in mice a way to study potentially life-threatening meningitis caused by Salmonella. Bacterial meningitis happens when bacteria infect the central nervous system (CNS), causing a serious disease that can be life-threatening and difficult to diagnose and treat. Patients who survive often have permanent brain damage.

• NIH Statement on World AIDS Day 2016

  December 1, 2016

  Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesCarl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D., Director, Division of AIDS, NIAID

November 2016

• NIAID-Sponsored Study to Assess Shorter-Duration Antibiotics in Children

  November 28, 2016

  Physicians at five U.S. medical centers are planning to enroll up to 400 children in a clinical trial to evaluate whether a shorter course of antibiotics—five days instead of 10—is effective at treating community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children who show improvement after the first few days of taking antibiotics.

• First New HIV Vaccine Efficacy Study in Seven Years Has Begun

  November 27, 2016

  The first HIV vaccine efficacy study to launch anywhere in seven years is now testing whether an experimental vaccine regimen safely prevents HIV infection among South African adults. The study, called HVTN 702, involves a new version of the only HIV vaccine candidate ever shown to provide some protection against the virus. HVTN 702 aims to enroll 5,400 men and women, making it the largest and most advanced HIV vaccine clinical trial to take place in South Africa, where more than 1,000 people become infected with HIV every day. 

• NIAID-Supported Scientists Sequence, Explore the Genome of the River Blindness Parasite

  November 21, 2016

  Scientists have sequenced the genome of the parasitic worm responsible for causing onchocerciasis—an eye and skin infection more commonly known as river blindness.

• NIAID-Supported Study Examines Vulnerability of Gonorrhea to Older Antibiotic Drug

  November 17, 2016

  A new clinical research study seeks to determine whether a rapid molecular diagnostic test can reliably identify gonorrhea infections that may be successfully treated with a single dose of an older antibiotic, ciprofloxacin. The study will enroll up to 381 men and women diagnosed with untreated Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• NIH Scientists Identify Potent Antibody that Neutralizes Nearly All HIV Strains

  November 15, 2016

  Scientists from the National Institutes of Health have identified an antibody from an HIV-infected person that potently neutralized 98 percent of HIV isolates tested, including 16 of 20 strains resistant to other antibodies of the same class. The remarkable breadth and potency of this antibody, named N6, make it an attractive candidate for further development to potentially treat or prevent HIV infection, say the researchers.

• T-Cell Differences May Reveal Individuals’ Age, Susceptibility to Disease

  November 15, 2016

  Different cells of the human body differ greatly in structure and function. However, variation exists even among cells of one type. New research from investigators at the National Institutes of Health suggests the magnitude of such differences in T lymphocytes, or T cells, may indicate an individual’s age and genetic predisposition to disease. Learning more about so-called cell-to-cell expression variation, or CEV, may further illuminate how the immune system functions and one day serve as a diagnostic tool to help implement personalized medicine, according to the researchers.

• Antibody VRC01 Safe, Only Modest Effect in Controlling HIV Without Antiretroviral Therapy

  November 9, 2016

  Infusions of an anti-HIV antibody known as VRC01 were shown to be safe and maintained intended antibody concentrations in the blood of people living with HIV, according to two related studies by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). The antibody modestly suppressed blood levels of HIV in people who stopped taking antiretroviral therapy (ART), but the delay in the reappearance of virus was not clinically significant.

• Antibody Protects Against Fetal Disease in Mouse Model of Zika Infection

  November 7, 2016

  Administering a human antibody that neutralizes Zika virus to pregnant mice before or after Zika virus infection reduced levels of the virus in placental and fetal tissues and decreased fetal disease, new findings show. The work may aid development of vaccines and therapies for Zika virus infection, which can cause severe birth defects when it occurs during pregnancy.

• Testing of Investigational Inactivated Zika Vaccine in Humans Begins

  November 7, 2016

  The first of five early stage clinical trials to test the safety and ability of an investigational Zika vaccine candidate called the Zika Purified Inactivated Virus (ZPIV) vaccine to generate an immune system response has begun at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) Clinical Trial Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Scientists with WRAIR, part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), developed the vaccine.

• Two Genetic Markers that Predict Malaria Treatment Failure Found

  November 3, 2016

  A frontline malaria treatment that combines fast-acting dihydroartemisinin with long-lasting piperaquine is quickly losing power in Cambodia due to the rapid spread of drug-resistant parasites. The presence of piperaquine-resistant malaria parasites in several Cambodian provinces was confirmed earlier this year by National Institutes of Health researchers and their colleagues.

