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Tourists traveling by plane and the growth of cities are combining to help new and old infections spread around the world, experts said.

(MedThink Communications) Scientists at NanoBio Corp. have demonstrated for the first time in humans that a novel topical treatment for cold sores (herpes labialis), NB-001, speeds healing of lesions as effectively as the leading oral systemic drugs but without safety or toxicity concerns.The new data provide the first proof of principle that a topical agent can attain equivalent efficacy rates to oral systemic drugs, according to the NanoBio scientists.

Background: The identification of clinical factors associated with negative blood cultures could help to avoid unnecessary blood cultures. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a well-established inflammation marker commonly used in the management of medical inpatients. Methods: We studied the association of clinical factors, CRP levels and changes of CRP documented prior to blood culture draws with the absence of bacteremia for hospitalized medical patients. Results: In the retrospective analysis of 710 blood cultures obtained from 310 medical inpatients of non-intensive-care wards during one year (admission blood cultures obtained in the emergency room were excluded), the following retrospectively available factors were the only independent predictors of blood cultures negative for obligate pathogens: a good clinical condition represented by the lowest of three general nursing categories (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.8 - 9.5), a CRP rise >50mg/L documented before the blood culture draw (OR 2.0 95% CI 1.8

(MedThink Communications) A novel topical therapy for nail fungus, NB-002, has demonstrated a new topical approach to healing nail fungus by penetrating skin pores and diffusing through the skin that surrounds the entire nail plate, according to a study conducted by NanoBio Corporation.The data represent a unique approach to treating nail fungus (onychomycosis), which resists topical therapies because they cannot penetrate the nail and access the site of infection.

(MedThink Communications) A single administration of a novel, nasally delivered influenza vaccine elicited immune responses in ferrets that were more than 20 times higher than those generated by two injections of the currently approved vaccines, according to a study by NanoBio Corporation. The new vaccine used only half the standard antigen dose to produce this effect.The company's nasal vaccines exert adjuvant activity without the need for pro-inflammatory materials, toxins or cytokines.

(Emory University) A new predictive model shows that vaccinating infants with 7 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine -- the current recommendation--not only saves lives and money during a normal flu season by preventing related bacterial infections; it also would prevent more than 357,000 deaths during an influenza pandemic, while saving $7 billion in costs.

(Gavi Alliance) 3.4 million deaths will be averted in the world's poorest countries through immunization funded by the GAVI Alliance between 2000 and 2008, according to new data released by the World health Organization.

A new antibiotic works well to reduce the misery of traveler's diarrhea, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

(Arizona State University) An Arizona State University research team headed by School of Life Sciences Associate Professor Ananias Escalante will share in more than $6.3 million in awards from the National Institutes of health for three related studies. Two of the studies will examine the ecology and evolution of malaria and a third will delve into the genetic mysteries behind the host shift of retroviral disease from primates to humans.