Hot Invisiverse Posts
News: Victorian Hospitals Sound Like the Germiest Places Ever—No Wonder Everyone Got Infections
According to Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris of The Chirurgeon's Apprentice, hospitals during the first half of the nineteenth century were known as "Houses of Death."
News: Several Bat Species in Danger as a Deadly Fungus Hits Texas on Its Spread Through the US
Bats are an important part of the US economy. They devour metric tons of bugs every night that would otherwise ravage crops and also be generally disgusting-looking and make you itchy. But they're in danger from a nasty fungal infection called white-nose syndrome, which has just popped up in Texas and has been spreading across the country.
News: Please, Montana, Don't Legalize Raw Milk
Some Montana inhabitants have been making impassioned pleas to legalize raw milk this week. The debate took place during a hearing on House Bill 325, which was held by the Senate Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation Committee on Tuesday, March 21.
News: Hand Sanitizer Won't Stop an Office Outbreak—If Your Coworker Doesn't Care
There's now more reasons to make sick workers stay home—a new game theory study suggests adequate hand washing and other illness-aversion tactics aren't as useful as we thought to keep you from getting infected when a virus or bacteria is circulating.
News: Scientists Discover How to Track Down HIV's Hiding Spots—A Potential Pathway to a Cure
Tremendous strides have been made in the treatment and outlook for patients infected with HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus. Treatment with a combination of antiretroviral drugs can keep patients with HIV alive for decades, without symptoms of the infection. The trouble is, if HIV-infected people stop taking their medications, the virus takes over in full force again—because the virus hides out quietly in cells of the immune system, kept in check, but not killed by the treatment.
News: Anthrax Outbreak in Tanzania Brings a Dangerous Bioterror Threat Back to the World Stage
An outbreak of anthrax from contaminated meat in Tanzania sickened dozens of people and moves the danger of this deadly bacteria back into focus.
News: I.M. SoyNut Butter E. Coli Outbreak Update—7 More Sickened, from 4 States
There have been seven more people sickened from four states since the I.M. SoyNut Butter E. coli outbreak was announced earlier this month. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Washington Department of Health have confirmed the I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter was the cause of the outbreak in an update today.
News: Norovirus Suspected of Sickening 182 People Aboard Princess Cruises' Coral Princess
Princess Cruises' Coral Princess voyage disembarked in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, March 18, after a 10-day cruise in which 182 people were sickened with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. According to federal health officials, a norovirus is suspected for the outbreak.
News: Malaysia in a State of Emergency with an Extensive H5N1 Bird Flu Outbreak
A state of emergency has been declared in Malaysia's northeastern Kelantan state after an outbreak of avian influenza virus H5N1.
News: How Gut Bacteria Can Make Chemo More Effective
We can add one more health effect of our gut bacteria to the growing list. Researchers from the UK have just reported that the gut microbiota plays a role, both directly and indirectly, on the toxicity and efficacy of chemotherapy. Their findings are published online in the journal Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
News: Hong Kong Butcher in Critical Condition with Rare Strep Brain Infection Caused by Pork
The culprit probably wasn't what doctors were expecting when a 57-year-old man in Hong Kong came to the hospital. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit in critical condition. A clue to the cause of the infection would lie in the man's profession—he was a butcher.
News: Yellow Fever Outbreak Rears Its Ugly Head in Brazilian Cities, Killing Dozens
Yellow fever has emerged again in Brazil, causing death and disease to people unprepared for this mosquito-borne illness.
News: Exotic Diseases Spreading to Europe as Ticks & Mosquitoes Expand Their Habitats
The beauty of southern Europe won't protect it from invasions of disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes—in fact, the Mediterranean climate and landscape may be part of the reason the bloodsuckers are expanding there, bringing unique and terrifying diseases in their wake.
News: I.M. Creamy Soy Butter Causes Growing E. Coli Problem—Latest Outbreak Hits Portland Preschool
I.M. Healthy Original Creamy SoyNut Butter was recalled on March 4 after being linked to 16 Escherichia coli cases in nine states. Montessori of Alameda preschool in Portland is the latest victim in a multi-state E. coli outbreak caused by the nut-free butter.
News: Old Pathogen Returns to Plague a Modern World
Cholera is rapidly spreading in Mozambique, with over 1,200 people infected. Since the outset of 2017, cholera has spread from the capital city of Maputo (pictured above) to three of its ten provinces. Health officials report other areas in the country are seeing case counts rise, and two deaths have been logged so far.
News: We Finally Figured Out How Tardigrade Can Survive in Space
Call them what you will—moss piglets, water bears, or by their real name, tardigrade—but these intriguing tiny creatures can come back from the brink of death. They can survive boiling, deep freezing, UV radiation, completely drying out, and even a trip to space—without the benefit of being in a spacecraft.
News: Finally! A Way Homeowners Can Control Ticks That Spread Lyme Disease
With a predicated increase in the number of Lyme disease cases in the coming spring season, new research endorses the use of bait boxes to control ticks on the rodents that serve as their hosts.
News: Bacteria in Infants' Guts—& Their Antibiotic Use—Could Be Making Kids Chubbier
Overweight kids often become overweight adults. New research suggests a couple reasons why and suggested that there may be ways to intercept that fate.
News: Watch Your Flock, Salmonella Outbreaks from Backyard Birds Are at an All Time High
You can get eggs and high-quality compost from backyard chickens—but you can also get Salmonella.
News: Your Pet's Bowl Is One of the Dirtiest Things in Your Home—Collecting Yeast, Mold & Bacteria
According to the National Safety Federation (NSF), pet bowls and toys carry coliform bacteria, including Staph bacteria, yeast, and mold. Additionally, an (unscientific) survey from Petco found that almost one-third of pet owners do not know the extent of contamination that their pet toys contain.