October 2016

• Zika Infection Damages Mouse Testes, NIAID-Supported Study Finds

  October 31, 2016

  New research in male mice has revealed that Zika virus infection can break down and severely damage the animals’ testes. Whether these findings have any bearing on the potential impact of the virus on the reproductive health of infected men is unclear; however, the study findings suggest this is an important question to explore. Results from the study, conducted by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appear in Nature online October 31.

• Skin Patch to Treat Peanut Allergy Shows Benefit in Children

  

  Credit: DBV Technologies, Copyright 2016
  October 26, 2016

  A wearable patch that delivers small amounts of peanut protein through the skin shows promise for treating children and young adults with peanut allergy, with greater benefits for younger children, according to one-year results from an ongoing clinical trial. The treatment, called epicutaneous immunotherapy or EPIT, was safe and well-tolerated, and nearly all participants used the skin patch daily as directed.

• NIAID Selects New Director for its Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

  
  October 25, 2016

  Emily Erbelding, M.D., M.P.H., an infectious disease physician with broad research and clinical experience in both government and academic medicine, has been named the new director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Large Increases in HIV Suppression Needed to Reduce New Infections in Critical Population

  October 19, 2016

  Achieving moderate reduction of new HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) will depend on significantly increasing the percentage of HIV-infected MSM whose viral load is suppressed to undetectable levels, according to a new mathematical model based on data from Baltimore. Access and adherence to antiretroviral therapy are key to sustained HIV suppression, which dramatically reduces the risk of transmitting HIV to others.

• Women Report Vaginal Ring for Preventing HIV Had Little Effect on Sexual Intercourse

  October 18, 2016

  Most women who used an experimental vaginal ring for HIV prevention report that the physical act of sex was largely unaffected by using the product, which is inserted monthly for continuous wear. This finding is among several insights gleaned about experiences of women who used the ring during the ASPIRE study, also known as MTN-020, announced today at the HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) meeting in Chicago.

• NIH Scientists Uncover Genetic Explanation for Frustrating Syndrome

  October 17, 2016

  Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have identified a genetic explanation for a syndrome characterized by multiple frustrating and difficult-to-treat symptoms, including dizziness and lightheadedness, skin flushing and itching, gastrointestinal complaints, chronic pain, and bone and joint problems. Some people who experience these diverse symptoms have elevated levels of tryptase—a protein in the blood often associated with allergic reactions.

• Scientists at NIH and Emory Achieve Sustained SIV Remission in Monkeys

  October 13, 2016

  Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Emory University have experimentally induced sustained remission of SIV, the simian form of HIV, in infected monkeys. The animals’ immune systems have been suppressing the virus to undetectable levels for as long as 23 months since the monkeys completed an investigational treatment regimen. In addition, the regimen has led to the near-complete replenishment of key immune cells that SIV had destroyed, something unachievable with antiretroviral therapy (ART) alone. The findings will be published in the Oct.

• Study Finds Ebola Treatment ZMapp Holds Promise, Although Results Not Definitive

  October 12, 2016

  A clinical trial to evaluate the experimental Ebola treatment ZMapp found it to be safe and well-tolerated; however, because of the waning Ebola epidemic, the study enrolled too few people to determine definitively whether it is a better treatment for Ebola virus disease (EVD) than the best available standard of care alone. The findings from the randomized, controlled trial known as PREVAIL II appear in the October 13th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

• NIAID-Supported Research Expands Number of Publicly Available Mouse Mutations

  October 5, 2016

  Genetically engineered mice serve as valuable models of human disease, contributing to major medical breakthroughs. Often, biomedical researchers must develop unique genetically modified strains of mice for experimentation, a costly and time-consuming process. Now, more researchers in fields from immunology to cancer may be able to save time and money by acquiring genetic material from a repository of previously engineered strains.

• NIAID-Sponsored Study Finds Factors that Influence Asthma Severity in Inner-City Children

  October 5, 2016

  In a novel study of 717 children between ages 6 and 17, researchers have identified major factors associated with asthma severity in children from inner-city communities. They found that poor lung function, sensitivity to certain inhaled allergens, and exposure to second-hand smoke were important factors affecting asthma severity. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) funded the work with additional support from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, both parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

September 2016

• Immune System Oxidant Could be Key to Inactivating Prions

  September 29, 2016

  A product that mimics the natural oxidative killing action of human immune cells against bacteria, viruses, and fungi also can inactivate prions and other proteins, some of which are thought to be important in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers. Prions are deadly protein-based pathogens that are extremely difficult to inactivate; recommended decontamination treatments often are dangerous to people or damaging to surfaces, such as those on surgical devices.

