News • Before the Age of Dinosaurs
Antibiotic-resistant microbes date back to 450 MYA
Survival of mass extinctions helps to explain near indestructible properties of hospital superbugs.
Infections
Interview • Biomarkers
Aiming for the earliest diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma
For almost three quarters of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in Europe it is too late for curative treatment because the disease is often only diagnosed at a very advanced stage. Interviewed Professor Guido Gerken MD, Director of the Department for Gastroenterology and Hepatology at University Hospital Essen, about improved and timelier diagnostic capabilities that have already been…
News • Negative test
Symptoms of cystitis caused by bacterial infection?
The majority of women suffering with pain when urinating, or needing to urinate often or urgently probably do have a bacterial infection, even when nothing is detected by standard urine testing.
News • Going Viral
An unusual 'friend' to help fight ovarian cancer
In some cases, the Lassa virus starts with a fever and general weakness, moving toward headache, muscle pain, possible facial swelling, deafness, and worse. About 15 percent of patients hospitalized with severe cases die. Lassa fever is contagious, endemic in West Africa, and Dr. Anthony van den Pol thinks he can use it to cure ovarian cancer.
Article • Infection control
Global warming: Science can only react to emerging diseases
The ‘Transmission, Prevention, and Reporting of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ program for the International Conference IMED 2016 in Vienna, this November, reflected events in the field of emerging diseases that have occurred over the last two years. Therefore, key congress topics included the Zika virus, the effects of global warming and the unusually high number of hospital-acquired…
News • Laboratory
Partnership for molecular diagnostic test
SpeeDx Pty. Ltd., a developer of innovative molecular diagnostic solutions, has signed an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science. The announcement was made at the 27th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ECCMID) in Vienna to submit its ResistancePlus MG Test for the detection of Mycoplasma genitalium to the US Food & Drug…
News • Bacteria’s DNA fingerprint
Does C. difficile spread around Europe via food distribution?
Foods should be investigated as a potential source of spread of Clostridium difficile, according to research presented at the 27th ECCMID [1].
News • ECCMID 2017
The cost of Clostridium difficile infections
Repeated infection with the bacterium Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), which causes stomach upsets and diarrhoea, is linked to higher death rates, as well as having a significant impact on health services in terms of cost and hospital beds occupied. This issue will be adressed in two presentations at the 27th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID),…
Article • Study
Hepatitis control must be accelerated
Last year the WHO launched a global strategy on viral hepatitis aiming to eliminate hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) as public health threats by 2030.
Article • Pandemic planning
The world is underprepared for infectious diseases
A team of international experts has highlighted how the world remains ‘grossly underprepared’ for infectious disease outbreaks, which are likely to become more frequent in future decades.
Interview • Infection control
Virologists are today’s universal necessities
Globalisation has been a defining term in this 21st century: with almost anybody able to visit any place at any time, diseases, viruses and bacteria can be travel companions. Thus virology is gaining increased attention. Professor Barbara Gärtner, President of the German Association of Virology, talks about the issues and challenges arising from this development.
Article • Infections
Start of advanced genetic antibiotic resistance testing
Curetis, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced that the Company has established Ares Genetics GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Curetis GmbH. Ares Genetics builds on GEAR GEnetic Antibiotic Resistance and Susceptibility Database and associated assets recently acquired for Siemens. The Company will use GEAR to investigate the genetic foundations of antibiotic…
News • Infectious disease
Antibody removed: help with resistant bacteria
Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Newcastle University found that the unusual approach of removing antibodies from the blood stream reduced the effects of chronic infections, the requirement for days spent in hospital and the use of antibiotics.
Article • Antibiotic resistance
New Study Reports Cannabinoid Effective Against MRSA
Nemus Bioscience and the University of Mississippi report significant anti-MRSA synergy data utilizing proprietary cannabinoid-based anti-infective platforms.
News • Malaria Treatment
Soon to be Simpler, More Flexible, and More Efficient?
Malaria infections may soon be treated much more efficiently than they are at present. Researchers at the Universities of Bayreuth and Jerusalem have developed a novel drug release procedure for this purpose. The procedure enables the active ingredient Artemisone to be administered reliably at quantities and time intervals that are tailored exactly to the patients’ individual needs. The…
Sponsored • Infection Prevention
Trusted cable systems
Ever more imaging devices are characterised by very extensive movement sequences while simultaneously being compact. Both device manufacturers and suppliers must consider mounting dynamic requirements when developing their products and ensure their long-term system integrity.
Article • Imaging Infections
Zika birth defects decrease, but…
ECR 2017 Guest Lecturer Maria de Fatima Vasco Aragao, a radiologist from Pernambuco state, Brazil, has been tracking the Zika virus ever since it broke out in her country in 2015. She will highlight how CT and MRI can help reach diagnosis, especially in the absence of microcephaly. In an exclusive interview with European Hospital correspondent Mélisande Rouger, the radiologist warned there might…
Article • Infections
Science can only react
The ‘Transmission, Prevention, and Reporting of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ programme for the International Conference IMED 2016 in Vienna, this November, reflected events in the field of emerging diseases that have occurred over the last two years.
News • Infections
Philips and Diagnostics Development win European Union ‘Horizon Prize – Better Use of Antibiotics’
Philips and Diagnostics Development, a P&M Venge company, evaluate the novel human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL) biomarker for the rapid detection of bacterial infection. Based on Philips’ Minicare I-20 handheld diagnostics platform, the Minicare HNL assay is recognized for its potential to provide physicians with 10-minute confirmation of bacterial infection, helping to ensure that…
News • Infections
Viruses Overheard Talking to One Another
Viruses may be stealthy invaders, but a study at the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals a new, chatty side of some: for the first time, viruses have been found communicating with one another. This communication – short “posts” left for kin and descendants – helps the viruses reading them to decide how to proceed with the process of infection. The research was reported in Nature.
News • Infections
World still “grossly underprepared” for infectious disease outbreaks
The world remains “grossly underprepared” for outbreaks of infectious disease, which are likely to become more frequent in the coming decades, warn a team of international experts in The BMJ today.
Article • Catheter systems
Ousting out-dated recommendations
Recommendations on the currently valid prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections from the Commission for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention at the Robert Koch-Institute (KRINKO) are now 14 years old and therefore out-dated.
Article • Combatting infections
The global migration mapping project
Experts at a university in the United Kingdom have designed a large-scale data and mapping project that they hope will help in the global fight against infectious diseases.
News • Contamination
Painful knee prosthesis: loose, infected or both?
The implantation of knee and hip joints is considered one of the success stories of recent years. But periprosthetic joints infections (PJI) are one of the severe complications, with an infection rate of 2%. The probability of revision surgery increases with concomitant diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, with fracture prosthesis or after previous surgery.
News • Malaria Mystery
Evidence of Malaria’s existence 2,000 years ago
An analysis of 2,000-year-old human remains from several regions across the Italian peninsula has confirmed the presence of malaria during the Roman Empire, addressing a longstanding debate about its pervasiveness in this ancient civilization.
