http://www.medindia.net/healthnews/Shigellosis-news.asp Medindia largest health website in india. en-us Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved. Fri, 25 May 2012 07:10:46 GMT http://www.medindia.net/news/chickenpox-virus-stalking-uttar-pradesh-101658-1.htm There has been an escalation in the number of chickenpox cases in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur city. Patients lamented over the spreading waste in the area and accused the negligence on part of the authorities. "Earlier I was suffering from fever and slowly abrasions came up on my body. I am suffering from this for the past ten days and it has not been cured. Doctors have come for the check and said that it is due to the spreading filth in the colony," said Gudia, a patient "All our family ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/chickenpox-virus-stalking-uttar-pradesh-101658-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/antibodies-that-help-to-stop-hiv-virus-found-in-breast-milk-101627-1.htm Researchers have discovered antibodies in breast milk that can help to stop the HIV virus. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center isolated the antibodies from immune cells called B cells in the breast milk of infected mothers in Malawi, and showed that the B cells in breast milk can generate neutralizing antibodies that may inhibit the virus that causes AIDS. HIV-1 can be transmitted from mother to child via breastfeeding, posing a challenge for safe infant feeding practices in areas of high HIV-1 prevalence....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/antibodies-that-help-to-stop-hiv-virus-found-in-breast-milk-101627-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/future-bio-computers-to-get-support-from-magnetic-bacteria-101315-1.htm Magnet-producing bacteria may perhaps be used for building biological computers of the future suggest researchers. A team from the UK's University of Leeds and Japan's Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have used microbes that eat iron. As they ingest the iron, the microbes create tiny magnets inside themselves, similar to those in PC hard drives. The research may lead to the creation of much faster hard drives, the team of scientists say. As technology progresses and ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/future-bio-computers-to-get-support-from-magnetic-bacteria-101315-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/rapid-detection-of-mutated-strains-via-virus-barcodes-101290-1.htm A bank of molecular signatures that will help identify the severity of virus infection from characteristic changes seen in cells is being built by Dr Julian Hiscox and Dr John Barr of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences are working with the Health Protection Agency Porton (HPA). Currently the team is barcoding different strains of influenza virus and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) - a virus associated with the onset of asthma in young children. "Diseases such as flu ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/rapid-detection-of-mutated-strains-via-virus-barcodes-101290-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/study-says-superbug-killing-coating-magnetically-attracts-bacteria-101258-1.htm A coating and a liquid solution is being used by scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to kill superbugs. These could replace antibiotics - currently the main defence against bacteria - now powerless against super bugs. The coating has a magnetic-like feature that attracts bacteria and kills them without the need for antibiotics. The killer coating, which has shown to destroy 99 per cent of the bacteria and fungi that it comes in contact with, is now being used by two ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/study-says-superbug-killing-coating-magnetically-attracts-bacteria-101258-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/antibiotic-alternatives-via-discovery-of-new-bacteria-100977-1.htm An Achilles heel within human cells that bacteria are able to exploit for causing and spreading infection has been discovered by scientists. According to the researchers, their findings could lead to the development of new anti-infective drugs as alternatives to antibiotics whose overuse has led to resistance. University of Manchester researchers studied Listeria, a potentially deadly group of bacteria that can cause listeriosis in humans when digested, and found they are able to spread ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/antibiotic-alternatives-via-discovery-of-new-bacteria-100977-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/researchers-who-developed-mutant-flu-virus-finally-publish-their-study-after-four-month-wait-100849-1.htm Having been made to wait for more than four months after fears of bioterrorism, researchers who developed a new mutant virus to analysis the key aspects of influenza were finally able to published their research. The controversy began in December when teams in the United States and the Netherlands separately said they had engineered a hybrid virus in high-security labs. Their goal was to understand how a highly lethal strain of flu which spreads among birds but is hard to transmit to mammals ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/researchers-who-developed-mutant-flu-virus-finally-publish-their-study-after-four-month-wait-100849-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/mechanism-behind-protective-effect-of-probiotic-bacteria-decoded-100744-1.htm The biochemical mechanism that lies behind the protective effect of some lactic acid bacteria has been discovered by researchers. Probiotic bacteria alleviates inflammation and protects against intestinal diseases. In experiments with mice, the researchers succeeded in demonstrating that lactocepin - an enzyme produced by certain lactic acid bacteria - selectively degrades inflammatory mediators in diseased tissue. This new evidence might lead to new approaches for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/mechanism-behind-protective-effect-of-probiotic-bacteria-decoded-100744-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/soon-neem-tree-to-fight-against-hiv-virus-100426-1.htm An assistant professor at Kean University is exploring into understanding the medicinal properties of the neem tree in fighting the HIV virus that causes AIDS. She will be presenting her data at a poster session at 12:25 p.m. Sunday, April 22, at the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting in San Diego. Her preliminary results seem to indicate that there are compounds in neem extracts that target a protein essential for HIV to replicate. If further studies support her findings, Arora''s work may give ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/soon-neem-tree-to-fight-against-hiv-virus-100426-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/sunlight-with-lime-juice-enables-swift-riddance-of-risky-bacteria-in-water-100316-1.htm Scientists have discovered an economical and effective way to rapidly better the quality of drinking water. A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found that adding lime juice to water that is treated with a solar disinfection method removed detectable levels of harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) significantly faster than solar disinfection alone. "For many countries, access to clean drinking water is still a major concern....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/sunlight-with-lime-juice-enables-swift-riddance-of-risky-bacteria-in-water-100316-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/survey-finds-20-chicken-available-in-brit-supermarkets-contaminated-with-bacteria-100074-1.htm A survey carried out by a consumer watchdog in Britain has found that over 20 percent of chicken available in supermarkets is contaminated with food poisoning bacteria. The survey was carried out by Which? consumer group which analyzed chicken sold in nine supermarket stores. Around 18 percent of the samples were contaminated with food poisoning bacteria, campylobacter, while a further 17 percent was contaminated with listeria and 1.5 percent contained salmonella. Stating that the quality of ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/survey-finds-20-chicken-available-in-brit-supermarkets-contaminated-with-bacteria-100074-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/achilles-heel-of-dengue-virus-identified-100008-1.htm The region in dengue virus that is neutralized in people who overcome infection with the deadly pathogen has been discovered by researchers. The results challenge the current state of dengue vaccine research, which is based on studies in mice and targets a different region of the virus. "In the past researchers have relied on mouse studies to understand how the immune system kills dengue virus and assumed that the mouse studies would apply to people as well," said senior study author Aravinda M....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/achilles-heel-of-dengue-virus-identified-100008-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/hand-held-flashlight-kills-dangerous-bacteria-99725-1.htm A hand-held torch-like device zaps dangerous germs, offering a boon for workers battling infection risks in wars and disaster zones, say scientists. The "plasma flashlight" delivers a charged, or ionised, jet of gas to zap germs, a team of researchers in China, Australia and Hong Kong said in a specialised journal. Hot plasma sterilisers are already used to disinfect surgical instruments, but they are expensive, refrigerator-sized devices that operate at high temperatures. Sterilisers ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/hand-held-flashlight-kills-dangerous-bacteria-99725-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/surge-in-childhood-virus-in-vietnam-red-cross-99707-1.htm Vietnam is observing an `alarming rise` in mortality from a common childhood virus, which has killed 11 babies and infants and caused illness to over 15,000 others, the Red Cross said on Tuesday. In the first three months of 2012 the infection rate of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) was seven times higher than the same period last year, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. "It is vital that this disease be brought under control as its victims -- small ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/surge-in-childhood-virus-in-vietnam-red-cross-99707-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/epstein-barr-virus-protects-against-autoimmunity-study-99686-1.htm Epstein Barr virus protects lupus-prone mice against autoimmmune diseases, say scientists. So, we redid the experiments, and the results came out the same," said Dr.Pelanda, lead author on the paper appearing online in The iProceesing of the National Academy of Sciences/i. "We believe these findings could lead to therapeutic targets for lupus and other autoimmune diseases."Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infects most people in the United States by the time they are adults. It causes mononucleosis ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/epstein-barr-virus-protects-against-autoimmunity-study-99686-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/chicago-area-ambulances-contain-low-levels-of-resistant-bacteria-99574-1.htm Optimistic results after examination in treatment areas of ambulances when tested for dangerous bacteria, states a new study published in the April issue of the iAmerican Journal of Infection Control/i, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Approximately six percent of sites sampled in Chicago-area ambulances tested positive for iStaphyloccocus aureus/i (iS. aureus/i), a bacterium that can cause serious infections ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/chicago-area-ambulances-contain-low-levels-of-resistant-bacteria-99574-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/solution-used-to-preserve-donated-organs-contaminated-with-bacteria-99504-1.htm In a major health scare in Britain, NHS doctors have warned that the solution used to preserve donated organs before being used in transplant surgeries may be contaminated with bacteria, putting hundreds of people who have undergone such surgeries at a major health risk. The solution, known as viaspan, is widely used to preserve liver, pancreas and bowel before they are used in organ transplant surgeries. The solution is manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb who found the sample used to test the ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/solution-used-to-preserve-donated-organs-contaminated-with-bacteria-99504-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/e-coli-bacteria-endows-as-a-factory-for-sugar-modified-proteins-enabling-cheaper-faster-pharmaceuticals-99419-1.htm Escherichia coli, or e-coli bacteria deemed the curse of food safety by restaurateurs, grocers and consumers, is actually a pal. Cornell University biomolecular engineers have learned to use iE. coli/i to produce sugar-modified proteins for making pharmaceuticals cheaper and faster. (iNature Chemical Biology/i, March 25, 2012.) Matthew DeLisa, Cornell associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and his research team, now have published a novel method for engineering ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/e-coli-bacteria-endows-as-a-factory-for-sugar-modified-proteins-enabling-cheaper-faster-pharmaceuticals-99419-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/internal-arms-against-allergies-gut-bacteria-curb-allergic-diseases-99341-1.htm Though poet Walt Whitman was metaphorically right that we `contain multitudes`, he was also correct in the literal sense. Every human being carries over 100 trillion individual bacterial cells within the intestine -- ten times more cells than comprise the body itself. Now, David Artis, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology, along with postdoctoral fellow David Hill, PhD, from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and collaborators from The Children's Hospital ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/internal-arms-against-allergies-gut-bacteria-curb-allergic-diseases-99341-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/blood-clots-can-be-caused-by-dental-plaque-bacteria-99307-1.htm Streptococcus gordonii - dental plaque bacteria can cause blood clots and trigger endocarditis (inflammation of inner layers of heart), shows research. IStreptococcus gordonii/I is a normal inhabitant of the mouth and contributes to plaque that forms on the surface of teeth. If these bacteria enter into the blood stream through bleeding gums they can start to wreak havoc by masquerading as human proteins. Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and the University of Bristol have discovered that IS....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/blood-clots-can-be-caused-by-dental-plaque-bacteria-99307-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/defiant-bacteria-resisting-trojan-horse-antibiotic-exposed-99283-1.htm The mechanism by which certain bacteria elude a potent antibiotic was discovered by Indian origin scientists. The researchers found that the bacteria have modified a common "housekeeping" enzyme in a way that enables the enzyme to recognize and disarm the antibiotic. Bacteria often engage in chemical warfare with one another, and many antibiotics used in medicine are modelled on the weapons they produce. But microbes also must protect themselves from their own toxins. The defences they employ ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/defiant-bacteria-resisting-trojan-horse-antibiotic-exposed-99283-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/new-route-to-fight-dengue-virus-99233-1.htm Enzymes and lipids that are targeted and modified by the dengue virus during infection have been discovered by researchers. Findings also suggest that medications used to treat high cholesterol and other lipid-related conditions might also inhibit dengue's replication and could represent a potential new therapy. The researchers have identified how infected mosquito cells undergo changes to certain lipids in membranes and in biochemical sensors that alert cells of invading viruses. "The ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/new-route-to-fight-dengue-virus-99233-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/disease-causing-bacteria-killed-within-minutes-by-chlorinated-silk-98998-1.htm Scientists have converted ordinary silk into a fabric that kills disease-causing bacteria in minutes, with a simple, inexpensive dip-and-dry treatment. Rajesh R. Naik and colleagues described a range of potential uses for this new killer silk, including makeshift curtains and other protective coatings that protect homes and other buildings in the event of a terrorist attack with anthrax. They explained that in adverse conditions, bacteria of the Bacillus species, which includes anthrax, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/disease-causing-bacteria-killed-within-minutes-by-chlorinated-silk-98998-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/study-says-cancer-cells-send-out-alarm-to-warn-against-tumour-killing-virus-98929-1.htm Brain-tumor cells that are infected with a cancer-killing virus release a protein that warns other tumor cells to mount a defense against the virus, shows study. The study was led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James). The infected tumour cells release a protein called CCN1 into the narrow space between cells where it initiates an antiviral response. The response ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/study-says-cancer-cells-send-out-alarm-to-warn-against-tumour-killing-virus-98929-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/h-pylori-bacteria-and-adult-type-2-diabetes-link-found-in-study-98822-1.htm A recent study revealed the presence of IH. pylori/I bacteria associated with elevated levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), an important biomarker for blood glucose levels and diabetes. The study found the association was stronger in obese individuals with a higher Body Mass Index (BMI). The results, which suggest the bacteria may play a role in the development of diabetes in adults, are published in The IJournal of Infectious Diseases/I and are now available at www.oxfordjournals....