News: Environmental Groups in Australia Release Virus to Control Rabbit Population
Rabbits have been a persistent problem in Australia for over 150 years. Now the Peel Harvey Catchment Council (PHCC) and Peel-Harvey Biosecurity Group have released a strain of the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), called RHDV1 K5, to reduce the number of pests in the Murray region of New South Wales.
News: Antibiotics Could Be Contributing to Dramatic Drop in Bee Populations
Add antibiotics to the possible list of culprits responsible for honeybee decline around the world. While it may come as a surprise, antibiotics are commonly mixed into feed used by commercial beekeepers to maintain their hives. In a recent study published in PLOS Biology, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin found antibiotics used to treat honeybees may be a contributing factor in individual bee death and colony collapse.
News: Sixth Outbreak of Avian Flu Confirmed in China
China just confirmed a sixth avian flu outbreak since October. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture stated that there had been another instance of bird flu in the Hubei province, of the H5N6 influenza virus. The outbreak occurred in the city of Daye, which is home to some 900,000 people, but hasn't been linked to human infections yet.
News: CDC Issues Zika Warning for Miami Sperm Banks
Future mothers hoping to use donated semen might want to think twice before using any samples from the Miami-Dade Country area of Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning that sperm from as far back as June 2016 may be infected with the Zika virus. Damn those mosquitoes.
News: Your Doctor May Start Giving You Penicillin Even if You're Allergic
A new study has found that up to half of people who think they have a penicillin "allergy" can still receive the drug, and other antibiotics with similar structures, without any negative reactions to the meds. Why? Because they're not really allergic, doctors say.
News: Deadly Legionnaires' Disease Bacteria Strikes Again at Two Nursing Homes in Pennsylvania
A bacterium which triggers respiratory disease has been detected in the water systems of two Pennsylvania nursing facilities.
News: Soft Cheese Triggers Listeria Outbreak, Killing 2
A New York creamery was forced to recall items after a fatal disease outbreak stemming from their soft cheese products.
News: MRIs Spot Sneaky Dementia-Causing HIV Brain Infections, Even in Patients on Effective Treatments
In the past, infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) commonly led to dementia as the virus made its way to the brain. Even in effectively treated people, HIV can hide out and replicate in places like the brain, where it's tough to detect. That's why it's very concerning that half of all HIV-infected patients still report cognitive problems.
News: An Early Spring & Skyrocketing Mouse Population Converge for a Risky 2017 for Lyme Disease
For regions that experienced a boom in mouse populations last year, scientists say 2017 could see a surge in cases of Lyme disease.
News: The Stomach Flu Is Not a Flu—Here's What You Really Have
Have you ever had the stomach flu, aka the 24-hour flu? Well, chances are high that you never had influenza, but an intestinal infection called gastroenteritis.
News: Mass Die-Off of Thousands of Ducks in Idaho Caused by Avian Cholera
Over 6,500 waterfowl—mostly ducks—have died in Canyon County, Idaho, stricken by avian cholera. The outbreak started in February, and before it's over, it may not only be Idaho's largest outbreak, but one of the largest in the country.
News: Pasteurization Has Saved Millions of Lives, So Why Do People Want to Drink Raw Milk?
For some, drinking raw milk is a way to get back to nature, improve family nutrition, and hedge against asthma and allergies. However, according to public health authorities, drinking raw or unpasteurized milk is a big mistake—even fatal. So what's the story?
News: Sponge Bacteria Clean Heavy Metals & Toxins Like Arsenic from Water, Saving Turtles & Humans Alike
Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment, but it is also one of the most commonly found heavy metals in wastewater, deposited there by inappropriate disposal and arsenical pesticides, for example.
News: Doctors Are Wrong to Call Zika Mild
Even as health authorities describe the symptoms of Zika infection in the general population as mild, a new surveillance study finds serious side effects are more common, and serious, than previously thought.
News: Hospital Floors May Look Clean, but They're Teeming with Deadly Superbugs—Including MRSA, VRE & C. Diff
Hospitals are places we go to get well, and we don't expect to get sick or sicker there. But a study from researchers at the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Cleveland VA Medical Center in Ohio found that hospital floors in patient rooms were frequently contaminated with healthcare-associated pathogens—often dangerous multi-drug resistant bacteria.
News: Bubonic Plague Is on the Rise in the US, but We Finally Know How to Treat It
Yes, bubonic plague—the Black Death that killed millions in the Middle Ages— is still out there. It even infects and kills people in the United States. Without treatment, half the people infected die, but the Food and Drug Administration approved ciprofloxacin in 2015 to treat plague, and it has just successfully been used to stop the infection in five people.
News: Misery-Causing Norovirus Outbreaks Sicken Thousands Every Year—Here's How to Protect Yourself
Norovirus outbreaks occur all year long, but peak in the winter months, which means we are in the middle of norovirus season. But there's still time to protect yourself from the highly infectious bug.
News: Microbes to Blame for Serious Dental Issues in People with Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases
As many as 700 species of bacteria live on our teeth and in our mouth, and just like the microbiomes inhabiting other parts of our bodies, they change in response to diseases and other health conditions.
News: Our Communities Are Now More Likely Than Hospitals to Give Kids Antibiotic-Resistant Infections
Antibiotic-resistant infections that usually occur only in hospital settings are spreading in communities, increasing hospital stays—and danger—for young children.
News: Imported Seafood & Produce Bring Along a Spike in Deadly Food-Borne Outbreaks
A robust appetite for imported foods is leading to increased disease outbreak in the US. Despite the locovore and slow food movements, America's demand for foreign foods is picking up. According to a study published in the journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, demand for imported fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafoods has jumped in recent years.