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Researchers Find New Approach to Battling Tuberculosis

A research team led by David Alland, MD, of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, has discovered a drug that cripples tuberculosis bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) in a novel way, by dissolving the protecting fatty coating of the bacteria. The drug killed the bacterium in culture without the emergence of drug resistance.

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Compound Kills Persistent and Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has identified a highly promising new anti-tuberculosis compound that attacks the tuberculosis (TB) bacterium in two different ways.

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Rotavirus Vaccine Given to Newborns in Africa is Effective

Mayo Clinic and other researchers have shown that a vaccine given to newborns is at least 60 percent effective against rotavirus in Ghana. Rotavirus causes fever, vomiting and diarrhea, which in infants can cause severe dehydration. In developed nations, the condition often results in an emergency room visit or an occasional hospitalization, but is rarely fatal. In developing countries, however, rotavirus-related illness causes approximately 500,000 deaths per year. The findings appear this week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

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Whooping Cough Can Be Deadly for Infants, but 61 Percent of Adults Don’t Know Vaccine Status

A new University of Michigan poll shows that 61 percent of adults say they don’t know when they were last vaccinated against pertussis, which could mean they might be unwittingly exposing vulnerable babies to the disease.

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Researchers Discover A Way to Detect New Viruses

Subtracting the sequenced human genome from blood serum, scientists sift through the remainder.

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Dangerous E. coli Strains May Linger Longer in Water

E. coli that produce a toxin dangerous to humans may survive longer in water than benign counterparts, a new study finds.The findings have implications for water quality testing, suggesting that a lake's overall E. coli population may be a poor indicator of danger.

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Be Gone, Bacteria

A team of researchers led by the University of Iowa is recommending clinical guidelines that will cut the post-surgical infection rate for staph bacteria (including MRSA) by 71 percent and 59 percent for a broader class of infectious agents known as gram-positive bacteria. The recommendations come after an extensive review of hospital practices in the U.S. and are published in the British Medical Journal.

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The Upcoming Flu Season: What You Need to Know Now

New vaccine and regulations to impact patient care, prompt early vaccination.

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Tracking Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Real-Time

New Canadian surveillance system monitors tuberculosis and could be used for SARS-like outbreaks.

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