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Fungal communities in chronic wounds can be linked to poor outcomes and slow healing

Researchers in Pennsylvania and Iowa have discovered that fungal communities found in chronic wounds can form mixed bacterial-fungal biofilms and can be associated with poor outcomes and longer healing times.

6 Sep 2016

New study details design and validation of accurate screening test for detecting deadly HAIs

A new study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute details the design and validation of a low-cost, rapid and highly accurate screening tool -- known as KlebSeq -- for potentially deadly healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs), such as Klebsiella pneumoniae.

2 Sep 2016

New mathematical model could help predict potential outbreaks of Ebola and Lassa fever

Potential outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola and Lassa fever may be more accurately predicted thanks to a new mathematical model developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

2 Sep 2016

Investigational biomarker surpasses current gold standard test for identifying brain shunt infections

In a study of children with brain shunts at Children's of Alabama, a University of Alabama at Birmingham investigational biomarker outperformed the current "gold standard" test for detecting bacterial infections in the shunts.

30 Aug 2016

The rise of disease ecology and its implications for parasitology

The Journal of Parasitology – With a shared focus on host–pathogen relationships, parasitology and disease ecology seem to have a lot in common. But parasitology lacks the eye-catching—and wallet-opening—emphasis on known diseases. By working more closely with disease ecologists, could parasitologists gain more support for work crucial to predicting and controlling infectious diseases?

29 Aug 2016

Biostatisticians project nearly 400 non-travel Zika cases in Florida by end of summer

Nearly 400 non travel-related Zika infections will occur in Florida before the end of the summer, according to new projections by biostatisticians at the University of Florida and other institutions.

27 Aug 2016

Revised FDA guidance recommends universal testing of entire blood supply for Zika virus in the U.S.

As a further safety measure against the emerging Zika virus outbreak, today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a revised guidance recommending universal testing of donated Whole Blood and blood components for Zika virus in the U.S. and its territories.

27 Aug 2016

Scientists isolate new multicomponent virus from mosquitoes

Scientists have identified a new "multicomponent" virus -- one containing different segments of genetic material in separate particles -- that can infect animals, according to research published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

26 Aug 2016

New drug target could help prevent opioid tolerance and addiction

Researchers have identified a brain mechanism that could be a drug target to help prevent tolerance and addiction to opioid pain medication, such as morphine, according to a study by Georgia State University and Emory University.

23 Aug 2016

Scientists discover novel African types of Salmonella linked to blood poisoning and death

The first global-scale genetic study of Salmonella Enteritidis bacteria, which is a major cause of blood poisoning and death in Africa and food poisoning in the Western World, has discovered that there are in fact three separate types.

22 Aug 2016

QUT molecular microbiologist developing new therapies to beat bacterial superbugs

QUT molecular microbiologist Makrina Totsika is at the forefront of research to develop new therapies to beat multi-drug resistant bacteria.

22 Aug 2016

Common cold virus actually transmitted from camels to humans

There are four globally endemic human coronaviruses which, together with the better known rhinoviruses, are responsible for causing common colds. Usually, infections with these viruses are harmless to humans.

18 Aug 2016

Research provides insight into how harmless nasal bacteria help protect from diseases

Staphylococcus aureus is a common colonizer of the human body. Although, one quarter of the U.S. population live with the bacteria and never get sick, having S. aureus present in the nostrils is a risk for infections that range in severity from mild skin to life- threatening MRSA infections.

17 Aug 2016

Researchers find new way to kill Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

Scientists have discovered a new way to attack Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The team, from Imperial College London, have revealed how the bacteria regulates its salt levels.

16 Aug 2016

Study estimates health care costs of gastrointestinal illnesses in Switzerland

In Switzerland, between 300,000 and 700,000 patients per year visit a doctor due to acute diarrhoea. Until now, the financial burden on the Swiss health care system had been completely unclear.

12 Aug 2016

Drugs designed to target nervous system could control inflammation in the gut, study shows

There's a reason it's called a gut feeling. The brain and the gut are connected by intricate neural networks that signal hunger and satiety, love and fear, even safety and danger. These networks employ myriad chemical signals that include dopamine, a powerful neurotransmitter most famous for its role in reward and addiction.

11 Aug 2016

Hygiene hypothesis: a misleading misnomer? An interview with Professor Sally Bloomfield

Professor Strachan first proposed the hygiene hypothesis back in 1989. Reviewing the evidence, he suggested that one of the causes of the recent rapid rise in allergic diseases in children was lack of exposure to childhood infections

11 Aug 2016

Cardinals appear as super-suppressors protecting Atlanta residents from West Nile Virus

A bird species that does a poor job spreading West Nile virus (WNV) but is particularly likely to get mosquito bites may explain why human infections with the disease are relatively uncommon in Atlanta, Georgia—despite evidence of high rates of virus circulating in the local bird population, according to a new study published online today in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

10 Aug 2016

SLCU research institute uses Quorum PP3010T Cryo-SEM preparation system for plant biology research

Quorum Technologies, market and technology leaders in electron microscopy coating and cryogenic preparation products, report on plant biology research at the Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge UK, where their PP3010T Cryo-SEM preparation system is in routine use.