• Media Availability: Federal Officials Outline Development Pathways to a Zika Vaccine

  September 28, 2016

  A safe and effective vaccine to protect against Zika virus infection is essential and should be feasible to develop, according to a commentary in the September 29th print issue of The New England Journal of Medicine by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Hilary D. Marston, M.D., of NIAID; Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H., Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Luciana L. Borio, M.D., acting chief scientist, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The federal officials describe three potential strategies for conducting Zika vaccine clinical trials with each strategy dependent on disease incidence and likelihood of generating reliable data.

• Experimental Zika Virus DNA Vaccines Protective in Monkeys

  September 22, 2016

  Two experimental Zika virus DNA vaccines developed by National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists protected monkeys against Zika infection after two doses, according to a study published in Science. One of those vaccines is being evaluated in a Phase 1 human trial now under way in three U.S. locations to evaluate the vaccine’s safety and ability to generate immune responses in people.

• NIH Scientists Detail Pathways for Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance

  September 20, 2016

  Researchers must address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance and stay ahead of the inevitable future emergencies of resistant bacteria, according to physicians and scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. Writing in JAMA, the authors stress the urgent need for new strategies to identify and develop new antibiotic drug candidates and vaccines and other interventions to prevent bacterial infections.

• Infant Gut Microbiome Appears to Shape Allergy Risk by Altering Immune Responses

  September 12, 2016

  The microbial communities, or microbiota, that naturally colonize the digestive tract in very young infants can affect their risk of later developing childhood allergies and asthma. Scientists now have identified a specific type of microbiota composition and corresponding metabolic environment in the neonatal gut that appears to influence immune cell populations and promote allergy and asthma development. The work was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• NIH-Funded Researchers Find Signs TB Can Persist in Lungs Despite Treatment

  September 6, 2016

  It has been known that the microbe that causes TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, can persist in the lungs even after patient tissue samples test negative for the bacteria. In new research appearing in Nature Medicine, intramural researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, together with NIAID grantees, found through the use of positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) scanning that TB lesions can remain in the lungs long after treatment with antibiotics has been completed.

August 2016

• NIH-Supported Researchers Develop Novel System to Grow Norovirus in Intestinal Cells

  August 25, 2016

  For the first time, researchers have succeeded in culturing norovirus in human intestinal cells, a breakthrough that could help scientists develop novel therapeutics and vaccines against the debilitating effects of the virus.

• Monkeys with Sudan ebolavirus Treated Successfully

  August 22, 2016

  Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have successfully treated monkeys several days after the animals were infected with Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV). The study is important, according to the researchers, because no proven treatments against SUDV exist and little is known about the window of opportunity for treating the infection.

• NIH Explores Connection Between Ebola Survival and Co-Infection with Malaria Parasites

  

  Credit: NIAID
  August 16, 2016

  People infected with Ebola virus were 20 percent more likely to survive if they were co-infected with malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites, according to data collected at an Ebola diagnostic laboratory in Liberia in 2014-15. Moreover, greater numbers of Plasmodium parasites correlated with increased rates of Ebola survival, according to a dozen collaborating research groups in the new study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

• Oral Immunotherapy Is Safe, Effective Treatment for Peanut-Allergic Preschoolers, Study Suggests

  August 10, 2016

  Nearly 80 percent of peanut-allergic preschool children successfully incorporated peanut-containing foods into their diets after receiving peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT), a clinical trial has found. Peanut OIT involves eating small, gradually increasing amounts of peanut protein daily.

• Three Vaccine Approaches Protect Monkeys Against Zika Infection

  August 4, 2016

  Three different investigational Zika virus vaccine platforms—an inactivated virus vaccine, a DNA-based vaccine, and an adenovirus vector-based vaccine—protected against infection, induced immune responses, and produced no adverse side effects when tested in rhesus macaques challenged with the Zika virus, according to findings appearing August 4 in the journal Science.

• NIH Begins Testing Investigational Zika Vaccine in Humans

  
  August 3, 2016

  ​The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a clinical trial of a vaccine candidate intended to prevent Zika virus infection. The early-stage study will evaluate the experimental vaccine’s safety and ability to generate an immune system response in participants.

