E. coli News and Research

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E. coli or Escherichia coli is the name of a type of bacteria that lives in your intestines. Most types of E. coli are harmless. However, some types can make you sick and cause diarrhea. One type causes travelers' diarrhea. The worst type of E. coli causes bloody diarrhea, and can sometimes cause kidney failure and even death. These problems are most likely to occur in children and in adults with weak immune systems. You can get E. coli infections by eating foods containing the bacteria. To help avoid food poisoning and prevent infection, handle food safely. Cook meat well, wash fruits and vegetables before eating or cooking them, and avoid unpasteurized milk and juices. You can also get the infection by swallowing water in a swimming pool contaminated with human waste. Most cases of E. coli infection get better without treatment in 5 to 10 days.

Almac collaborates with Alexion for packaging and distribution of Soliris during German E. coli outbreak

Almac, a leading provider of contract services to the global pharmaceutical and biotech industries, responded earlier this year to an urgent request from their client partner, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a global biotechnology company, for packaging and distribution of Soliris (eculizumab) for patients with STEC-HUS during the E. coli outbreak in Germany earlier this year.

21 Nov 2011

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

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

FDA approves EUSA's orphan drug ERWINAZE for acute lymphoblastic leukemia

EUSA Pharma, a transatlantic specialty pharmaceutical company focused on oncology, oncology supportive care and critical care, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its orphan drug ERWINAZE (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi) for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in patients with hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase.

19 Nov 2011

UVA develops new and faster method to track superbugs

University of Virginia Health System researchers are the first in the world to develop a new and faster method to track major infection-causing "superbugs" - a major key in preventing the spread of deadly infections.

19 Nov 2011

Abbott receives FDA approval for new Chagas assay

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first test for use as an additional, more specific test on human serum or plasma specimens found to be positive for antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi.

19 Nov 2011

EUSA Pharma receives FDA approval for Erwinaze to treat ALL

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Erwinaze to treat patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), who have developed an allergy (hypersensitivity) to E. coli derived asparaginase and pegaspargase chemotherapy drugs used to treat ALL.

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

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

The story of E. coli

It has been the cause of infamous international foodborne disease outbreaks and yet it is the most studied bacterium in science, an essential part of the human digestive tract, and a backbone of the biotech industry.

16 Nov 2011

Low-temperature plasmas can kill bacteria for a week after treatment

University of California, Berkeley, scientists have shown that ionized plasmas like those in neon lights and plasma TVs not only can sterilize water, but make it antimicrobial - able to kill bacteria - for as long as a week after treatment.

16 Nov 2011

Neogen's new Soleris test detects yeast and mold in 48 hours

Neogen Corporation has developed an even quicker method to rapidly and accurately detect yeast and mold in food products. Neogen's new Soleris® test detects yeast and mold in 48 hours or less — conventional methods take up to 5 days.

7 Nov 2011

Reduced diversity of intestinal microbiota associated with increased risk of allergic disease

Oversensitivity diseases, or allergies, now affect 25 per cent of the population of Denmark. The figure has been on the increase in recent decades and now researchers at the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC), University of Copenhagen, are at last able to partly explain the reasons.

3 Nov 2011

Cranberry juice far better than extracts at fighting urinary tract infections

With scientific evidence now supporting the age-old wisdom that cranberries, whether in sauce or as juice, prevent urinary tract infections, people have wondered if there was an element of the berry that, if extracted and condensed, perhaps in pill form, would be as effective as drinking the juice or eating cranberry sauce. A new study from researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute helps to answer that question.

29 Oct 2011

E. coli asparaginase linked to relapses in ALL patients with special form of ATF5 gene

One of the causes of resistance to cancer treatment in children is now beginning to be elucidated. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with a particular form of the ATF5 gene are at higher risk of having a relapse when treated with E. coli asparaginase, a key chemotherapy drug for this type of leukemia.

27 Oct 2011

Antimicrobial copper surfaces reduce hospital acquired infections in ICU rooms

Results from a comprehensive multi-site clinical trial demonstrated that the use of antimicrobial copper surfaces in intensive care unit rooms reduced the amount of bacteria in the rooms by 97 percent and resulted in a 41 percent reduction in the hospital acquired infection rate.

21 Oct 2011

Alexion third quarter total revenues increase to $204.0 million

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011.

20 Oct 2011

One in six mobile phones home for E. coli: Study

The London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released a study in conjunction with the Queen Mary, University of London which suggests that Britons are not doing a good enough job of washing hands. Experts said the most likely reason for the potentially harmful bacteria festering on so many gadgets was people failing to wash their hands properly with soap after going to the toilet.

17 Oct 2011

One in six mobile phones in the UK is contaminated with fecal bacteria

One in six mobile phones in Britain is contaminated with faecal matter, according to new research released ahead of Global Handwashing Day.

14 Oct 2011

AHRQ finds septicemia as the most costly hospital condition in 2009

Septicemia, an illness caused by blood infections with bacteria such as E. coli and MRSA, was the single most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals at nearly $15.4 billion in 2009, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

7 Oct 2011

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute releases upgraded ENISI software

Researchers with the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have released an upgrade to the institute's ENteric Immunity SImulator (ENISI) software, which models immune responses to beneficial and harmful bacteria that enter the gastrointestinal tract of mice, pigs, and humans.

7 Oct 2011