Flesh Eating News and Research

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An Arm and a Leg: Why ‘The Pitt’ is our fave new drama

People who work in real-life emergency rooms have raved about how the new TV drama "The Pitt" accurately captures the complex dynamics of their workplaces and the medical details of their cases

5 May 2025

Nutritional interventions may help prevent and treat Buruli ulcer

Nutritional interventions at a community level may be the best way forward to both prevent and treat the "flesh-eating" skin infection Buruli ulcer in the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), according to a new study from the University of Surrey.

11 Mar 2025

Researchers uncover how antibodies protect against Strep A infections

Researchers have discovered how antibodies help to protect against contagious bacterial infections caused by Strep A, including strep throat.

7 Mar 2025

Novel antibiotic compound shows promise against drug-resistant bacteria and flesh-eating infections

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a novel compound that effectively clears bacterial infections in mice, including those that can result in rare but potentially fatal "flesh-eating" illnesses.

2 Aug 2024

Researchers unravel the workings of Group B Strep infections in pregnant women

Researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York are unraveling the workings of Group B Strep (GBS) infections in pregnant women, which could someday lead to a vaccine.

9 Jan 2024

Rare ‘flesh-eating’ bacterium spreads North as oceans warm

Debbie King barely gave it a second thought when she scraped her right shin climbing onto her friend's pontoon for a day of boating in the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 13.

13 Oct 2023

Strep A infections on the rise among Australians, study finds

Australia has experienced an intense surge in severe Strep A cases, similar to the northern hemisphere wave, despite differences in seasons and circulating respiratory viruses, according to a new study.

22 Aug 2023

STING gene variant linked to increased risk of severe group A strep infections

Group A streptococci are fairly common bacteria that can cause, among other things, strep throat or impetigo.

17 Aug 2023

Unraveling how the interplay between Sargassum, plastic marine debris and Vibrio bacteria creates the perfect "pathogen" storm

A new study uncovers how the interplay between Sargassum spp., plastic marine debris and Vibrio bacteria creates the perfect "pathogen" storm that has implications for both marine life and public health. Vibrio bacteria are found in waters around the world and are the dominant cause of death in humans from the marine environment.

18 May 2023

New model could help test vaccines against the deadly Strep A bacteria

Researchers have successfully developed a new Strep A human challenge model, paving the way to test vaccines against the common deadly bacteria that causes sore throats, scarlet fever and skin sores.

10 May 2021

Houston Methodist receives FDA approval to transfuse donated plasma into a COVID-19 patient

Houston Methodist received FDA approval Saturday to become the first academic medical center in the nation to transfuse donated plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient into a critically ill patient.

30 Mar 2020

Technique used to study human epidemiology reveals coral disease risk factors

In a study published in Scientific Reports, a team of international researchers led by University of Hawaii at Mānoa postdoctoral fellow Jamie Caldwell used a statistical technique typically employed in human epidemiology to determine the ecological risk factors affecting the prevalence of two coral diseases--growth anomalies, abnormalities like coral tumors, and white syndromes, infectious diseases similar to flesh-eating bacteria.

23 Feb 2020

Group A streptococcus strains that are less susceptible to commonly used antibiotics identified

Infectious disease scientists identified strains of group A streptococcus that are less susceptible to commonly used antibiotics, a sign that the germ causing strep throat and flesh-eating disease may be moving closer to resistance to penicillin and other related antibiotics known as beta-lactams.

30 Jan 2020

Surgeons restore full ambulatory ability in double-amputee teenager with flesh-eating disease

In a medical first in Quebec, Dr. Panagiotis (Peter) Glavas and his team at CHU Sainte-Justine and Universite de Montreal have managed to restore full ambulatory ability in a severely handicapped teenager who was left a double-amputee after getting flesh-eating disease in infancy.

17 Jan 2020

New clues emerge as to how a 2,600-year-old brain was well-preserved

Scientists who investigated a well-preserved 2,600 year-old brain have found evidence to explain why it survived.

9 Jan 2020

Two strains of the same bacterium work together to cause deadly flesh-eating disease

Two different strains of the same flesh-eating bacteria species work in combination to become more dangerous.

12 Nov 2019

$15 million grant funds new effort to develop universal vaccine for strep throat infections

CARB-X, an international non-profit partnership of private, academic and government institutions, has awarded SutroVax, Inc., a Northern California-based biopharmaceutical company, with an award of up to $15 million to develop a universal vaccine for Group A Streptococcus, the bacteria that causes pharyngitis or strep throat.

4 Sep 2019

Rutgers expert discusses how to stay safe as 'flesh-eating bacteria' move into new waters

Infections caused by the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus – known as "flesh eating" bacteria – are becoming more common in northern waters, whose surface temperatures are rising due to climate change.

30 Jul 2019

IVI and MCRI to coordinate global push for developing vaccine against Strep A bacteria

The International Vaccine Institute and Australia's Murdoch Children's Research Institute will coordinate a global push to free the world of Group A Streptococcus, the contagious bacteria that kills half a million people every year and is developing resistance to antibiotics.

31 May 2019

On the border, volunteer doctors struggle to provide stopgap care to immigrants

It wasn't the rash covering Meliza's feet and legs that worried Dr. José Manuel de la Rosa. What concerned him were the deep bruises beneath. They were a sign she could be experiencing something far more serious than an allergic reaction.

5 Apr 2019