July 2016

• NIH-Funded Scientists Identify Immunological Profiles of People Who Make Powerful HIV Antibodies

  July 29, 2016

  People living with HIV who naturally produce broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that may help suppress the virus have different immunological profiles than people who do not, researchers report. While bNAbs cannot completely clear HIV infections in people who have already acquired the virus, many scientists believe a successful preventive HIV vaccine must induce bNAbs

• Zika Infection Is Caused by One Virus Serotype, NIH Study Finds

  July 29, 2016

  Vaccination against a single strain of Zika virus should be sufficient to protect against genetically diverse strains of the virus, according to a study conducted by investigators from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Washington University in St. Louis; and Emory University in Atlanta.

• NIH Launches Early-Stage Yellow Fever Vaccine Trial

  July 27, 2016

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has begun an early-stage clinical trial of an investigational vaccine designed to protect against yellow fever virus.

• Studies in Mice Provide Insights into Antibody-Zika Virus Interactions

  
  July 27, 2016

  In research that could inform prophylactic treatment approaches for pregnant women at risk of Zika virus infection, investigators conducted experiments in mice and identified six Zika virus antibodies, including four that neutralize African, Asian and American strains of the mosquito-borne virus.

• Vaccine Strategy Induces Antibodies that Can Target Multiple Influenza Viruses

  

  Credit: NIAID VRC
  July 22, 2016

  WHAT: Scientists have identified three types of vaccine-induced antibodies that can neutralize diverse strains of influenza virus that infect humans. The discovery will help guide development of a universal influenza vaccine, according to investigators at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and collaborators who conducted the research. The findings appear in the July 21st online edition of Cell.

• Immune-Enhancing Treatment May Destabilize HIV Reservoirs

  July 21, 2016

  Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to an undetectable level in most chronically infected people, it cannot eliminate reservoirs of HIV that persist in latently infected immune cells.

• NIH Scientists Discover that Defective HIV DNA Can Encode HIV-Related Proteins

  July 18, 2016

  Investigators from the National Institutes of Health have discovered that cells from HIV-infected people whose virus is suppressed with treatment harbor defective HIV DNA that can nevertheless be transcribed into a template for producing HIV-related proteins.

• HIV Therapy for Breastfeeding Mothers Can Virtually Eliminate Transmission to Babies

  July 18, 2016

  For HIV-infected mothers whose immune system is in good health, taking a three-drug antiretroviral regimen during breastfeeding essentially eliminates HIV transmission by breast milk to their infants, according to results from a large clinical trial conducted in sub-Saharan Africa and India.

• Vaginal Ring May Cut HIV Infection Risk if Used Consistently

  
  July 18, 2016

  A new exploratory analysis of data from the ASPIRE study has found that using a drug-infused vaginal ring most or all of the time reduced the risk of HIV infection in women by at least 56 percent. This finding is being reported today at a press briefing at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa, and will be presented in more detail tomorrow in a lecture at the conference.

• NIH Expands Investment in HIV Cure Research

  July 13, 2016

  The National Institutes of Health has awarded approximately $30 million in annual funding over the next five years to six research collaborations working to advance basic medical science toward an HIV cure. The awards comprise the second iteration of the Martin Delaney Collaboratory: Towards an HIV-1 Cure program and are a part of President Barack Obama’s pledge to invest in HIV cure research.

• HIV Vaccine Research Requires Unprecedented Path

  July 12, 2016

  The development of an effective vaccine to prevent HIV infections would represent a critical step toward ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Thus far, the only large clinical trial for an HIV vaccine to show promise was the RV144 study conducted in Thailand in 2009, which resulted in a modest 31 percent reduction in infection. Researchers are working to improve on the results of RV144 and also have launched efforts to create vaccines that induce broadly neutralizing antibodies that can block a wide range of HIV variants.

• PREVAIL Treatment Trial for Men with Persistent Ebola Viral RNA in Semen Opens in Liberia

  July 5, 2016

  The Partnership for Research on Ebola Virus in Liberia (PREVAIL), a U.S.-Liberia joint Clinical Research Partnership, today announced the opening of PREVAIL IV, a treatment trial for men who have survived Ebola virus disease (EVD) but continue to have evidence of Ebola virus genetic material, RNA, in their semen.

June 2016

• Zika Virus Infection May Be Prolonged in Pregnancy

  June 29, 2016

  Zika virus infection confers protection against future infection in monkeys, but lingers in the body of pregnant animals for prolonged periods of time, according to research funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The findings appear in the June 28 issue of Nature Communications.