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/h-pylori-bacteria-and-adult-type-2-diabetes-link-found-in-study-98822-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/epstein-barr-like-virus-found-to-infect-probably-causes-cancer-in-dogs-penn-researchers-98788-1.htm Over 90 percent of humans possess antibodies to the Epstein Barr virus. Best known for causing mononucleosis, or `the kissing disease`, the virus has also been implicated in more serious conditions, including Hodgkin's, non-Hodgkin's and Burkitt's lymphomas. Yet little is known about exactly how EBV triggers these diseases. Now a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and Penn's Perelman School of Medicine has the first evidence that an Epstein ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/epstein-barr-like-virus-found-to-infect-probably-causes-cancer-in-dogs-penn-researchers-98788-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/europe-battling-a-rise-in-raw-chicken-bacteria-98644-1.htm A report from European food safety agencies says that a type of bacteria mostly found in raw chicken meat that can cause diarrhea and fever is on the rise in the European Union. The report found that cases of Campylobacter rose by seven percent to 212,064 in 2010 -- the last year for which such data is available and the fifth consecutive year of increases in reported cases of the bacteria in humans. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Italy and the European Centre for Disease Prevention ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/europe-battling-a-rise-in-raw-chicken-bacteria-98644-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/antibiotic-producing-bacteria-can-pave-the-way-for-polyether-drugs-98514-1.htm Researchers have narrowed down on antibiotic-producing bacteria which can bring about the synthesis of polyether drugs. Principal investigator, Chu-Young Kim, Assistant Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Science, and his group have made use of powerful X-rays to decipher how soil bacteria carry out surprising chemistry. Their result details how a soil bacterium, Streptomyces lasaliensis, is able to convert an epoxide ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/antibiotic-producing-bacteria-can-pave-the-way-for-polyether-drugs-98514-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/show-and-tell-by-x-rays-on-how-soil-bacteria-execute-surprising-chemistry-98410-1.htm Powerful X-rays have been employed by researchers working at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to help make sense of how certain natural antibiotics defy a longstanding set of chemical rules, a system that has baffled organic chemists for decades. Their result, reported today in iNature/i, details how five carbon atoms and one oxygen atom in the structure of lasalocid, a natural antibiotic produced by bacteria in soil, can link into a six-membered ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/show-and-tell-by-x-rays-on-how-soil-bacteria-execute-surprising-chemistry-98410-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/chikungunya-virus-may-infect-america-98394-1.htm Mosquito-borne chikungunya virus may infect America, warns PAHO. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador in central America, that the disease causes fever and severe pains in the joints that can last for months or years, the Prensa Latina news agency reported. The group said the transmitting agents were the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. According to data from the PAHO from 2006 to 2010, there were at least 106 cases ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/chikungunya-virus-may-infect-america-98394-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/directional-mechanism-of-ecoli-bacteria-predicted-98374-1.htm Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have mathematically predicted how the food poisoning bacteria hijack a cell's sense of direction and then confirm those predictions in living cells. The study proposed a new model to explain how mammalian cells establish the sense of direction necessary to move, as well as the mechanism that a disease-causing form of emE. coli/em bacteria employ to hijack that ability. Cells need to orient themselves for several basic processes, such as ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/directional-mechanism-of-ecoli-bacteria-predicted-98374-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/new-baby-food-ingredients-boost-babies-immunity-by-feeding-their-gut-bacteria-98205-1.htm Adding prebiotic ingredients to baby food helps colonize the newborn's intestine with a stable population of good bacteria, and probiotics improve immunity in formula-fed infants, two University of Illinois studies report. "The beneficial bacteria that live in a baby's intestine are all-important to an infant's health, growth, and ability to fight off infections," said Kelly Tappenden, a U of I professor of nutrition and gastrointestinal physiology. "Breast-fed babies acquire this protection naturally....