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Document de presse | 2008.09.16
How Listeria crosses the placental barrier to infect the fetus
A study conducted by the group directed by Marc Lecuit (Avenir Inserm / Group Microorganisms and barriers host the Pasteur Institute), at the Inserm unit U604 directed by Pascale Cossart, has uncovered how the bacterium responsible for Listeriosis (Listeria monocytogenes) can cross the placenta of pregnant women to cause serious fetal infections —even death—, premature birth and...
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Document de presse | 2008.07.07
Whooping cough: bacterial monitoring for better prevention
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Institut Pasteur in Lille have analyzed the consequences of intensive vaccination of young children against whooping cough on the bacterium agent of the disease. Their observations highlight the importance of continuing bacterial evolution in order to adapt vaccine strategies. Press release Paris, july 8, 2008 ...
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Document de presse | 2008.04.23
Shigellosis: how the bacterium neutralizes our immune defenses
Institut Pasteur researchers working together with Inserm have recently discovered how Shigella, the bacterium responsible for an acute inflammatory disease of the intestine, is able to destroy our initial immune defenses so that it can survive and invade the mucosa. An understanding of such mechanisms opens up useful therapeutic possibilities both for the treatment of shigellosis and for all...
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Document de presse | 2008.03.17
Malaria could increase mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur have published a study in the journal AIDS that demonstrates how infection in a pregnant woman by the malaria parasite could increase the risk of in utero transmission of the AIDS virus to the child. This study reinforces epidemiological observations and emphasises the importance of treating malaria in HIV-positive women. Press release Paris,...
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Document de presse | 2008.03.17
The mother-to-child transmission of Chikungunya virus established
During a vast prospective study among pregnant women, clinicians in Reunion and researchers from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm demonstrated for the first time the maternal-fetal transmission of Chikungunya virus. Their findings show that this transmission almost exclusively occurs when mothers are infected shortly before term and that newborns have an increased probability of developing a...
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Document de presse | 2008.02.14
Chikungunya: an animal model, at last !
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and INSERM have developed the first mouse model for chikungunya virus infection. This animal model mimics both the benign and severe forms of the disease. As a result, the scientists have determined which tissues and cells are infected by the virus in each of these clinical conditions. The development of such an animal model is a major advance, not only at...
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Document de presse | 2008.02.05
Legionnaire's Disease: towards rapid diagnostic tests
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, in collaboration with the National Reference Centre for Legionella (INSERM) in Lyon, compared the genomic content of dozens of strains of the bacterium responsible for "Legionnaires' disease". Their study, published in "Genome Research", opens the way for developing rapid diagnostic tests, which are at present lacking for...
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Document de presse | 2007.12.18
Buruli Ulcer: New possibilities for the prevention of the disease
The Buruli Ulcer is an extremely debilitating skin disease, in full emergence in West Africa. The first results of a case-control study of factors associates with the development underway in the endemic region by the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, in collaboration with the researchers of many other teams, published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, confirm the presence of the already suspected...
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Document de presse | 2007.12.11
A new candidate vaccine for dengue
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS have developed and demonstrated the validity of a new paediatric candidate vaccine against dengue. Their research, published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, delivers promising results for the fight against this disease, which currently threatens a third of the world's population, and against which there is still no specific...
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Document de presse | 2007.12.09
How the anthrax bacterium eludes our immune defenses
After having demonstrated the protective role of one of the enzymes of our natural immunity against B. anthracis, the anthrax bacterium, researchers from the Institut Pasteur, Inserm, and the CNRS explain how the bacillus is capable of evading the bactericidal action of this enzyme: this bacterium produces a toxin that inhibits the enzyme synthesis. This research*, published in PloS Pathogens,...