• Zika Vaccines Protect Mice from Infection

  June 28, 2016

  A single dose of either of two experimental Zika vaccines fully protected mice challenged with Zika virus four or eight weeks after receiving the inoculations. The research, conducted by investigators supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, suggests that similar vaccines for people could be similarly protective.

• NIH-Supported Study Pinpoints Origin of 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic

  June 28, 2016

  Researchers have used genetic sequencing to show that the 2009 global H1N1 influenza pandemic began in central Mexico, originating in pigs and spreading to humans. Mexico is not typically considered a source of novel influenza strains. The new findings appear online in the journal eLIFE. They shed light on how the novel virus evolved and stress the need for improved influenza surveillance. The research was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

• Gene Sequences Reveal Global Variations in Malaria Parasites

  
  June 27, 2016

  Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) parasites, which cause a debilitating form of malaria, are yielding their secrets to an international team of researchers funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. In the largest such effort to date, the team determined complete genomes of nearly 200 P. vivaxstrains that recently infected people in eight countries. Comparative analysis showed the parasites clustered into four genetically distinct populations that provide insights into the movement of P.

• NIH Scientists Decode How Anthrax Toxin Proteins Might Help Treat Cancerous Tumors

  June 27, 2016

  Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), all parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), describe how combining engineered anthrax toxin proteins and existing chemotherapy drugs could potentially yield a therapy to reduce or eliminate cancerous tumors.

• NIH Launches Large Study of Pregnant Women in Areas Affected by Zika Virus

  June 21, 2016

  The National Institutes of Health and Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz (Fiocruz), a national scientific research organization linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, have begun a multi-country study to evaluate the magnitude of health risks that Zika virus infection poses to pregnant women and their developing fetuses and infants. The study is opening in Puerto Rico and will expand to several locations in Brazil, Colombia and other areas that are experiencing active local transmission of the virus.

• NIH-Developed Crowdsourcing Platform Makes Public Gene Expression Data More Accessible

  June 20, 2016

  WHAT:  Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have developed a free online platform that uses a crowdsourcing approach to make public gene expression data more accessible to biomedical researchers without computational expertise. They describe the platform, called OMics Compendia Commons (OMiCC), in the June 20 online issue of Nature Biotechnology.

• NIAID Selects Director of Division of Intramural Research

  
  June 14, 2016

  Steven M. Holland, M.D., has been named Director of the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. He will lead the institute’s efforts to conduct basic and clinical research in a wide range of disciplines related to immunology, allergy and infectious diseases.

• Peanut Allergy Prevention Strategy Is Nutritionally Safe, NIH-Funded Study Shows

  June 10, 2016

  ​Introducing peanut-containing foods during infancy as a peanut allergy prevention strategy does not compromise the duration of breastfeeding or affect children’s growth and nutritional intakes, new findings show. The work, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is published online on June 10 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

May 2016

• Novel Strategy May Improve Seasonal Flu Vaccine Effectiveness

  May 23, 2016

  New findings describe a novel strategy for predicting how circulating influenza viruses will evolve, an approach that may help scientists create better seasonal influenza vaccines.

• Zika Virus Protein Could Be Vaccine Target

  
  May 19, 2016

  A viral protein known as NS5 is a promising target for vaccines against Zika and related viruses, according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and colleagues at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine.

• NIH Statement on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2016

  May 18, 2016

  Advances in HIV/AIDS research have given us the opportunity to transform the lives of those living with HIV while providing highly effective methods of preventing the infection. This progress has strengthened optimism for achieving a durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

• Large-Scale HIV Vaccine Trial to Launch in South Africa

  May 18, 2016

  An early-stage HIV vaccine clinical trial in South Africa has determined that an investigational vaccine regimen is safe and generates comparable immune responses to those reported in a landmark 2009 study showing that a vaccine can protect people from HIV infection.

• NIH-Led Team Discovers New HIV Vaccine Target

  
  May 12, 2016

  A team led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reported a research trifecta. They discovered a new vulnerable site on HIV for a vaccine to target, a broadly neutralizing antibody that binds to that target site, and how the antibody stops the virus from infecting a cell.

• Zika Virus Damages Placenta, Kills Fetal Mice

  May 11, 2016

  Zika virus infects and crosses the placentas of pregnant mice and causes severe damage or death in fetal mice, report scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health.

