Scientists at University College London have created an effective drug to treat the rare infectious disease bacterial keratitis.
PubMed indicates that bacterial keratitis is an acute infection of the cornea of the eye. It causes pain, swelling, and photophobia and can lead to decreased visual acuity and even blindness. This disease develops when the bacteria causing it are present on the surface of the cornea and the epithelial layer is damaged. The people most at risk of contracting this disease are those who frequently wear contact lenses.
New technologies have allowed researchers to make some improvements to the low-concentration polyhexanide drug (PHMB 0.02%), which was first used in the 1990s, correcting errors that had negative side effects in its formulation.
A study involving healthy volunteers showed that the drug is safe to use. Its effectiveness has also been proven - during a clinical trial, it demonstrated improvement in 110 out of 127 patients with bacterial keratitis.
Scientists hope that the drug will be accepted by the scientific community and reduce the serious consequences of bacterial keratitis that require surgical treatment.
Chinese scientists discover 8 new viruses on a remote island, warning that they may infect humans
A team of Chinese scientists have discovered eight viruses on a tropical island, and they fear they could infect humans.
Scientists charged with conducting studies to prepare the world to face a future epidemic took approximately 700 samples of rodents living on Hainan Island, off the southern coast of China.
In the course of their research, they found eight new viruses, one of which belongs to the same viral family as the Coronavirus.
Scientists say the discovered pathogens have a "high probability" of infecting humans if they cross the species barrier. As a result, they called for further experiments on viruses to see how they might affect humanity.
The new study analyzed 682 swabs from the anus and throat of a number of different rodents on the island during a four-year period between 2017 and 2021, according to what the Daily Mail reported, citing the research paper published in the journal Virologica Sinica.
The samples were then sent to laboratories and examined, where the analysis showed a group of new viruses that had not been seen before, including the new coronavirus, which is now called CoV-HMU-1.
Genetic modification of chickens succeeds in resisting bird flu
But the Corona virus was not the only cause for concern. Other pathogens included two new pestiviruses associated with yellow fever and dengue. There was Astovirus, which causes infections such as stomach bugs, a pair of parvoviruses, which cause influenza, and two more papillomaviruses, known to cause genital warts and cancer.
Scientists have hypothesized that there are likely to be many unknown viruses lurking in less traveled corners of the world. They added: "The results expand our knowledge of virus taxonomy and host range, and suggest that there are highly diverse, undiscovered viruses that have evolved independently in their unique wild hosts in inaccessible areas."
They continued: "If these viruses cross the host barrier, they are very likely to cause zoonotic diseases. The pathogenicity and associated impact of these new viruses on humans and animals should be evaluated in further studies."