A new investigation into Napoleon Bonaparte?s cause of death might finally put to rest nearly 200 years of lingering mysteries about the illness that killed the French emperor during his island exile, a UT Southwestern Medical Center scientist reports.
Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Houston have discovered a toxin present in the bacteria responsible for the current nationwide outbreak of staph infections also has a role in an aggressive pneumonia that is often fatal within 72 hours.
Infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major problem for patients in hospital, who are at increased risk of infection because they often have a weakened immune system, as well as individuals with cystic fibrosis. One of the things that makes P. aeruginosa so virulent is the expression of a number of proteins that function as a type III secretion system.
Gum disease, tooth loss or periodontal disease, inflammation of the gums caused by bacterial infection that leads to tooth loss, was shown to be associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer in two studies. In one study, all subjects were smokers, and in the other, no adjustment was made for smoking, a known risk factor for pancreatic cancer.
A novel antibacterial medicine that kills the superbug MRSA is being developed under a new scheme launched by the Wellcome Trust. The Seeding Drug Discovery initiative is aimed at catalysing the development of new drugs in areas of unmet need.
Measuring a patient’s ratio of white blood cell types may help physicians accurately distinguish between the similar conditions infectious mononucleosis and bacterial tonsillitis, potentially guiding treatment decisions, according to an article in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Being a member of a large family may not be best for your health. A new study found that family size greatly influenced the development of stomach cancer linked to the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, and younger siblings from large families appeared to be especially vulnerable to the most common type of stomach cancer.
A score that measures the proteomic profile of amniotic fluid may predict inflammation before delivery. Researchers from Yale University, led by Catalin Buhimschi, have previously identified a set of four protein markers that were closely associated with inflammation in the amniotic fluid, and developed a score based on these proteins “the “Mass Restricted” (MR) score. This score has been shown to be able to identify women at risk of preterm delivery.
An outbreak of gastrointestinal illness affected > 200 persons attending a party at a Copenhagen high school party in November_2006. The illness was caused by enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and Salmonella serotype Anatum. The outbreak investigation indicated that contaminated pesto was the cause of the outbreak.
Engineers have developed a system that uses a simple water purification technique that can eliminate 100 percent of the microbes in New Orleans water samples left from Hurricane Katrina. The technique makes use of specialized resins, copper and hydrogen peroxide to purify tainted water.