Expert review of anti-infective therapy
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Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther · Apr 2006
ReviewJapanese encephalitis: development of new candidate vaccines.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the most common form of viral encephalitis that appears in the form of frequent epidemics of brain fever throughout Southeast Asia, China and India. The disease is caused by a Flavivirus named Japanese encephalitis virus that is spread to humans by mosquitoes. ⋯ Several new promising JE vaccine candidates have been developed, some of which are under different stages of clinical evaluation. These new candidate JE vaccines have the potential to generate long-lasting immunity at low cost.
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Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther · Apr 2006
ReviewProbiotics: their role in the treatment and prevention of disease.
A probiotic is a "live microbial food ingredients that, when ingested in sufficient quantities, exerts health benefits on the consumer". Probiotics exert their benefits through several mechanisms; they prevent colonization, cellular adhesion and invasion by pathogenic organisms, they have direct antimicrobial activity and they modulate the host immune response. ⋯ Promising ongoing research is being conducted on the use of probiotics for the treatment of Clostridium difficile colitis, treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection, treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and prevention of relapse, treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, treatment of intestinal inflammation in cystic fibrosis patients, and prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants. Finally, areas of future research include the use of probiotics for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, prevention of cancer and the treatment of graft-versus-host disease in bone marrow transplant recipients.