HHS awards $232 million in biodefense contracts for vaccine development
...e is currently no licensed plague vaccine, and the pneumonic form of the disease, which infects the lungs and can spread from person to person through the air, is nearly always fatal unless antibiotic treatment is started within 24 hours of infection. NIAID also modified an existing contract with DynPort...Wake Forest scientists find new combination vaccine effective against plague
...cts against the most dangerous form of the plague pneumonic plague," reported Mizel, professor and chairman of...tiative. "The development of a vaccine against the pneumonic or respiratory form of plague is a major goal of the bio-defense initiative," he said. The research ...Studies reveal how plague disables immune system, and how to exploit the process to make a vaccine
...er than the bloodstream -- the disease is known as pneumonic plague. This form of the infection progresses faster, spreads easier from person to person, and is far more deadly, killing 100 percent of those who do not receive the right antibiotics soon after exposure. "There is," the authors note, "an urgent ...Novel plague virulence factor identified
...re different forms of plague in humans -- bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic -- depending on site of infection; and infections in humans are highly lethal if not immediately treated. "Dr Aballay has developed a new model for dissecting the ways pathogens such as the plague can infect and kill their hosts," said...Plant-derived vaccines safeguard against deadly plague
...ia. Particularly worrisome to human health is the pneumonic form of the disease, which can spread by an airborne route after infecting the lungs. It is considered universally fatal if not detected and treated after symptoms arise one to six days after the initial exposure. Current vaccines against plague are ...Marmots, microbes and geopolitical uses of disease
...ssible." By the spring of 1911 a major epidemic of pneumonic plague swept through Manchuria killing between 45,000 and 60,000 people. "The disease was a pretext for military interaction. The plague and its aftermath were to play an important role in the geopolitical events leading up to the Japanese takeover o...Disabling key protein may give physicians time to treat pneumonic plague
... -- The deadly attack of the bacterium that causes pneumonic plague is significantly slowed when it can't make ...'s issue of Science. Speed is a primary concern in pneumonic plague, which kills in three to four days and potentially could be used in a terrorist attack. The b...