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News: Skip the Antibacterial Soap — It Isn't Helping & It Could Cause Problems

The best go-to method for reducing your risk of infection is to wash your hands. Next time you reach for the soap, here is some news you can use.

Mystery Solved: Oil-Munching Bacteria Helped Clean Up the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill that began on April 20, 2010, was the largest maritime oil spill in history. Killing 11 people and discharging 4.1 million barrels of oil and natural gas into the Gulf of Mexico, the event was an unparalleled personal, environmental, and business disaster. It was also the first major oil spill to take place in the deep ocean.

News: Hold That Breath — Fungus Goes Airborne Easier Than We Thought

Add breathing in your house as another possible danger to your health. If your home is sick, it's possible you could get sick too.

News: Long-Term Follow-Up Shows Lasting, Positive Impacts of Fecal Transplants

As unappealing as it sounds, transplants with fecal material from healthy donors help treat tough Clostridium difficile gastrointestinal infections. Researchers credit the treatment's success to its ability to restore a healthy bacterial balance to the bowels, and new research has shown that the transplanted bacteria doesn't just do its job and leave. The good fecal bacteria and its benefits can persist for years.

News: Deadly Lungworm Parasite Spread by Rats & Snails Is More Prevalent Than We Thought

Deadly rat lungworm parasites have found their way into Florida. The parasitic worm relies on snails and rats to complete its life cycle, but don't let this nematode's name fool you. This worm can cause meningitis and death in humans who inadvertently consume snails, frogs, or crustaceans harboring the infective parasite.

News: Natural Antibiotic from Cystic Fibrosis Patient Knocks Out TB

A promising new antibiotic has been discovered in, of all things, another bacteria. Burkholderia bacteria live in diverse habitats, including soil, plants, and humans where they thrive by knocking out other microbes that compete with them for resources or threaten their existence. Scientists have discovered they accomplish this by producing a very effective antibiotic.

News: Biggest Bee Study Yet Shows Devastating Effects of Neonicotinoids Across the Globe

By connecting the dots between theory and real-life effect, two new studies offer more proof that neonicotinoid insecticides are causing extensive damage to honeybee colonies.

Mystery Solved: Cellular Pumps Help E. Coli Beat Antibiotics

New research reveals how E. coli bacteria construct elaborate and effective tunnels to pump unwanted molecules like antibiotics and other toxins out of cells. The discovery could help us better understand how antibiotic resistance occurs and give us a leg-up to beat them at their own game.

News: Afraid of Needles? You'll Have No Excuse Not to Get Vaccinated with New Painless Flu Patch

A new medical development is going to change the way many of us look at getting the flu vaccine. A painless flu vaccine skin patch is making needles and vials a thing of the past. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University have shown that a flu vaccine can be administered safely and comfortably with this new patch, which delivers the vaccine through a matrix of tiny dissolving microneedles.

News: Microbots to the Rescue! Swimming Bots Kill Bad Water Microbes

Look no further than Flint, Michigan, to discover the serious consequences of contaminated drinking water. Around the world, water polluted by pathogens and toxins sickens people or cuts them off from safe drinking water. Looking for a solution, researchers created tiny, swimming robots that pack a powerful punch against waterborne pathogens.

News: How Gut Bacteria Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

The evidence is mounting and is becoming indisputable: Gut bacteria play a role in strokes and heart attacks. The link may seem a little far-fetched, but cardiovascular disease may have less to do with what we eat and more to do with what chemicals gut bacteria make from the food we eat.

News: Maine Just Got Their First Case of Measles in 20 Years

Maine reported their first measles case in 20 years yesterday, June 27, in a press release from the Maine CDC. Many other people may have been exposed and could show signs of infection soon, with the potential for outbreak brewing. The last measles case in Maine was in 1997.

News: Ebola Drug May Offer Safe and Effective Treatment for SARS & MERS

Coronaviruses are common viruses, and most of us catch one at some point — they cause about 30% of all common colds. A new accidental discovery could help fight these viruses, even the deadlier, emerging ones.

News: How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Using Less Pesticide

Bed bugs are parasites not yet known to spread disease — but they cause plenty of irritation. As scientists and landlords search for new ways to deal with the pests, a new study examines how we can deter bed bugs without so many chemicals.

News: 'Useless' Antibiotics Work When Matched Up in Threes

The search is on to find antibiotics that will work against superbugs — bacteria that are rapidly becoming resistant to many drugs in our antibiotic arsenal.

News: Defective Sugar-Loving White Blood Cells Could Be Why Cardiac Patients Get More Viruses, Like Shingles

People who have heart disease get shingles more often than others, and the reason has eluded scientists since they first discovered the link. A new study has found a connection, and it lies in a defective white cell with a sweet tooth.

News: Even Bees Need Probiotics Now

Most people are familiar with the decline of honeybee colonies around the world. Among other threats, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is eroding the capability of honeybees to maintain their hives and provide their services to human farmers.

News: How Parental Choice Not to Vaccinate Kids Starts and Spreads Pertussis Outbreaks

It's not always easy to get to the root of an infection outbreak. Epidemiologists study infected people, contacts, and carefully examine where the infections happened and when. In the case of a 2012 outbreak of pertussis — whooping cough — in Oregon, scientists just published an analysis of how vaccination status affected when a child became infected during the outbreak.

