Flesh Eating News and Research

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Scientists discover trigger that turns strep infections into devastating disease

Houston Methodist infectious disease scientists have discovered a previously unknown trigger that turns a relatively run-of-the-mill infection into a devastatingly ravenous, flesh-eating disease.

18 Feb 2019

ANTRUK’s Annual Lecture sends out message on shortage of funds for antibiotic research

A national charity will use the 90th anniversary of the discovery of penicillin to call for a massive injection of funds into antibiotic research - or risk returning humanity to an age where people died from something as simple as a scratch.

17 Oct 2018

Texas man bitten by shark being treated for flesh-eating bacteria infection

Blain Shelton, a 42-year-old Texas man was swimming around 200 yards off the shore of Boliver Island near Galveston on 9th of August when he encountered a shark.

24 Aug 2018

Researchers discover biomarkers that accurately identify hypervirulent K. pneumoniae

Imagine a pathogen that infects completely healthy people and can cause blindness in one day and flesh-eating infections, brain abscesses and death in just a few days.

9 Jul 2018

Flesh eating ulcer cases on the rise in Victoria

Recent reports have shown a rise in cases of flesh eating ulcers in and around Victoria, Australia. Health experts have said that this could become a serious problem if not handled carefully. They have called for funds to deal with this menace. These flesh eating ulcers, according to sources have infected hundreds of individuals in regional Victoria.

16 Apr 2018

Time-lapse imaging reveals how antimicrobial treated surfaces kill superbugs in two hours

Experts at the University of Warwick have produced microscopic footage of the potentially deadly E. coli bacteria being wiped out in just two hours on an antimicrobial treated ‘intelligent’ surface.

13 Dec 2017

Scientists identify new genes needed by Streptococcus pyogenes to grow in human saliva

Scientific and veterinary research charity, the Animal Health Trust, in partnership with world-leading scientists at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, have identified new genes linked to how, Streptococcus pyogenes, an important cause of human disease, survives in people.

13 Nov 2017

GHIT Fund announces US$16.7 million to support development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics

The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, a unique Japanese public-private partnership formed to battle infectious diseases around the globe, today announced US$16.7 million to support development of new compounds for fighting malaria and tuberculosis, a leishmaniasis vaccine and drug, and a treatment for a long-ignored flesh-eating infection.

31 Oct 2017

Study identifies two genes involved in invasive group A Streptococcus infections

Group A Streptococcus bacteria cause a variety of illnesses that range from mild nuisances like strep throat to life-threatening conditions including pneumonia, toxic shock syndrome and the flesh-eating disease formally known as necrotizing fasciitis.

22 Sep 2017

Houston Methodist researchers find pathway for treating diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria

Researchers at Houston Methodist have solved a 100-year-old mystery, providing them a possible key to unlock a pathway for treating diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria. This is timely news, given the current dangers lurking in the debris and destruction left behind by Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters that destroyed tens of thousands of homes in Texas.

19 Sep 2017

When wounds won’t heal, therapies spread — to the tune of $5 billion

Carol Emanuele beat cancer. But for the past two years, she has been fighting her toughest battle yet. She has an open wound on the bottom of her foot that leaves her unable to walk and prone to deadly infection.

3 Aug 2017

Engineered nanosponges can reduce severity of infections caused by group A Streptococcus

In a new study, researchers show that engineered nanosponges that are encapsulated in the membranes of red blood cells can reduce the severity of infections caused by group A Streptococcus, the bacteria responsible for strep throat and life-threatening infections such as necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease.

25 Apr 2017

Virulence of bacterial infections dependent on presence of cytotoxins, study reports

Beginning in the mid-1980s, an epidemic of severe invasive infections caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes), also known as group A streptococcus (GAS), occurred in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.

2 Feb 2017

Researchers finding way to manipulate signals in bacteria to reduce infections

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy has received a five-year, $1.25 million federal grant to continue its research into how bacteria that cause streptococcal infections can be manipulated.

12 Jan 2017

New discovery offers way to develop vaccine against highly infectious bacteria

Biochemists at the University of California San Diego have uncovered patterns in the outer protein coat of group A Streptococcus that could finally lead to a vaccine against this highly infectious bacteria--responsible for more than 500,000 deaths a year, including toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis or "flesh-eating disease."

5 Sep 2016

Griffith University to collaborate with Olymvax for new vaccine technology that could benefit millions

Griffith University will partner with a Chinese pharmaceutical, Olymvax Biopharmaceuticals Inc. for a new vaccine that could benefit millions.

2 Aug 2016

TGen investigators help track hypervirulent strep outbreak in southwestern U.S.

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) has helped state, local and tribal health officials identify an outbreak of "hypervirulent" strep bacteria in the American Southwest.

22 Mar 2016

NNFF's Lifetime Health-Science Achievement Award 2015 goes to John Crew and Ron Najafi

The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation today announced that it has awarded NNFF's Lifetime Health-Science Achievement Award 2015 to John Crew, MD and Ron Najafi, PhD for "Excellence in Innovative Healthcare". Their pioneering work has improved care for patients with life-threatening 'flesh-eating' disease and other types of wounds.

25 Sep 2015

Breakthrough approach saves patient's eyes and life from flesh-eating disease

The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation today announced that a patient's eyes—and life—were saved by doctors at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN, working with NNFF, NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and Dr. John Crew, director of the Advanced Wound Care Center at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, CA.

27 Aug 2015

Findings provide new strategy for developing safe, effective vaccine against strep throat

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have identified the genes encoding a molecule that famously defines Group A Streptococcus (strep), a pathogenic bacterial species responsible for more than 700 million infections worldwide each year.

12 Jun 2014