To better understand the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, researchers have been piecing together its contributing factors. Now in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, scientists report for the first time a link between antimicrobial substances such as triclosan in indoor dust and levels of antibiotic-resistance genes, which can transfer from one bacterial cell to another. The overuse of antibiotics … Read More
Pets and Children are a Potential Source of Clostridium difficile in the Community
Household transmission of Clostridium difficile to pets and children may be a source of community-associated C. difficile infections according to findings from a new study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The study found that patients with this bacteria can colonize or infect household contacts following or during treatment for an infection. “C. difficile is primarily a healthcare-associated … Read More
New Zika Clone Could be New Model for Developing Vaccine
Stopping the explosive spread of Zika virus – which can lead to birth defects in babies born to infected mothers – depends on genetic insights gleaned through new tools and models. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health recently cloned an epidemic strain of the virus, creating a model that can help biologists develop and test strategies for stopping the … Read More
Time of Day Influences Our Susceptibility to Infection, Study Finds
We are more susceptible to infection at certain times of the day as our body clock affects the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between cells, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge. The findings, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help explain why shift workers, whose body clocks are routinely disrupted, … Read More
Clinical Trial Will Examine Investigational Vaccine Against Mosquito-Borne Illness
As world leaders increasingly recognize the Zika virus as an international public health threat, the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute for Global Health has been chosen as one of three study sites in a human safety trial of a new Zika vaccine. The early-stage study will evaluate the experimental vaccine’s safety and … Read More
Glucose Transporters Blocked in Bacterial Meningitis
Escherichia coli K1 (E. coli K1) continues to be a major threat to the health of young infants. Affecting the central nervous system, it causes neonatal meningitis by multiplying in immune cells, such as macrophages, and then disseminating into the bloodstream Meningitis can be caused by bacterial, fungal or viral pathogens. One hallmark of bacterial meningitis is reduced glucose levels … Read More
Could Yellow Fever Virus Cause a Zika-like Epidemic in the Americas
Yellow fever virus (YFV), a close relative of Zika virus and transmitted by the same type of mosquito, is the cause of an often-fatal viral hemorrhagic fever and could spread via air travel from endemic areas in Africa to cause international epidemics. The recent reemergence and spread of YFV in Africa and Asia and the dire shortage of YFV vaccine … Read More
Public Health Officials Investigating Unique Case of Zika in Utah
Utah health officials confirmed today a new case of Zika in Utah and have launched an investigation to determine how the person became infected. The new case is a family contact who helped care for the individual who died from unknown causes and who had been infected with Zika after traveling to an area with Zika. Laboratories at the Centers … Read More
Discovery of a New Defense System Against Microbial Pathogens
Antibodies play an important role in host defense against microbial pathogens. However, microbial pathogens seem to have acquired a protease that destroys antibodies in order to evade host immune system. On the other hand, the host immune system appears to have acquired an immune activating receptor, LILRA2, that specifically recognizes microbially cleaved antibodies. Courtesy of Osaka University For the first … Read More
Staph Risk Runs in Families, Especially Among Siblings
Having a first-degree relative, especially a sibling, with a history of staph infection significantly increases a person’s risk for the disease, regardless of sex of the family member, co-morbid conditions, or direct contamination. The results of a large national study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The incidence of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, or staph infection, has increased over the … Read More