217 Results
New Antibodies Target “Dark Side” of Influenza Virus Protein
March 1, 2024
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified antibodies targeting a hard-to-spot region of the influenza virus, shedding light on the relatively unexplored “dark side” of the neuraminidase (NA) protein head. The antibodies target a region of the NA protein that is common among many influenza viruses, including H3N2 subtype viruses, and could be a new target for countermeasures. The research, led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Vaccine Research Center, part of NIH, was published today in Immunity.
Antibody Reduces Allergic Reactions to Multiple Foods in NIH Trial
February 25, 2024
A 16-week course of a monoclonal antibody, omalizumab, increased the amount of peanut, tree nuts, egg, milk and wheat that multi-food allergic children as young as 1 year could consume without an allergic reaction in a late-stage clinical trial.
Statement: Long-Acting HIV Treatment Demonstrates Efficacy in People with Challenges Taking Daily Medicine as Prescribed
February 21, 2024
Long-acting antiretroviral therapy (ART) with cabotegravir and rilpivirine was superior in suppressing HIV replication compared to daily oral ART in people who had been unable to maintain viral suppression through an oral daily regimen, according to interim data from a randomized trial. Upon review of these findings, an independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) recommended halting randomization and inviting all eligible study participants to take long-acting ART.
Statement: NIH Trial Data Underpins FDA Approval of Omalizumab for Food Allergy
February 16, 2024
FDA has approved omalizumab for the reduction of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, that may occur with an accidental exposure to one or more foods in adults and children aged 1 year and older with food allergy. People taking omalizumab still need to avoid exposure to foods to which they are allergic.
COVID-19 Vaccination and Boosting During Pregnancy Protects Infants for Six Months
February 14, 2024
Women who receive an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination or booster during pregnancy can provide their infants with strong protection against symptomatic COVID-19 infection for at least six months after birth. These findings reinforce the importance of receiving both a COVID-19 vaccine and booster during pregnancy to ensure that infants are born with robust protection that lasts until they are old enough to be vaccinated.
Switching to Vegan or Ketogenic Diet Rapidly Impacts Immune System
January 30, 2024
Researchers observed rapid and distinct immune system changes in a small study of people who switched to a vegan or a ketogenic (also called keto) diet. Scientists closely monitored various biological responses of people sequentially eating vegan and keto diets for two weeks, in random order. They found that the vegan diet prompted responses linked to innate immunity—the body’s non-specific first line of defense against pathogens—while the keto diet prompted responses associated with adaptive immunity—pathogen-specific immunity built through exposures in daily life and vaccination. Metabolic changes and shifts in the participants' microbiomes—communities of bacteria living in the gut—were also observed. More research is needed to determine if these changes are beneficial or detrimental and what effect they could have on nutritional interventions for diseases such as cancer or inflammatory conditions.
Researchers Create Safer Form of Coxiella burnetii for Scientific Use
January 25, 2024
Scientists have unexpectedly discovered that the weakened form of the bacteria Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) not typically known to cause disease, naturally acquired an ability to do so. C. burnetii causes Q Fever in humans and its weakened forms are those used for scientific purposes. Subsequently, the scientists identified the genetic mutation responsible for the increased ability to cause disease (virulence) and created a form of the bacteria without the genetic flaw that could safely be used for research.
NIH-Developed HIV Antibodies Protect Animals in Proof-of-Concept Study
January 17, 2024
Three different HIV antibodies each independently protected monkeys from acquiring simian-HIV (SHIV) in a placebo-controlled proof-of-concept study intended to inform development of a preventive HIV vaccine for people. The antibodies—a human broadly neutralizing antibody and two antibodies isolated from previously vaccinated monkeys—target the fusion peptide, a site on an HIV surface protein that helps the virus fuse with and enter cells.
Biomedical STI Prevention Evidence Is Inadequate for Cisgender Women
December 20, 2023
Pivotal studies of some biomedical HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention interventions have excluded cisgender women or demonstrated low efficacy among them, limiting their prevention options relative to other populations who experience high HIV and STI incidence. Findings show doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (better known as DoxyPEP) did not prevent STI acquisition in cisgender women, despite showing promising results in gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and transgender women in a previous study.
Statement: Antibody Reduces Allergic Reactions to Multiple Foods in NIH Trial
December 19, 2023
A monoclonal antibody treatment significantly increased the amounts of multiple common foods that food-allergic children and adolescents could consume without an allergic reaction, according to a planned interim analysis of an advanced clinical trial.
NIH Research Identifies Opportunities to Improve Future HIV Vaccine Candidates
December 14, 2023
An effective HIV vaccine may need to prompt strong responses from immune cells called CD8+ T cells to protect people from acquiring HIV, according to a new study from researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues. The study findings, appearing in Science, draw comparisons between the immune system activity of past HIV vaccine study participants and people with HIV who naturally keep the virus from replicating even in the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ART).
