Strep Throat News and Research

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Acute inflammation of the structures of the pharynx and tonsils, also known as tonsillopharyngitis, represents a common condition that is usually encountered in outpatients seeking healthcare interventions. Sore throat and fever are the dominant symptoms of this condition which usually follows a benign course that resolves without any antimicrobial treatment.

New diagnostic tool to detect infection-causing bacteria

Infection-causing bacteria can't hide from researchers at Northern Arizona University, who recently helped develop the first diagnostic tool to detect them.

3 Aug 2007

Neighbor clustering better identifies functionally related genes on the bacterial chromosome

The moment a bacterial pathogen makes contact with its host, its goal is simple: to infect.

1 Aug 2007

Discovery of new survival mechanism in common bacteria

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a survival mechanism in a common type of bacteria that can cause illness.

8 Jun 2007

New retail health clinic industry group meets to discuss quality, safety standards

The Convenient Care Association, an organization representing 18 companies that operate retail health clinics, held its first general meeting on Monday at the University of Pennsylvania to discuss quality and safety standards at retail clinics, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

22 Mar 2007

New group B strep test for newborn babies approved

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a new test studied at the University of Florida that could lead to better screening for the most common cause of infection in newborn babies.

27 Jul 2006

Discovery of common genetic variation in an immune system gene that makes people much more likely to develop psoriasis

University of Michigan scientists have found a common genetic variation in an immune system gene that makes people much more likely to develop psoriasis - a disfiguring inflammatory skin disease.

19 Mar 2006

Antibiotics overprescribed for sore throat

Physicians prescribe antibiotics for more than half of children with sore throat, exceeding the expected prevalence of strep throat, and used nonrecommended antibiotics for 27 percent of children who received an antibiotic prescription, according to a study in the November 9 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

13 Nov 2005

Controlling antibiotic-prescribing practices in hospitals

Plenty of promising strategies exist to control antibiotic-prescribing practices, but no single method emerges as the best for hospital patients, according to a new review of studies.

18 Oct 2005

New fungal defensin, plectasin, possesses as much power as penicillin

A peptide identified in a fungus found in northern European pine forests possesses as much power as penicillin as well as vancomycin, according to an international team of researchers.

12 Oct 2005

Rapid new technique for detecting group A streptococcus

Cornell University scientists have developed a rapid, less costly and sensitive new technique for detecting group A streptococcus, the bacteria that cause scarlet fever. Details will be announced today at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo in New Orleans.

18 Jul 2005

Tourette's and obsessive compulsive disorders linked to strep throat

A new study is suggesting that Strep throat infections can triple a child's risk of developing compulsive behaviors or tics, an indication that the same antibodies that attack the infection may also damage brain cells.

6 Jul 2005

Tonsil swabbing is terrible - it makes people gag

Mayo Clinic ear, nose and throat surgeons hoped to find a more user-friendly test for strep throat than swabbing the tonsils directly, but instead discovered that the swab has to touch the tonsils to accurately detect the infection.

15 May 2005

Findings will stir new research in bacterial evolution

Bacteria acquired up to 90 percent of their genetic material from distantly related bacteria species, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.

7 Apr 2005

New clues in understanding why group A streptococci (GAS) has a range of bacterial afflictions in humans

Researchers have unlocked new clues in understanding why group A streptococci (GAS) has a range of bacterial afflictions in humans. One of the keys to this species of bacteria is its production of streptokinase (SK), an enzyme that activates plasminogen, the blood clot-dissolving protein in humans.

6 Dec 2004

Autophagy is also cell's second line of defense against invading pathogens such as strep

Cells give up their secrets slowly. Just when you think that all major cellular systems are understood, along comes a surprise. The latest is about autophagy, a major pathway for degrading and recycling within cells.

4 Dec 2004

Drug-resistant bacteria increasingly causing infections in healthy people

An emerging form of so-called "flesh-eating bacteria" is caused by a strain that is resistant to standard first-line antibiotics. The same type of bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is causing record numbers of less-serious skin infections in children and also is emerging as a cause of pneumonia, which can be deadly

30 Sep 2004

Severe infections with flesh-eating bacteria are considerably more common than expected

In an EU project covering 11 countries, headed by Lund University in Sweden, it was calculated that some 1,000 cases would be found over an initial 1½-year period. Fully 5,000 were identified.

16 Sep 2004

New way of killing dangerous bacteria like the ones which cause anthrax and pneumonia

The new bug-smashing technique uses the bacteria’s own natural enemies, tiny viruses called bacteriophages (or phages), which can infect bacterial cells. The phages make thousands of copies of themselves inside infected bacteria, but then need to dissolve the bacteria’s cell wall to get out and infect other bacterial cells.

7 Sep 2004

Strep throat, scarlet fever and other disorders appears to use a single wasplike "stinger" to spread infection

The bacterium responsible for strep throat, scarlet fever and other disorders appears to use a single wasplike "stinger" to spread infection, according to surprised microbiologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

15 Aug 2004

Vaccine trial shows promising results for streptococcal infection protection

A study published in the current issue of JAMA reports that a streptococcal vaccine trial has shown promising results for protection against streptococcal infections.

11 Aug 2004