Pathogenic bacteria develop killer machines that work very specifically and highly efficiently. Scientists from the University of Freiburg have solved the molecular mechanism of a fish toxin that could be used in the future as a medication to treat cancer.
ESCMID Fungal Infection Study Group (EFISG) argues that fungal resistance now represents a huge healthcare threat – with many cases remaining massively undiagnosed even in the developed world – and that there is a rising prevalence of the most invasive and deadly forms. Conversely, in the developing world we are seeing very treatable fungal infections killing huge numbers – half a million…
Research presented at the 2015 AACC Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo will expand on the studies that led to a fingerprick Ebola test becoming the first and only rapid diagnostic for this disease to receive approval from the World Health Organization (WHO). This test could prove vital to breaking Ebola’s grip on West Africa by identifying suspected Ebola cases within minutes, and enabling…
Within 15 years effective antibiotics will run out and, far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, a world in which common infections and minor injuries can kill is a very real possibility for the 21st Century. Geoff Sussman, one of the world’s foremost wound experts has warned that antibiotic resistance is posing the biggest single threat to global health. Report: Mark Nicholls
A new drug acts as a roadblock for malaria, curing mice of established infection, according to a study in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Treatment was not associated with obvious side effects, suggesting that the drug may also be safe and effective in humans.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common, and widespread antibiotic resistance has led to urgent calls for new ways to combat them. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences report that an experimental drug that stabilizes a protein called HIF-1alpha protects human bladder cells and mice against a major UTI…
It may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that bacteria have an immune system – in their case to fight off invasive viruses called phages. And like any immune system – from single-celled to human – the first challenge of the bacterial immune system is to detect the difference between “foreign” and “self.” This is far from simple, as viruses, bacteria and all other living things…
About 6-8% of Spanish patients will develop an infection during or after a hospital stay. Can these infections be avoided? How is Spain facing up to the challenge? Dr Juan Pablo Horcajada, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, and spokesperson of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), assessed the situation and…
Although Romania joined the EU in 2007, only recently has its macroeconomic increases influenced a rise in a middle class and dented the country’s widespread poverty. However, development is still hampered by corruption and red tape in its commercial world. Report: Daniela Zimmermann/Brenda Marsh
Since 2009, as part of diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship strategies, Hampshire Hospitals National Health Service (NHS) Trust has used serum procalcitonin (PCT) – an innovative and highly specific marker to diagnose clinically relevant bacterial infections and sepsis. Report: Mark Nicholls
Surveillance, hygiene and infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, diagnosis of infectious diseases, use of antimicrobial medicines as well as reporting and information. Report: Michael Krassnitzer
A new way of rapidly identifying bacteria, which requires a slight modification to a simple microscope, may change the way doctors approach treatment for patients who develop potentially deadly infections and may also help the food industry screen against contamination with harmful pathogens, according to researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon,…
For all the advances being made in this discipline, postoperative infections remain a great challenge for orthopaedists and trauma surgeons. More than 7,000 experts from around the globe are gathering in Prague for the 16th EFORT Congress to consult on ways to optimise prevention and therapy for these dreaded complications.
LMU researchers demonstrate for the first time that bacteriophages (bacterial viruses) carry genetic instructions for proteins that mediate the transport of their DNA to specialized replication sites in the host cell.
They call him Mr Clean Hand. Professor Didier Pittet MD, Specialist in Infection Prevention and Control at the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève and Head of the Clean Care is Safer Care programme of the World Health Organisation (WHO), is known as the ‘Father of Modern Hand Hygiene’. Report: Michael Krassnitzer
The USA’s President Barack Obama released a comprehensive plan in March to slow the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria, a multi-year, billion-dollar effort that includes getting doctors to stop over-prescribing antibiotics, developing new medications and rapid diagnostics, and real-time tracking of infection outbreaks. Report: Lisa Chamoff
In European acute care hospitals, on any given day, an estimated 80,000 patients – roughly six percent of all patients – receive antimicrobial treatment to fight a healthcare associated infection (HAI), according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Report: Walter Depner
Hospital-based pathologists may soon gain a new diagnostic assay that could prove effective in detecting hospital-acquired infections more quickly and more accurately than with existing rapid molecular diagnostic tests
A newly launched test enables the quantitative determination of PCT in serum samples, EDTA or lithium heparin plasma samples by latex enhanced immunoturbidimetric methodology. The Stanbio Chemistry Procalcitonin (PCT) LiquiColor Assay was launched by EKF Diagnostics, based in Cardiff, Wales, which explains: ‘Procalcitonin is a marker for bacterial infection and sepsis and has been recognised as…
A group of leading scientists has warned that Britain and Europe collectively could face more than a million deaths in an impending "Antibiotic Armageddon” unless more is spent on developing new cures, rapid diagnostics and preventative measures to combat the spread of drug resistant diseases.
Curetis AG, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, announced the successful completion of the clinical and analytical CE performance evaluation of its next-generation Unyvero P55 Pneumonia Application. The upgraded cartridge will launch at the 25th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID, April 25 – 28, 2015 in Copenhagen, Denmark) and is…
Leading infectious diseases experts have released new guidance for healthcare facilities looking to establish precautions for visitors of patients with infectious diseases. The guidance looks to reduce the potential for healthcare visitors in spreading dangerous bacteria within the healthcare facility and community. The recommendations are published online in Infection Control & Hospital…
30 years after HIV was discovered to be the cause of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome AIDS, and despite intensive research, no vaccine or cure has yet been found. An international team of scientists, in collaboration with the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and the University Hospital of Cologne, has now tested a new generation of antibodies in humans for the first time. They…
The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) announces that the globe’s most prominent infection specialists will be gathering in Copenhagen to explore solutions to the biggest infection problems during its annual congress – the 25th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) taking place on 25-28 April 2015.
A new "lab-on-a-disc" technology developed by an EU project research team can diagnose malaria and other febrile infectious diseases simultaneously in just an hour - allowing faster point-of-care treatment and precise drugs administration that could save thousands of lives.