NIH Clinical Trial of Tuberculous Meningitis Drug Regimen Begins
December 7, 2023
A trial of a new drug regimen to treat tuberculous meningitis (TBM) has started enrolling adults and adolescents in several countries where tuberculosis (TB) is prevalent. The trial will include 330 participants aged 15 years and older who have or are likely to have TBM based on signs and symptoms, including people living with and without HIV. Because pregnant women are eligible to enroll in this study with appropriate consent, a small number of pregnant women are expected to be included.
World AIDS Day 2023
December 1, 2023
On this 35th World AIDS Day, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) joins its partners in honoring the lives lost due to the HIV pandemic. For decades, this virus has exacted a tragic toll, affecting people, families, and communities worldwide, threatening social and economic development, and exacerbating stigma, often toward people who already experience discrimination and health disparities.
NIH Statement on Preliminary Efficacy Results of First-in-Class Gonorrhea Antibiotic Developed Through Public-Private Partnership
November 1, 2023
A single dose of a novel oral antibiotic called zoliflodacin has been found to be as safe and effective as standard therapy for uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea in an international Phase 3 non-inferiority clinical trial. Gonorrhea treatment options are increasingly limited due to antimicrobial resistance seen in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that cause gonococcal infection.
Study Reveals How Young Children’s Immune Systems Tame SARS-CoV-2
October 13, 2023
A study of infants and young children found those who acquired SARS-CoV-2 had a strong, sustained antibody response to the virus and high levels of inflammatory proteins in the nose but not in the blood. This immune response contrasts with that typically seen in adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Clinical Trial to Test Immune Modulation Strategy for Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Begins
September 22, 2023
A clinical trial has launched to test whether early intensive immune modulation for hospitalized COVID-19 patients with relatively mild illness is beneficial. The placebo-controlled study will enroll approximately 1,500 people at research sites around the world.
Clinical Trial of HIV Vaccine Begins in United States and South Africa
September 20, 2023
A trial of a preventive HIV vaccine candidate has begun enrollment in the United States and South Africa. The Phase 1 trial will evaluate a novel vaccine known as VIR-1388 for its safety and ability to induce an HIV-specific immune response in people. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has provided scientific and financial support throughout the lifecycle of this HIV vaccine concept and is contributing funding for this study.
NIH Releases Strategic Plan for Research on Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2
September 19, 2023
In response to the persistent health challenges of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2, an NIH-wide HSV Working Group developed the plan, informed by feedback from more than 100 representatives of the research and advocacy communities and interested public stakeholders. The plan outlines an HSV research framework with four strategic priorities: improving fundamental knowledge of HSV biology, pathogenesis, and epidemiology; accelerating research to improve HSV diagnosis; improving strategies to treat HSV while seeking a curative therapeutic; and, advancing research to prevent HSV infection.
NIH Clinical Trial of Universal Flu Vaccine Candidate Begins
September 15, 2023
Enrollment in a Phase 1 trial of a new investigational universal influenza vaccine candidate has begun at the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The trial is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, and will evaluate the investigational vaccine for safety and its ability to elicit an immune response.
NIH Investigates Multidrug-Resistant Bacterium Emerging in Community Settings
September 6, 2023
New “hypervirulent” strains of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae have emerged in healthy people in community settings, prompting a National Institutes of Health research group to investigate how the human immune system defends against infection. After exposing the strains to components of the human immune system in a laboratory “test tube” setting, scientists found that some strains were more likely to survive in blood and serum than others, and that neutrophils (white blood cells) are more likely to ingest and kill some strains than others.
NIH Study Examines Connections Between Drinking Water Quality and Increased Lung Infections in People with Cystic Fibrosis
August 25, 2023
High levels of some minerals and metals in environmental water supplies may increase the risk of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary infections in people with cystic fibrosis. The study appearing in Environmental Epidemiology, found the presence of the metals molybdenum and vanadium along with sulfate—a collection of mineral salts—in the U.S. municipal water system was associated with an increased incidence of NTM pulmonary infections, the leading cause of drinking-water associated illnesses.
Severe COVID-19 May Lead to Long-Term Innate Immune System Changes
August 18, 2023
Severe COVID-19 may cause long-lasting alterations to the innate immune system, the first line of defense against pathogens, according to a small study funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. These changes may help explain why the disease can damage so many different organs and why some people with long COVID have high levels of inflammation throughout the body. The findings were published online today in the journal Cell.
COVID-19 Vaccination and Boosting During Pregnancy Benefits Pregnant People and Newborns
August 11, 2023
Receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine or booster during pregnancy can benefit pregnant people and their newborn infants, according to findings recently published in Vaccine. The paper describes results from the Multisite Observational Maternal and Infant Study for COVID-19 (MOMI-VAX), which was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
NIH Selects Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
August 2, 2023
Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., acting director for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has named Jeanne M. Marrazzo, M.D., as director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Daily Statin Reduces Heart Disease Risk Among Adults Living with HIV
July 24, 2023
A National Institutes of Health-supported study found that statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering medications, may offset the high risk of cardiovascular disease in people living with HIV by more than a third, potentially preventing one in five major cardiovascular events or premature deaths in this population. People living with HIV can have a 50-100% increased risk for cardiovascular disease.