Large tularemia vaccine contracts among new NIAID biodefense awards
...uccessfully treated with antibiotics. However, the bacterium that causes tularemia is regarded by experts as a potential agent of bioterror because, if aerosolized, it could cause widespread cases of more serious disease, including severe respiratory illness and systemic infections, and even death. Additional...Researchers win Nobel Medicine Prize for discovering cause of ulcers
...obel Medicine Prize today for discovering that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) is responsible for stomach inflammation and ulcers. Each year, there are nearly half a million people newly diagnosed with ulcers in the U.S., an annual cost to the health care system of $2 billion. "This disco...How can physicians assist in the investigation of bioterrorism or other biocrimes?
...workers by putting a laboratory stock of a harmful bacterium called Shigella dysenteriae (which causes dysentery) into muffins, the deliberate poisoning of salad bars in The Dalles, Oregon, with Salmonella typhimurium (which causes food poisoning) to skew an election for political gain, and the case of dir...Jefferson scientists design method to fight artificial implant infections with antibiotics
...he implant," Dr. Wickstrom says. "The first time a bacterium lands on those nails, it dies." The researchers, along with co-authors Binoy Jose, Ph.D., a former postdoctoral fellow now at SK Biopharmaceuticals, and M.D./Ph.D. student Valentin Antoci, Jr., report their results September 23, 2005 in the journal ...Study provides insight into virulent strain of clostridium difficile
...arrhoea to severe life threatening conditions. The bacterium produces two protein toxins, A and B. In 2002, hos...e (CDAD), suggesting a more virulent strain of the bacterium was involved. In this study Michel Warny (Acambis, Cambridge, MA, USA) and colleagues examined wheth...Ways to detect, thwart terrorist acts scrutinized during ACS national meeting
...ermine within about five minutes if botulinum the bacterium responsible for botulism is present, compared to the 20-25 minutes needed by other systems. In addition to detecting botulinum, the system can be tailored to detect multiple pathogens or toxins, such as E. coli, salmonella and ricin, simultaneously....New method rapidly detects potential bioterror agent
... biological terrorism agent Coxiella burnetii. The bacterium causes the human disease Q fever, which can cause ...hain reaction (PCR), which analyzes the genes of a bacterium and yields results in one to two hours. The new method, which analyzes the proteins of a bacterium, ...New anti-blood-thinning drug not as safe as protamine
... naturally produced by Flavobacterium heparinum, a bacterium commonly found in soil and water. The bacterial enzyme from which heparinase I is derived deactivates heparin through a mechanism different than protamine. However, the current Phase IIB/IIIA safety and efficacy trial conducted at 47 sites in the U.S...Colorful bacteria more dangerous
...nown for many years that gold-colored strains of a bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus tend to be cause more disease than colorless strains. The color of these bugs comes from anti-oxidant molecules called carotenoids. Similar molecules also give carrots their color and are often touted for their ability ...A virus-like hitchhiker may trigger bacterial meningitis
...insley may have discovered how a normally harmless bacterium can sometimes trigger outbreaks of life-threatening meningitis. The human body harbors many harmless bacterial residents, known as commensals. One such bacterium, called Neisseria meningitidis, makes its home in the upper respiratory tract, usually ...Antibiotic treatment successful against elephantiasis
...gues tested whether treatment against Wolbachia--a bacterium the adult worms are dependent on--could be effective for filariasis. They recruited 72 men infected with W bancrofti from Kimang'a village, Pangani, Tanzania, aged 1568 years. Half were assigned to placebo and half to an 8-week course of the antibiot...Gastric bug link to irregular heart rhythm
...regular heart rhythm. H pylori is a very resilient bacterium and has properties that enable it to escape detection by the immune system, say the authors. And chronic gastritis, caused by persistent H pylori infection, may predispose to atrial fibrillation, they suggest....JAMA study finds whooping cough vaccine effective, safe for teens and adults
...posed of four protein fragments from the pertussis bacterium that help it cling to lung tissue, as well as one toxin given off by the bacteria. Researchers found that the study vaccine provided effective immune protection with few adverse reactions, typically on par with the limited swelling and pain experie...Active vaccine prevents mice from developing prion disease
... a genetically modified strain of Salmonella. This bacterium is also used in several animal vaccines and in human vaccines for cholera and typhoid fever. Among mice vaccinated prior to prion exposure, approximately 30% remained alive and symptom-free for 500 days, according to the study. By comparison, mice th...Leprosy genome tells story of human migrations, French researchers report in Science
...s treatable with a combination of antibiotics. The bacterium has long puzzled researchers because its genome is...s and in armadillos (which might have acquired the bacterium by eating infected human cadavers), and it can also grow in the footpads of mice. Cole and his inter...NIAID awards first $27 million using new bioshield authorities
... Ph.D. Focus: development of new drugs against the bacterium that causes anthrax Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA, Donald Reason, Ph.D. Focus: development of antibodies to be used as post-exposure anthrax therapy Nanotherapeutics Inc., Alachua, FL, James Talton, Ph.D. Focus: devel...A common bacterium leads to serious blood infection in many seniors, new study finds
...reatening bloodstream infection caused by a common bacterium also associated with less dangerous urinary tract ...n important, positive impact on public health. The bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli), which grows naturally in the human digestive tract, is a leading cause o...Anthrax treatments' cost effectiveness shown in Stanford study
...ute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax spores can be used as a bioterrorist weapon, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified anthrax as one of the few biological agents capable of crippling a developed region through death and disease. ...Bacterial infection associated with heart attack in young men
.... C. pneumoniae is a relative of the more familiar bacterium that causes the sexually transmitted disease known commonly as chlamydia. The pneumoniae species, though, leads instead to respiratory problems such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinus infection and is not sexually transmitted. It is a common illness...