• Investigational Malaria Vaccine Protects Healthy U.S. Adults for More than One Year

  May 9, 2016

  An experimental malaria vaccine protected a small number of healthy, malaria-naïve adults in the United States from infection for more than one year after immunization, according to results from a Phase 1 trial described in the May 9th issue of Nature Medicine.

• AIDS-Kaposi’s Sarcoma Study Ended

  May 5, 2016

  Enrollment into a clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) investigating two different strategies to treat limited-stage AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma was stopped due to futility—if continued, the study would be unlikely to detect a difference between the two study arms.

• NIH Statement on World Asthma Day 2016

  May 3, 2016

  On World Asthma Day 2016, the National Institutes of Health reaffirms its commitment to support research to improve the lives of all people with asthma. NIH-funded research has advanced our understanding of asthma as a disease as well as the impact asthma has on the lives of those affected. 

April 2016

• Cancer Drug May Treat Sepsis, Other Uncontrollable Immune Responses to Infection

  April 29, 2016

  Results from laboratory experiments and mouse studies suggest that small doses of drugs from a specific class of approved cancer medications called topoisomerase 1 (top1) inhibitors may protect against the overwhelming immune response to infection that sometimes leads to sepsis, a bacterial condition that kills as many as 500,000 people in the United States each year.

• Single Antibody Infusions Provide Durable Protection Against HIV-Like Virus in Monkeys

  April 27, 2016

  A single antibody infusion can protect monkeys against infection with an HIV-like virus for up to 23 weeks, researchers have found. The study, published in Nature, was led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and The Rockefeller University.

• “Dirty Mouse” May Model Human Immune System More Accurately, NIH-Funded Study Suggests

  April 27, 2016

  Medical interventions that work well when tested in mouse models can fail when they advance to safety and efficacy testing in humans. One reason for this, scientists propose, may be the differences between immune system development in laboratory mice and humans. 

• World Malaria Day 2016

  April 25, 2016

  On World Malaria Day 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes the considerable gains that have been made in reducing the global burden of malaria and renews our commitment to conducting and supporting the cutting-edge scientific research needed to end the scourge of this devastating mosquito-borne disease.

• NIH Study Finds Factors that May Influence Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness

  April 19, 2016

  The long-held approach to predicting seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness may need to be revisited, new research suggests. Currently, seasonal flu vaccines are designed to induce high levels of protective antibodies against hemagglutinin (HA), a protein found on the surface of the influenza virus that enables the virus to enter a human cell and initiate infection.

• Two-Vaccine Ebola Regimen Shows Promise in Early-Stage Clinical Trial

  April 19, 2016

  An immunization regimen using two Ebola vaccine candidates was safe and well-tolerated and induced an immune response in healthy adult volunteers in a Phase 1 clinical trial. Results from the study are described in the April 19th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

• Islet Transplantation Restores Blood Sugar Awareness and Control in Type 1 Diabetes

  
  April 18, 2016

  New clinical trial results show that transplantation of pancreatic islets—cell clusters that contain insulin-producing cells—prevents severe, potentially life-threatening drops in blood sugar in people with type 1 diabetes.

• Animal Study Paints Picture of the Earliest Immune Responses to HIV

  April 13, 2016

  New research in monkeys exposed to SIV, the monkey equivalent of HIV, suggests that the virus spreads rapidly in the body and triggers early host responses that suppress antiviral immunity, thus promoting viral replication. The study, published in Cell, provides a detailed view of the period between initial mucosal exposure to the virus and the point at which it becomes detectable in the blood.

• NIH Study Finds Protein May Be Responsible for Damage in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

  April 7, 2016

  Scientists have identified a protein that may be the cause of tissue damage in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), which affects as many as 56 of every 100,000 people in the United States. EoE is a disease in which white blood cells called eosinophils accumulate in the esophagus, often causing difficult or painful swallowing, nausea, vomiting and poor growth in children and adults.

• NIH Launches Large Clinical Trials of Antibody-Based HIV Prevention

  
  April 7, 2016

  Enrollment has begun in the first of two multinational clinical trials of an intravenously delivered investigational antibody for preventing HIV infection. Known as the AMP Studies, for antibody-mediated prevention, the trials will test whether giving people an investigational anti-HIV antibody called VRC01 as an intravenous infusion every 8 weeks is safe, tolerable and effective at preventing HIV infection.

• NIH Awards Six Grants to Explore How Combination Adjuvants Improve Vaccines

  April 4, 2016

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded six grants totaling $3.1 million to researchers exploring the molecular mechanisms behind combination vaccine adjuvants—substances that improve the effectiveness of vaccines. 

