Bacteria

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…

Article • Infections

Seeking the role of messenger substances in infections

Using computer-based simulations and mouse experiments, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU), have disentangled the effects of pro-inflammatory signalling molecules on the postinfluenza susceptibility to pneumococcal coinfection.

News • Infections

UV Light Can Aid Hospitals’ Fight to Wipe Out Drug-Resistant Superbugs

Adding UV light to standard cleaning cut transmission of 4 resistant bacteria by 30 percent

News • Blood poisoning

"Pulling" bacteria out of blood

Magnets instead of antibiotics could provide a possible new treatment method for blood infection. This involves the blood of patients being mixed with magnetic iron particles, which bind the bacteria to them after which they are removed from the blood using magnets. The initial laboratory tests at Empa in St. Gallen have been successful, and seem promising.

News • Whole genome sequencing

Genetic testing cannot determine antimicrobial susceptibility

Experts at the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST), who define the optimal drug concentrations to inhibit the growth of pathogens, have found that genetic methods cannot yet be used to test for susceptibility in a number of important bacterial species.

News • Sepsis

New technology could prevent a leading cause of death

What do Casey Kasem, Christopher Reeve and Muhammad Ali have in common? They all died of sepsis: a rapid, potentially deadly reaction that affects millions each year.

News • tumor-fighting

Swarms of magnetic bacteria could deliver drugs to tumors

Researchers funded in part by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have recently shown that magnetic bacteria are a promising vehicle for more efficiently delivering tumor-fighting drugs.

News • Infection

Why does MRSA ‘superbug’ kill influenza patients?

Researchers have discovered that secondary infection with the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterium (or “superbug”) often kills influenza patients because the flu virus alters the antibacterial response of white blood cells, causing them to damage the patients’ lungs instead of destroying the bacterium. The study suggests that inhibiting this response may help treat…

News • Molecular troublemakers

How proteins prevent communication between bacteria

They may be slimy, but they are a perfect environment for microorganisms: biofilms. Protected against external influences, here bacteria can grow undisturbed, and trigger diseases. Scientists at Kiel University, in cooperation with colleagues at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) in Hamburg-Harburg, are researching how it can be possible to prevent the formation of biofilms from the…

News • Staphylococcus aureus

Women more likely to die within 30-days from bacterial blood infection

Clinicians around the world have long suspected that bacteraemia due to Staphylococcus aureus has a worse outcome in women compared to men, but direct evidence has been elusive. A study just published confirms that significantly more women than men diagnosed with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) – a blood infection of the common bacteria – die within 30 days.

News • Bacteria

New discovery could change ICU care

No one knows for sure how they got there. But the discovery that bacteria that normally live in the gut can be detected in the lungs of critically ill people and animals could mean a lot for intensive care patients.

Protein fragment could provide a defense when antibiotics fail

Bacterial infections that don't respond to antibiotics are of rising concern, as is sepsis - the immune system's last-ditch, failed attack on infection that ends up being lethal itself. Reporting online in "Nature", researchers at Boston Children's Hospital describe new potential avenues for controlling both sepsis and the runaway bacterial infections that provoke it.

Article • Infection control

Scientists gain ground against resistance

The mechanism by which drug-resistant bacteria maintain a defensive barrier has been identified by researchers at England’s University of East Anglia (UEA) and their findings could result in a new wave of drugs that can bring down those defensive walls rather than attack the bacteria – thus they may not develop drug-resistance at all.

News • Therapy

New way to predict COPD progression

New research has found that a process initiated in white blood cells known as neutrophils may lead to worse outcomes for some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The discovery may help identify patients at higher risk for COPD progression, who might also show little benefit from standard treatments.

News • Bacteria

Revolutionary antibiotics will save the world

An international team of including the Lomonosov Moscow State University researchers discovered which enzyme enables Escherichia coli bacterium (E. coli) to breathe.

Interview • Tumour triggers

Can cancer be contagious?

No self-respecting TV crime series is without a pathologist – but the fictitious pathologist who incessantly solves crimes has little to do with reality.

News • E. coli

Using harmless bacteria to fight cancer

Several bacterial species have pledged promise in fighting tumors. However, most of them are pathogens. In order to use them as a weapon against cancer and other diseases in humans, researchers must find a balance between their therapeutic aggressiveness and safety for the patient. To overcome this problem, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) have shifted their focus…

News • Breakthrough

Gut bacteria drive growth of stem cells in colon cancer

Colon cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in Germany. Prof. Dr. med. Sebastian Zeißig, group leader at the DFG Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) - Cluster of Excellence at the TU Dresden and physician at the Department of Medicine I, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, has now shown a decisive role of gut bacteria in the regulation of intestinal…

News • Bacteria

3D images of megaenzymes may improve antibiotics

Taking clear pictures of megaenzymes isn’t easy. But it’s definitely worth it. These proteins play an active role in creating many common antibiotics. They are in constant motion, with sections that flip around acrobatically to carry out necessary tasks. Now, for the first time, McGill researchers have been able to take a series of 3D images of a large section from one of these…

News • E. coli

Identify most dangerous strains of often-deadly bacteria

A multi-disciplinary group of researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) have for the first time determined the genetic makeup of various strains of E. coli, which every year kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

News • Respiratory infection

Under the weather? A blood test can tell if antibiotics are needed

Researchers at Duke Health are fine-tuning a test that can determine whether a respiratory illness is caused by infection from a virus or bacteria so that antibiotics can be more precisely prescribed.

News • Oncology

Scientists use dead bacteria to kill colorectal cancer

Led by Professor Teoh Swee Hin, scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) have successfully used dead bacteria to kill colorectal cancer cells. Harvesting the Clostridium sporogenes bacteria found commonly in soil, the NTU team was able to harness the bacteria in its dead form, and its secretions, to destroy colon tumours cells effectively.

Article • Infection

Trial pitches MGB-BP-3 against clostridium difficile

Scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow have been working to identify compounds with important anti-infective activity and suitable for treating serious infectious diseases caused by bacteria and parasites, such as Clostridium difficile. Their work has led to the creation of the new drug known as MGB-BP-3 (MGB = minor groove binder). Report: Mark Nicholls

News • WHO

Public misunderstanding about antibiotic resistance

As the World Health Organization (WHO) ramps up its fight against antibiotic resistance, a new multi-country survey shows people are confused about this major threat to public health and do not understand how to prevent it from growing.

News • Linac Coherent Light Source

A glimpse into live bacteria

A group of scientists in Sweden has taken an important step towards the goal of peering inside a working cell. They are among researchers around the globe who are seeking a method that enables the observation of proteins, lipids and DNA inside individual cells, as well as gaining a better understanding of how this intricate and interconnected system changes with time.