Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses News From Medical News Today

Disarming The Botulinum Neurotoxin

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Sanford-Burnham researchers determine the first 3-D structure of the botulinum neurotoxin, together with the protein bodyguard that guides it through the body -- revealing weak spots that could be exploited to develop new counterterrorism measures...

Raw Milk Disease Risk High

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:00:00 PST

According to a 13-year review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of outbreaks associated to pasteurized milk was 150 times less than outbreaks caused by unpasteurized milk (raw milk) and products made from it...

Raw Milk Warning - Unfair Cherry Picking By CDC, Says Weston A. Price Foundation

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PST

After the CDC warned about the dangers of raw milk and raw milk products yesterday, The Weston A. Price Foundation says the authors appeared to have deliberately cherry picked data to make their point. Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A...

How The Immune System Detects Listeria And Other Bad Bacteria

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

Millions of "good" bacteria exist harmoniously on the skin and in the intestines of healthy people. When harmful bacteria attack, the immune system fights back by sending out white blood cells to destroy the disease-causing interlopers...

Potentially Deadly Fungus Senses Body's Defenses To Evade Them

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Glen Palmer, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, was part of an international research team led by Luigina Romani, MD, at the University of Perugia, that discovered opportunistic fungi like Candida albicans can sense the immune status of host cells and adapt, evading immune system defenses...

New Way To Tap Largest Remaining Treasure Trove Of Potential New Antibiotics

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Scientists are reporting use of a new technology for sifting through the world's largest remaining pool of potential antibiotics to discover two new antibiotics that work against deadly resistant microbes, including the "super bugs" known as MRSA. Their report appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society...

News From The Journal Of Clinical Investigation: Feb. 22, 2012

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

CARDIOLOGY: Popeye proteins: providing strength to the beat of the heart The rhythm of the heart beat is dictated by electrical impulses initiated by a small number of specialized heart muscle cells (pacemaker cells) that are located together in a small area of the wall of the heart called the sinus node...

Close Contact With Rodents Is A Health Hazard

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:00:00 PST

A case report published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, reveals that a 26-year-old woman from Adelaide who enjoyed cuddling and kissing her pet rats contracted Streptobacillus moniliformis infection (rat bite fever). The disease is potentially fatal and could become more prevalent as rodent ownership increases...

Adult Pneumococcal Vaccines - How Cost Effective Are They?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PST

According to a computer-based cost-effectiveness analysis in the February issue of JAMA, recommending the use of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) could possibly prevent more pneumococcal disease than the current 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) recommendations...

Raw Milk Causes Most Dairy-related Outbreaks Of Diseases

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PST

Unpasteurized milk, also known as raw milk, is proportionally responsible for 150 times more disease outbreaks than pasteurized milk, a new report issued by the CDC's (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) Emerging Infectious Diseases has revealed...

Oral Bacterium Newly Identified Linked To Heart Disease And Meningitis

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:00:00 PST

A novel bacterium, thought to be a common inhabitant of the oral cavity, has the potential to cause serious disease if it enters the bloodstream, according to a study in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. Its identification will allow scientists to work out how it causes disease and evaluate the risk that it poses...

New Compound To Fight Strep Throat Infection

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Researchers have discovered a promising alternative to common antibiotics used to fight the bacteria that causes strep throat. In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists discussed how their discovery could fight the infection with a reduced risk of antibiotic resistance...

Plant From Rainforest Combats Multi-Resistant Bacterial Strains

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:00:00 PST

Aggressive infections in hospitals are an increasing health problem worldwide. The development of bacterial resistance is alarming. Now a young Danish scientist has found a natural substance in a Chilean rainforest plant that effectively supports the effect of traditional treatment with antibiotics...

Balancing Protection And Inflammation In MS

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Scientists have discovered a molecular mechanism that could help explain how multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases can be exacerbated by the onset of an infection. MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system which affects approximately 100,000 people in the UK...

Researchers Studying Nasty "Superbug" Concerned About Potential Antibiotic Resistance

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

University at Buffalo researchers are expressing concern about a new, under-recognized, much more potent variant of a common bacterium that has surfaced in the U.S...

Early Mortality In Septic Shock Patients Reduced By Fever Control Using External Cooling

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

Fever control using external cooling in sedated patients with septic shock is safe and decreases vasopressor requirements and early mortality, according to a new study from researchers in France...

Potential Norovirus Vaccine

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

Noroviruses are believed to make up half of all food-borne disease outbreaks in the United States, causing incapacitating (and often violent) stomach flu. These notorious human pathogens are responsible for 90 percent of epidemic nonbacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis around the world...

Researchers Develop First 3D Look At Interaction Between Immune Sensor And Protein That Helps Bacteria Move

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

To invade organisms such as humans, bacteria make use of a protein called flagellin, part of a tail-like appendage that helps the bacteria move about...

Mutated H5N1 Virus Research To Remain Under Wraps For Now, Says WHO

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:00:00 PST

The temporary moratorium on research on lab-modified bird flu (H5N1) viruses is to be extended, and the publication of the studies' "entire manuscript" is to be delayed...

Alcohol Used By Fruit Flies As A Drug To Kill Parasites

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Fruit flies infected with a blood-borne parasite consume alcohol to self-medicate, a behavior that greatly increases their survival rate, an Emory University study finds...

Disrupted Body Clock Weakens Immunity

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

A new study published this week in the journal Immunity suggests that when our body clock is disrupted, it weakens the immune system. We already know that the circadian clock is a finely tuned genetic mechanism that regulates body functions that follow a 24-hour cycle, such as sleep patterns and metabolism...

Reducing Early Mortality In Septic Schock - External Cooling Shows Promise

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:00:00 PST

According to a study by French researchers, fever control using external cooling in sedated septic shock patients is safe and lowers premature death and vasopressor requirements. The study was published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine...

Contaminated Dental Surgery Equipment Source of Legionnaire's Disease Death

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:00:00 PST

This week's issue of The Lancet describes a case report of an 82-year-old woman in Italy who died of Legionnaires disease after becoming infected with L pneumophila at her dentist. This case has prompted the authors - led by Dr Maria Luisa Ricci at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy, to call for various control measures at dental surgeries to prevent similar incidents...

News From The Journals Of The American Society For Microbiology: February 2012

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:00:00 PST

Microbiotas Characterized for 19 Traditional Italian Sourdough Breads Italy is well-known for aesthetics that play to every sense of the human sensory system: automotive style, espresso, ancient architecture, music, and Fettuccini Alfredo, among much else. Now a team of Italian investigators has analyzed the microbiota of 19 sourdoughs used in traditional Italian breads...

Smoking Zaps Healthy Bacteria In The Mouth, Welcomes Pathogens

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

According to a new study, smoking causes the body to turn against its own helpful bacteria, leaving smokers more vulnerable to disease. Despite the daily disturbance of brushing and flossing, the mouth of a healthy person contains a stable ecosystem of healthy bacteria...