Bacterial News and Research

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Novel genetic sequencing methods identify various bacteria on public restrooms

Everyone wonders what bugs might be lurking in public bathrooms. Now researchers are using novel genetic sequencing methods to answer this question, revealing a plethora of bacteria all around, from the doors and the floors to the faucet handles and toilet seats, with potential public health implications, as reported Nov. 23 in the online journal PLoS ONE.

24 Nov 2011

Two-drug combination may alleviate radiation sickness in people

A combination of two drugs may alleviate radiation sickness in people who have been exposed to high levels of radiation, even when the therapy is given a day after the exposure occurred, according to a study led by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston.

24 Nov 2011

Accelr8 expands development plan for BACcel rapid diagnostic test

Accelr8 Technology Corporation announced that it successfully completed two technical feasibility studies for test methods that expand its BACcel rapid diagnostic test library and automation capabilities.

23 Nov 2011

Novel antibacterial protein could prevent or treat E. coli O157:H7-induced food-borne infections

A novel antibacterial protein targeted against E. coli O157:H7 may offer a way to prevent or treat serious food-borne bacterial infections, as demonstrated in a study published in the December issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

21 Nov 2011

Avidocin protein could prevent or treat E. coli O157:H7-induced diarrhea

21 Nov 2011

Resistance of starved bacteria can be blocked

Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.

18 Nov 2011

Potential new ways to design vaccines, antibiotics

A University of Louisville scientist has determined for the first time how the bacterium that causes Legionnaires' disease manipulates our cells to generate the amino acids it needs to grow and cause infection and inflammation in the lungs.

18 Nov 2011

H2S plays a major role in protecting bacteria from effects of different antibiotics

Although scientists have known for centuries that many bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) it was thought to be simply a toxic by-product of cellular activity. Now, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have discovered H2S in fact plays a major role in protecting bacteria from the effects of numerous different antibiotics.

18 Nov 2011

TAU model discovers adaptable decision-making in bacteria communities

Much to humans' chagrin, bacteria have superior survival skills. Their decision-making processes and collective behaviors allow them to thrive and even spread efficiently in difficult environments.

18 Nov 2011

Kenya readies to step up fight against trachoma

AllAfrica.com reports on trachoma -- a chronic bacterial infection spread by direct contact with eye, nose and throat secretions from others who are infected -- in Kenya, profiling Kajiado County where the disease has reached the blinding stage in 3.4 percent of patients, "making it a serious public health problem in that region and many other similarly remote areas with little access to health care and screening."

18 Nov 2011

First study to describe transporter system that bacteria use to ensure their survival

Bacteria responsible for middle ear infections, pink eye and sinusitis protect themselves from further immune attack by transporting molecules meant to destroy them away from their inner membrane target, according to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital.

18 Nov 2011

TNF inhibitors may minimally increase risk of serious infections

Biologic drugs have revolutionized treatment of autoimmune diseases during the past decade despite belief there is an increased risk for serious infections from using them. But new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics reveals that a class of biologics called tumor necrosis factor antagonists, or TNF inhibitors, may only minimally increase risk compared to more traditional therapies.

17 Nov 2011

Mannosides show promise against urinary tract infections

An experimental treatment for urinary tract infections has easily passed its first test in animals, alleviating weeks-long infections in mice in as little as six hours.

17 Nov 2011

Non-therapeutic antibiotic usage in food animals creates resistance genes, promotes antibiotic resistance

In a review study, researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine zero in on the controversial, non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in food animals and fish farming as a cause of antibiotic resistance.

16 Nov 2011

Study: Pneumonia the most common serious infection post-heart surgery

Pneumonia - not a deep incision surgical site infection - is the most common serious infection after heart surgery, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

16 Nov 2011

Professional tooth scaling associated with fewer heart attacks, strokes

Professional tooth scaling was associated with fewer heart attacks and strokes in a study from Taiwan presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

14 Nov 2011

Researchers retrace evolution of unusual bacterial infection

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston have retraced the evolution of an unusual bacterial infection as it spread among cystic fibrosis patients by sequencing scores of samples collected during the outbreak, since contained.

14 Nov 2011

Smoke-reducing chimneys prevent pneumonia among young children

Researchers at the University of Liverpool and the universities of California, Berkley and del Valle, Guatemala, have found that cases of severe pneumonia among young children are reduced by one-third in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on cooking stoves.

11 Nov 2011

Rapid expansion of global vaccine campaign against pneumonia 'unprecedented'

"A global push to bring a vaccine against the bacterial cause of pneumonia to communities that need it most is ramping up quickly, expanding to nearly 60 countries in the next five years," PBS NewsHour's "The Rundown" reports.

11 Nov 2011

Mutations make Staph more resistant to antibiotics

Infectious diseases specialists from Austin Health are working closely with Microbiologists from the University of Melbourne to understand how Staph is becoming resistant to all antibiotic therapies.

11 Nov 2011