Invisiverse Features — Page 8 of 11 « Invisiverse

News: Four Months & 79 Patients Later, Minnesota Measles Outbreak Is Still a Menace

In late June, the biggest measles outbreak to strike Minnesota since 1990 seemed to be winding down. Today, public health officials announced a new confirmed measles case in the area.

News: Sleeping with the Fishes — Decay in Wastewater Damages Aquatic Life

Everything from disposed of drugs to hormones and disease-causing bacteria — anything that is rinsed or flushed down the drain — can contaminate wastewater.

News: This Paper-Thin Foldable Battery Is Powered by Bacteria

In the perpetual search for a renewable and convenient energy source, our bacterial friends have once again stolen the limelight.

News: How to Avoid Food Poisoning & Keep Your Cooking Safe with These Tips

Even when no one is in your kitchen, it is crowded. The refrigerator, sink, and counters are all covered with microbes that are just hanging around. They are inadvertent remnants from the raw chicken you used in that recipe last night, brewing a bacterial cocktail in your Nespresso machine, or just growing their merry little colonies on your leftovers.

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: Researchers May Be Closing in on a Vaccine Against HIV

Results of an early-stage clinical trial of an HIV vaccine could mean a hoped-for breakthrough in the battle against AIDS.

News: Frito-Lay Recalls Chips Due to Salmonella Contamination

This just in! Some of Frito-Lay's chips might be bad for your health for reasons other than the fact that they're deep fried potatoes.

News: Standard Testing Frequently Misses UTIs — But Now We Have a Better Way

Have you ever had a burning sensation when you urinate? Low fever, back pain, and maybe cloudy urine? Male or female, it could have been a urinary tract infection. If it lasted long enough, the chances are good you went to the doctor for help. For about 20% of women, standard testing for a UTI does not reveal the presence of infection-causing bacteria, even though bacteria may be causing their symptoms. Well, a new test may provide better answers.

News: Mumps Outbreaks Hit 3 Different US College Campuses; Cases More Than Double Last Year at This Time

There have been mumps outbreaks in three different US colleges so far this year as instances of the illness are on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

News: Deadly Bacterial Disease Kills Multiple Dogs in New Jersey

A dangerous bacterial disease is infecting dogs in northern New Jersey, forcing owners to keep their pets inside.

News: Seeing a Doctor? Make Sure They Clean Their Stethoscope

How would you feel if the stethoscope used by your doctor to listen to your heart and lungs was teeming with potentially unfriendly bacteria?

News: Mother's Body Teaches Fetal Immune System Not to Attack Itself Before Birth

Even before we are born, our immune system is hard at work. New research shows how the developing fetal immune system takes advantage of the time and opportunity of gestation — in the presence of mom's cells and tissues — to develop a sense of self.

Survival of the Fittest: Athletes' Gut Microbes Are Tailored to Help Them Compete

The bacteria in our gut — a community called the gut microbiome — have been in the spotlight a lot lately. What we're learning about how our intestinal bacteria adapt and grow with our bodies could help athletes perform better, according to researchers starting a company focused on creating probiotics that mimic athletes' microbiomes.

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: New 'Trojan Horse' Salmonella Bacteria Kills Tumors Instead of Making You Sick

We usually associate Salmonella bacteria with a dangerous type of food poisoning, but they actually are pretty good at seeking out tumors. That trait made the bacteria a great candidate to deliver a protein that would help knock tumors out.

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: 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: 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: 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: 500,000 People Die Every Year from Infections Caught in Long-Term Care Facilities

Despite longer live spans, almost half a million people die of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) each year, many of them preventable.

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: Kids' Snot Provides Unlikely Path for Superbugs to Move from Farm to Community

The noses of kids who live in areas of intense pig farming may harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria, presumably acquired from the animals, according to a new study by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

News: Bacteria-Killing Viruses Can Help Us Take Down Superbugs

Fighting fire with fire, scientists are harnessing the adaptability of helpful microbes to challenge the adaptability of deadly microbes. What are we talking about? Hunting with phages — viruses that attack and kill bacteria.

News: Gut Bacteria Cocktail May Protect Cancer Patients & Pregnant Women Against Listeriosis

Listeria monocytogenes bacteria don't play fair. Healthy people can usually handle the food-borne infection, but the bacterial infection hits pregnant women, fetuses and cancer patients very hard. Interestingly, a new study found that other bacteria may help prevent Listeria infections in those people.

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: 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.

News: Zika Is About to Explode Again as Mosquito Season Approaches

There could be a fresh outbreak of the Zika virus in the Americas as the weather heats up and the mosquito population blooms.

News: Bacteria Offer Low-Cost, High-Quality Help to Clean Drinking Water

Water makes up about 60% of your body weight. Whether you like it plain, flavored, bubbly, or in beverages or food, we all need water daily to avoid dehydration and stay healthy. For communities in need of clean drinking water, new research using bacteria may offer a simplified, lower-cost method for boosting potable water supplies.

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: 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.

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: Probiotics Could Cut Sepsis in Infants for Just $1 a Day

Bacteria, viruses and other germs sometimes set off the immune system to overreact, producing a severe condition called sepsis. Sepsis is so dangerous that it is the leading cause of death of children across the world, killing a million kids every year, mostly in developing countries. Probiotic bacteria might be able to prevent sepsis and infections, but no large research studies have been done to find out whether that actually works. Until now.

News: Microbes Lost from Corals Due to Global Warming Cause 90% of Great Barrier Reef to Bleach

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living system on the planet. Yet more than 90% of the reef is bleaching because of the loss of a tiny algae that lives within the coral.

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: Grindr Conversations Confront the Major Stigma Surrounding HIV in Recent Project

With significant advancements in the treatment and prevention of HIV, you'd think the stigma surrounding the deadly virus and AIDS, the syndrome the infection causes in the body, would have lessened. Unfortunately, a new project looking at conversations on Grindr — a social networking app for gay, bi, curious, and queer men — has shown that this stigma is very much present.

Medical Mystery: Man Catches Zika, but No One Knows How

An older man dies of Zika. A younger man who cares for him catches Zika — but doctors cannot pinpoint how the disease was transmitted. While proximity to the patient is sufficient explanation for the rest of us, for microbe hunters, it is a medical mystery. Why? Zika is not known to transmit from person-to-person casually.

News: Rate of Dangerous Recurring Diarrhea Infection Skyrocketing by Almost 200%

Killing more than 29,000 people each year, infection with Clostridium difficile (C. diff or CDI) is the most common healthcare-associated infection in the US. In a disturbing development, new research reveals recurring cases of the infection are soaring.