News: New Paper-Based Sanitizer Is a Wearable Microbe-Killing Material

What would it be like to have clothing that killed microbes? Or paper that repelled pathogens? A research team from Rutgers University has developed a prototype out of metalized paper to zap the bad guys without being super expensive. Sound good? Read on.

News: Scientists Found an Antibody That Burns Belly Fat (In Mice)

Bone loss and belly fat may no longer be certain fates of menopause, thanks to new research from an international team of scientists.

News: Nasty Side Effects & Resistance — Do You Need More Reason to Stop Taking So Many Antibiotics?

Despite the threat of superbugs, physicians continue to prescribe antibiotics when they might not be needed, and patients are suffering.

News: Legionnaires' Risk Growing in NYC as Weather Warms

The number of Legionnaires' cases in New York over the last couple weeks has led to concern and recommendations of caution for those at risk.

News: Bats & Viruses — Friend or Foe?

Tell the truth. The bat picture creeps you out. You are not alone. But in reality, bats truly are some of our best friends. They gobble thousands of disease-spreading bugs a night. But they also carry viruses that can be deadly to humans. So, bats — friend or foe?

News: New Approach Could Be Silver Bullet Against Antibiotic Resistant E. Coli & Other Gram-Negative Bacteria

Some types of bacterial infections are notoriously tough to treat — and it's not all due to antibiotic resistance. The bacteria themselves are rugged and hard to penetrate with drugs.

News: Sentinel Nerve Cells Spy on the Intestines, Linking Gut & Brain

If the all the fingerlike projections in our gut were flattened out, its surface area would be 100 times bigger than our skin's. It's so large that the actions of just a small part of it can impact our health. A new research study has found that enterochromaffin cells in the intestinal lining alert the nervous system to signs of trouble in the gut — trouble that ranges from bacterial products to inflammatory food molecules.

News: Latent HIV Can Hide, but Can't Escape Detection with New Test

HIV infections persist despite treatment that successfully decreases viral blood levels to the point where doctors can't detect the virus. But that doesn't mean the person is cured. The virus hides in the body, not replicating, just waiting for a chance to jump out of the shadows and reemerge.

Tick-Borne Terror: Anaplasmosis — Symptoms, Sources & Risks

If you know that ticks spread Lyme disease, you may already know you might also catch a bunch of other infections from them. One of the lesser-known diseases spread by ticks is infection with the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilium, called anaplasmosis.

News: Common Soil Microbe Produces New Antibiotic Effective Against Resistant Bacteria

Significant strides have been in the race to find antibiotics to treat superbug infections — those caused by bacteria resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. Now, an international team of scientists has discovered a new antibiotic produced by a microbe found in Italian soil.

News: New Treatment Could Save 100,000 Babies a Year from Deadly Respiratory Virus

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the most commonly occurring lower respiratory tract viral infection in young children and usually isn't serious, but in premature infants and babies under six months old, the infection can be severe, and even fatal.

News: Soil Microbes Are Key to Understanding Climate Change on (& in) The Ground

That soil under your feet is not just dirt. It is teeming with life that may not change as fast as we would like when challenged by global warming.

News: New Map Shows Where Zika Mosquitoes Live in the US

As summer heats up, new maps from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives us our best guess at where Zika-carrying mosquitoes could be hanging out this year in the US.

News: New Vaccine Takes Down Toxic Plaques Associated with Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease — an irreversible, progressive brain disorder — is the sixth leading cause of death in the US and more than afflicts 5 million Americans. As if those numbers aren't scary enough, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expect that number to nearly triple by 2050.

Toxic Shock Syndrome: How Bacterial Toxins Can Turn Our Immune System Against Us

Streptococcus and staphylococcus bacteria produce toxins that can cause toxic shock syndrome.

News: The Foods Most Likely to Sicken You in the US

Food is both a necessity and a joy. Many people enjoy exploring, cooking, eating, and learning about foods from around the world. But the picture isn't always rosy. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), highlights the ways and whereabouts of food that make us sick.

News: Watch Out Amateur Mushroom Hunters — Death Caps Are Nothing to Mess With

There is a reason the Amanita phalloides mushroom is called the "Death Cap." It can kill you. Mushrooms are a type of fungi, an organism that produces thread-like mycelia that often produce spores. Spores allow the fungi to reproduce. Molds, lichens, and yeast are all fungi, but the most visible fungi are mushrooms. Some fungi are delicious, but others can cause disease or, and still others, like Penicillium, can cure it.

News: Yogurt Isn't Just a Probiotic — Its Unique Proteins Kill Bad Bacteria

Yogurt is more than an excellent source of protein, calcium, and gut-healthy probiotic bacteria. A protein isolated from probiotic lactobacillus bacteria in yogurt is capable of inhibiting drug-resistant bacteria.

News: Newborns Contract Potentially Fatal Legionnaires' Disease from Birthing Tubs

Legionnaires' disease is named after 1976 outbreak in Philadelphia that sickened 221 people and killed 34. More often striking adults over the age of 50, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported two cases where newborns contracted the often fatal disease — at their moment of birth.