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Intestinal mucus potentially improves life of people suffering from inflammatory bowel disease

Researchers at Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions M-diques (IMIM) in Barcelona, in collaboration with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and other U.S. Institutions, have found that intestinal mucus not only acts as a physical barrier against commensal bacteria and dietary antigens, but also prevents the onset of inflammatory reactions against these agents.

27 Sep 2013

TSRI scientists discover process by which special immune cells in skin help heal wounds

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered an important process by which special immune cells in the skin help heal wounds. They found that these skin-resident immune cells function as "first responders" to skin injuries in part by producing the molecule known as interleukin-17A (IL-17A), which wards off infection and promotes wound healing.

27 Sep 2013

Scientists report advancement in smartphone-based imaging to detect viruses in remote locations

Scientists are reporting an advance in smartphone-based imaging that could help physicians in far-flung and resource-limited locations monitor how well treatments for infections are working by detecting, for the first time, individual viruses. Their study on the light-weight device, which converts the phone into a powerful mini-microscope, appears in the journal ACS Nano.

26 Sep 2013

New animal model may help study immune responses to H. pylori infection

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have developed a new large animal model to study how the immune system interacts with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the leading cause of peptic ulcer disease.

26 Sep 2013

MIT engineers develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer vaccines to lungs

Many viruses and bacteria infect humans through mucosal surfaces, such as those in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract. To help fight these pathogens, scientists are working on vaccines that can establish a front line of defense at mucosal surfaces.

26 Sep 2013

Study on tempol impacted gut bacteria may lead to new treatments for obesity

A drug that appears to target specific intestinal bacteria in the guts of mice may create a chain reaction that could eventually lead to new treatments for obesity and diabetes in humans, according to a team of researchers.

25 Sep 2013

Johns Hopkins receives $7.3M contract to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia

The Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality has been awarded a three-year, $7.3 million contract from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality to bring its proven checklist for reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia — the most lethal of all hospital-acquired infections — to hospitals nationwide.

25 Sep 2013

Microbial clock: New tool to determine time of death

An intriguing study led by the University of Colorado Boulder may provide a powerful new tool in the quiver of forensic scientists attempting to determine the time of death in cases involving human corpses: a microbial clock.

25 Sep 2013

Dental caries show ‘unexpected’ relationship with head and neck cancer

People with dental caries have a reduced risk for developing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a large case-control study has found.

24 Sep 2013

Discovery could help develop new treatments for blood diseases

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have found that even our immune system is subject to performance enhancement, with our bodies giving immune cells the boost they need to ensure the best team is selected to fight infections.

24 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: GOP opponents to health care listening 'only to their own choir,' Congress should turn down federal contribution for insurance

Yes, a majority doesn't like Obamacare. They're unsure about what it will do and worried that it might make their health care worse. But do they really want to defund the law, and risk the chaos of a government shutdown to do it? Probably not, most polls suggest. As one Republican pollster told me, though a majority of voters don't like Obamacare, they're not angry enough about it to risk a fiscal crisis that could hurt the economy. So why are Republican lawmakers hearing a different message? Because most of them represent districts so conservative that they are listening only to their own choir (Doyle McManus, 9/22).

24 Sep 2013

Natural eradication of Helicobacter from human populations

Gut-dwelling bacteria are attracting increasing attention, particularly those associated with human diseases. Helicobacter pylori is found in the stomach of humans, where it may cause chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers, although the majority of infections are asymptomatic.

21 Sep 2013

Tips to prevent bacterial pink eye

As children are hard at work learning at school, viruses and bacteria are also hard at work, spreading from one child to another. One of the most contagious ailments is pink eye. Though not life-threatening the sticky infection is a hassle for parents, teachers and students.

21 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: Rove warns GOP that defunding could be 'self-defeating;' Jonathan Cohn says latest Obamacare fight reveals Republicans' will to overlook gains from law

Today, independents look more like Republicans than Democrats, especially when it comes to health care. In a new Crossroads GPS health-care policy survey conducted in 10 states likely to have competitive Senate races and in House districts that lean Republican or are swing seats, 60 percent of independents oppose President Obama's Affordable Care Act. If this holds through 2014, then Republicans should receive another big boost in the midterms. There is, however, one issue on which independents disagree with Republicans: using the threat of a government shutdown to defund ObamaCare (Karl Rove, 9/18).

20 Sep 2013

GW researcher awarded UO-1 grants to study gut microbiome on inflammation, cardiovascular disease

Dominic Raj, M.D., director of the division of nephrology and professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, was the recipient of two prestigious UO-1 grants from the National Institutes of Health.

20 Sep 2013

Study explains indirect burden of malaria on childhood deaths

Recurrent episodes of malaria cause chronic inflammation in blood vessels that might predispose to future infections and may increase susceptibility to cardiovascular disease, a Wellcome Trust study in Malawian children finds.

20 Sep 2013

WUSTL engineers apply new imaging technique to understand brain’s biomechanics

The human body has a lot of jobs to do, and its mechanical features, such as strength and flexibility, are important to how well it does them. Washington University in St. Louis engineers are now applying a new imaging technique to a model of brain tissue to see how stiff or soft it might be.

20 Sep 2013

Incidence of MRSA bacterial infection increases among Danes

In 2012, 1,556 Danes were found positive with methicillin-resistant staphylococci - MRSA. This represents an increase of 20% from 2011. In fact, the total number of cases has almost doubled since 2009. MRSA bacteria are resistant to antimicrobial agents that are essential for treatment of treating life-threatening infections in humans.

19 Sep 2013

Researchers develop absorbable implants to promote bone healing

Researchers from Graz University of Technology, together with colleagues from the Medical University of Graz, Vienna University of Technology and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, have managed to develop absorbable implants to promote bone healing which are broken down by the body.

19 Sep 2013

Contact Precautions used to prevent spread of infections create negative perception of care

Patient satisfaction has an increasing impact on hospitals' bottom lines, factoring into Medicare reimbursement of hospital care. A new study finds patients placed in Contact Precautions (Contact Isolation) were twice as likely to report perceived problems with care compared to patients without Contact Precautions, placing the common infection control practice at odds with hospital interests.

19 Sep 2013