Infectious Disease

Infectious diseases pose a significant global health challenge, accounting for a substantial proportion of deaths worldwide, according to recent data from the World Health Organization. Vanderbilt’s Life Science Showcase: Advancing Innovation in Infectious Diseases held on July 18 emphasized the vital importance of advancing research and innovation to combat these persistent threats. Read More

An unprecedented view of bacterial products within infected tissues opens new opportunities to explore infection biology and devise novel therapeutic strategies. Read More

Diarrhea has many causes, and when there are prolonged or severe symptoms clinicians sometimes consider lab testing to help guide treatment. But sometimes they stray from published guidelines in the direction of overtesting. Read More

Children who experience recurrent C. diff infections may have fecal inflammatory markers that could predict risk and improve management of these infections. Read More

Vanderbilt engineers have developed a new method for duplicating DNA that makes devices small enough to hold in your hand that are capable of identifying infectious agents before symptoms appear. Read More

Vanderbilt biologists have discovered that mosquitoes possess a previously unknown mechanism for destroying pathogens which takes advantage of the peculiarities of the insect’s circulatory system to increase its effectiveness. Read More

The New England Journal of Medicine has published a detailed account by April Pettit and colleagues at Vanderbilt University describing one man’s rapid deterioration after receiving a tainted steroid injection for back pain from the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. Read More

A new 3-D view of the body’s response to infection — and the ability to identify proteins involved in the response — could point to novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents for infectious diseases. Read More

Anti-retroviral therapy can prevent tuberculosis, even in people with early HIV disease. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a rare, but important risk posed by the antibiotic azithromycin, commonly called a “Z-pack.” The study found a 2.5-fold higher risk of death from cardiac arrhythmia in the first five days of taking azithromycin when compared with another common antibiotic or no antibiotics at all. Read More