BBC News James Gallagher 14 May 2013
Bacteria that live in the gut have been used to reverse obesity and Type-2 diabetes in animal studies. Research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that a broth containing a single species of bacteria could dramatically alter the health of obese mice.
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Posted in Microbiology, Science - General
Tagged Akkermansia muciniphila, Gut microbes, Obesity, Type-2 diabetes
Radio National Background Briefing Jonathan Green, Di Martin 12 May 2013
Australian GPs reveal why they are risking their reputations by diagnosing patients with Lyme disease—from bacteria that are not even supposed to be in Australia. Health authorities say there’s no evidence that Australian ticks carry the Lyme bacteria, and are worried that doctors are being misled by unproven claims about this controversial disease. The treatment, high-dose antibiotics, is alarming health authorities and the nation’s chief medical officer has formed an advisory committee to look into this controversial disease.
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Posted in Microbiology
Tagged Antibiotic resistance, Antibody tests, infectious diseases, Lyme disease
Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases – Gram-Negative ‘Superbugs’ Meeting; 2nd to 3rd August 2013
Gold Coast, Australia
ASID will hold a meeting on the Gold Coast to bring together clinicians, microbiologists, pharmacists, infection control nurses and researchers from Asia, Australia and New Zealand to provide an update on the issues of Gram-Negative “Superbugs”. International and local speakers will review novel therapeutic approaches, the importance of the microbiology laboratory, dosing optimisation and the use of combination therapy and innovative approaches to infection control. This is the first meeting of its kind.
Link to website for further information
A pre-meeting workshop will also be held on Thursday 1 August in Brisbane and will be on “Laboratory Skills for Investigating Antibiotic Resistant Gram negative bacilli”.
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Posted in Clinical pathology, Microbiology
Tagged Antibiotic resistance, Conference alert, gram-negative bacilli (GNB), superbugs
ScienceWorldReport Catherine Griffin 10 May 2013
Long ago, the plague ravaged Europe. People died by the millions as they succumbed to the sickness; bodies were loaded into mass graves as the survivors attempted to eke out a living. Now, researchers have examined ancient DNA from the remains of plague victims from the 6th century AD to learn a bit more about the phylogeny and the origin of the pandemic that hit the Byzantine Empire.
(Harvard School of Public Health 5 May 2013) A new study led by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK has, for the first time, used genome sequencing technology to track the changes in a bacterial population following the introduction of a vaccine.
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The Journal of Visualized Experiments 8-May-2013
On May 8th JoVE will publish research that demonstrates how a biosensor can detect antibiotic resistance in bacteria. This new technology is a preliminary step in identifying and fighting superbugs, a major public health concern that has led to more deaths than AIDS in the United States in recent years. The technology is the result of collaboration between Dr. Vitaly Vodyanoy at Auburn University and the Keesler Air Force Base with funding from the United States Air Force.
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Posted in Microbiology
Tagged Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Bacteriophages, Biosensors, MRSA
University of New South Wales 09 May 2013
Researchers from UNSW have cautioned that more work is needed to understand how micro-organisms respond to the disinfecting properties of silver nanoparticles, increasingly used in consumer goods, and for medical and environmental applications.
(Elsevier Health Sciences 30 April 2013) Testing patients with just three risk factors upon hospital admission has potential to identify nearly three out of four asymptomatic carriers of C. difficile, according to a new study
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Posted in Clinical pathology, Microbiology
(Massachusetts General Hospital 5 May 2013) A handheld diagnostic device that Massachusetts General Hospital investigators first developed to diagnose cancer has been adapted to rapidly diagnose tuberculosis and other important infectious bacteria. Two versions of the portable device combine microfluidic technology with nuclear magnetic resonance to not only diagnose these important infections but also determine the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.
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Posted in Clinical pathology, Microbiology
Tagged Bacterial infections, Lab-on-a-chip, Portable devices, Tuberculosis
BBC News 7 May 2013
Rates of tuberculosis across the UK have doubled in the past decade with London now known as the TB capital of western Europe.
A report by MPs found that progress in getting rid of the disease is “painfully slow” and claims that drug-resistant strains are now an “urgent problem”.