• NIH Doctors Describe Severe Case of Ebola Virus Disease

  April 4, 2016

  For more than a month in 2015, a multidisciplinary team including infectious disease and critical care physicians and nurses, respiratory therapists and other specialists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) treated a critically ill patient who had contracted Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone. 

March 2016

• Structure of Zika Virus Determined

  
  March 31, 2016

  A near-atomic level map of Zika virus shows its structure to be largely similar to that of dengue virus and other flaviviruses, but with a notable difference in one key surface protein, report scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

• NIH Statement on World Tuberculosis Day

  March 23, 2016

  On World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2016, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reaffirms its commitment to researching ways to better understand, prevent, diagnose and treat TB. March 24 marks the day in 1882 when German microbiologist Robert Koch announced he had discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb), the bacterium that causes TB—an airborne disease that most often attacks the lungs.

• Blood Test Can Predict Risk of Developing Tuberculosis

  March 23, 2016

  One-third of the world’s population is thought to be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), but just a small fraction ever develops symptomatic illness.

• AIDS-Kaposi’s Sarcoma Study Changed Due to Drug Underperformance

  March 18, 2016

  A clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) comparing three advanced Kaposi’s sarcoma chemotherapy regimens in combination with antiretroviral treatment (ART) for patients with AIDS will no longer enroll participants in the study arm testing the oral chemotherapy drug etoposide.

• Antibodies from Unconventional B Cells Less Likely to Neutralize HIV, NIH Study Finds

  March 17, 2016

  Antibodies derived from a type of immune cell found in unusually high numbers in HIV-infected individuals with chronically uncontrolled virus levels are less effective at neutralizing HIV than antibodies derived from a different type of immune cell more common in people without HIV, scientists report. 

• Experimental Dengue Vaccine Protects All Recipients in Virus Challenge Study

  
  March 16, 2016

  A clinical trial in which volunteers were infected with dengue virus six months after receiving either an experimental dengue vaccine developed by scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or a placebo injection yielded starkly contrasting results. All 21 volunteers who received the vaccine, TV003, were protected from infection, while all 20 placebo recipients developed infection.

• NIAID to Fund Further Study of Dapivirine Vaginal Ring for HIV Prevention

  
  March 13, 2016

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today that it would move forward with an open-label extension study of an HIV prevention tool for women: a silicone ring that continuously releases the experimental antiretroviral drug dapivirine in the vagina.

• Scientists Discover Potential Bacterial Indicator for Intestinal Disease in Premature Infants

  March 8, 2016

  Scientists have discovered a microbial biomarker that may indicate which premature infants are at increased risk for developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a serious intestinal disease that affects approximately 10 percent of premature infants and commonly leads to infant death. 

• Omalizumab Decreases Colds in Inner-City Children with Asthma, NIH Study Reports

  March 5, 2016

  Treatment with omalizumab significantly decreases the number of colds in inner-city children with allergic asthma, researchers reported at a press conference today at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) 2016 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

• NIAID Seeks Public Comment on Update to Food Allergy Guidelines

  March 4, 2016

  The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is seeking public comment on a draft update to the 2010 Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the United States (link is external) to address the prevention of peanut allergy. 

• Benefits of Peanut Allergy Prevention Strategy Persist After One-Year Peanut Avoidance

  
  March 4, 2016

  ​The benefits of regularly consuming peanut-containing foods early in life to prevent the development of peanut allergy persist even after stopping peanut consumption for one year, new clinical trial findings show. 

February 2016

• Experimental Ebola Antibody Protects Monkeys

  
  February 25, 2016

  Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues have discovered that a single monoclonal antibody—a protein that attacks viruses—isolated from a human Ebola virus disease survivor protected non-human primates when given as late as five days after lethal Ebola infection. 

• Maraviroc-Containing Regimens Safe, Tolerable When Taken for HIV Prevention

  February 24, 2016

  Maraviroc, an oral drug used to treat HIV infection, is safe and well-tolerated when taken daily as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection by HIV-uninfected men who have sex with men (MSM) at increased risk for acquiring HIV.

• NIH-Funded Study Finds Critical Population Adheres to PrEP with Coordinated Care

  February 24, 2016

  New findings suggest that black men who have sex with men (BMSM) with access to a novel coordinated care program can adhere to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medication regimen that helps prevent HIV infection in uninfected individuals.

• Experimental Ebola Vaccines Well Tolerated, Immunogenic in Phase 2 Study

  February 23, 2016

  Two investigational vaccines designed to protect against Ebola virus disease were well-tolerated and induced an immune response among 1,000 vaccinated participants in the Phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial called PREVAIL I.

• Ebola Survivor Study Yields Insights on Complications of Disease

  
  February 23, 2016

  Preliminary findings from PREVAIL III, a study of Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors being conducted in Liberia, indicate that both Ebola survivors and their close contacts have a high burden of illness. However, the prevalence of eye, musculoskeletal, and neurological complications was greater among the individuals who survived EVD.

• Experimental Ebola Drug ZMapp May Benefit Patients, but Insufficient Data to be Certain, Study Finds

  February 23, 2016

  According to initial results from a randomized, controlled trial of the experimental Ebola treatment ZMapp, the monoclonal antibody cocktail was well-tolerated and showed promise. Due to decreasing incidence in Ebola, the study could not enroll enough volunteers to determine definitively whether it is a better treatment for Ebola virus disease (EVD) than supportive care only.

• NIH-Funded Study Finds Effect of PrEP on Bone Density is Reversible

  February 23, 2016

  The slight loss in bone mineral density associated with HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) antiretroviral use is reversible in young adult patients who stop taking the drugs, according to findings presented by researchers today at the 23rd Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston.

• Vaginal Ring Provides Partial Protection from HIV in Large Multinational Trial

  

  Credit: International Partnership for Microbicides
  February 22, 2016

  A ring that continuously releases an experimental antiretroviral drug in the vagina safely provided a modest level of protection against HIV infection in women, a large clinical trial in four sub-Saharan African countries has found.

• Tick Genome Reveals Secrets of a Successful Bloodsucker

  February 9, 2016

  With tenacity befitting their subject, an international team of nearly 100 researchers toiled for a decade and overcame tough technical challenges to decipher the genome of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis). 

• NIH Seeks Research Applications to Study Zika in Pregnancy, Developing Fetus

  February 5, 2016

  The National Institutes of Health today announced its research priorities for studies to investigate how Zika virus infection affects reproduction, pregnancy and the developing fetus.  Zika virus currently is circulating in about 30 countries and territories, notably in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• NIH Scientists Discover Genetic Cause of Rare Allergy to Vibration

  February 3, 2016

  Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a genetic mutation responsible for a rare form of inherited hives induced by vibration, also known as vibratory urticaria. Running, hand clapping, towel drying or even taking a bumpy bus ride can cause temporary skin rashes in people with this rare disorder.

January 2016

• Ongoing HIV Replication Replenishes Viral Reservoirs During Therapy

  January 27, 2016

  In HIV-infected patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART), ongoing HIV replication in lymphoid tissues such as the lymph nodes helps maintain stores, or reservoirs, of the virus, a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests.

• NIH-Funded Study Suggests Potential to Predict Peanut Allergy Immunotherapy Outcomes

  

  Credit: NIAID
  January 25, 2016

  Oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy induces early, distinct changes in immune T-cell populations that potentially may help researchers determine which people will respond well to the therapy and which immune mechanisms are involved in the response, a new study suggests.

• Dengue Vaccine Enters Phase 3 Trial in Brazil

  
  January 14, 2016

  A large-scale clinical trial to evaluate whether a candidate vaccine can prevent the mosquito-borne illness dengue fever has been launched in Brazil. The vaccine, TV003, was developed by scientists in the laboratory of Stephen Whitehead, Ph.D., at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

• NIH Experts Offer Lessons Learned from the 2014-2015 Ebola Outbreak

  January 14, 2016

  In a special issue on Ebola for the journal Clinical Trials, leading researchers from across the globe, including from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), describe in a series of articles the challenges of conducting ethically and scientifically sound clinical research during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and lessons learned for future outbreaks.

• New NIH Awards Will Support Development of Therapeutic Alternatives to Traditional Antibiotics

  January 11, 2016

  New NIH awards will support development of therapeutic alternatives to traditional antibiotics the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded approximately $5 million in funding for 24 research projects seeking to develop non-traditional therapeutics for bacterial infections to help address the growing health threat of antibiotic resistance.

• Current Malaria Treatment Fails in Cambodia Due to Drug-Resistant Parasites

  January 7, 2016

  New findings from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), confirm dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, the first-line treatment for Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection in Cambodia, has failed in certain provinces due to parasite resistance to artemisinin and piperaquine.