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/new-baby-food-ingredients-boost-babies-immunity-by-feeding-their-gut-bacteria-98205-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cancer-drugs-to-fight-ebola-virus-98193-1.htm Some cancer drugs help stop the Ebola virus before it turns deadly, say US researchers. The much-feared Ebola virus emerged in Africa in the 1970s and can incite a hemorrhagic fever which causes a person to bleed to death in up to 90 percent of cases. While rare, the Ebola virus is considered a potential weapon for bioterrorists because it is so highly contagious, so lethal and has no standard treatment. But a pair of well-known drugs that have been used to treat leukemia -- known ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cancer-drugs-to-fight-ebola-virus-98193-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/new-flu-virus-identified-in-fruit-bats-98099-1.htm A new strain of influenza A virus has been discovered in fruit bats. "This is the first time an influenza virus has been identified in bats, but in its current form the virus is not a human health issue," said Suxiang Tong, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's pathogen discovery program. "The study is important because the research has identified a new animal species that may act as a source of flu viruses." The influenza A virus was detected in a sample of three ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/new-flu-virus-identified-in-fruit-bats-98099-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/polio-endemic-countries-look-to-finally-eradicate-virus-98081-1.htm Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria have high hopes of making it off the list of polio endemic nations. The representatives of the three nations were present at the Polio Summit organised by health ministry and Rotary International. The three nations have high hope for their polio battle. Pakistan ended last year with 198 polio cases, followed by Afghanistan with 80, Nigeria with 60, and India with only one case. Talking to IANS on the sidelines of the summit, the official representing ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/polio-endemic-countries-look-to-finally-eradicate-virus-98081-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/smoking-may-increase-risk-of-oral-diseases-by-killing-good-bacteria-in-the-mouth-97634-1.htm Apart from increasing the risk of lung cancer, smoking has also been found to increase the risk of oral disease as it kills off the good bacteria in the mouth. Researchers from Ohio State University collected oral biofilms of 30 healthy participants, 15 of whom were regular smokers. The samples were collected two, four and seven days after professional cleaning. The researchers found that the disease causing pathogens were largely absent in the mouths of non-smokers and the presence of cytokines ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/smoking-may-increase-risk-of-oral-diseases-by-killing-good-bacteria-in-the-mouth-97634-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/trojan-horse-bacteria-to-cure-sleeping-sickness-97612-1.htm Researchers have used a bacteria that lives in the tsetse fly to release antibodies against Trypanosoma brucei, which causes sleeping sickness. These antibodies, which bind to the surface of the parasite, are the first stage in producing targeted nanobodies, which could kill, or block, trypanosome development. Sleeping sickness is transmitted to humans and animals via the bite of the tsetse fly. The first stage - haemolymphatic phase of infection causes fever, headaches, aching joints and itching....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/trojan-horse-bacteria-to-cure-sleeping-sickness-97612-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/hiv-treatment-strategy-starve-a-virus-for-a-cure-97495-1.htm New research indicates that a protein that protects some the immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate. The report is published online in iNature Immunology/i. The finding comes from an international team of researchers including scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, several institutions in France - and a graduate student who is a political ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/hiv-treatment-strategy-starve-a-virus-for-a-cure-97495-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/decoding-the-molecular-machine-behind-some-bacteria-97427-1.htm Scientists are in the process of decoding the molecular machine known as the 'type II bacterial secretion system' that is responsible for delivering potent toxins from bibacteria/b/i such as enterotoxigenic IE. coli /Iand IVibrio cholerae/I into an infected individual. Professor Richard Pickersgill, who led the research, said: "Bacterial secretion systems deliver disease causing toxins into host tissue. If we can understand how these machines work, then we can work out how it they might be stopped....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/decoding-the-molecular-machine-behind-some-bacteria-97427-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/averting-bacteria-from-mixing-with-the-wrong-clan-may-help-stop-gum-disease-97242-1.htm Stripping certain mouth bacteria of their access key to group of other pathogenic oral bacteria might help avoid gum disease and tooth loss. The study, published in the journal Microbiology suggests that this bacterial access key could be a drug target for people who are at high risk of developing gum disease. Oral bacteria called ITreponema denticola/I frequently gang up in communities with other pathogenic oral bacteria to produce destructive dental plaque. This plaque, made up of bacteria, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/averting-bacteria-from-mixing-with-the-wrong-clan-may-help-stop-gum-disease-97242-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/plasma-zaps-kill-harmful-bacteria-in-uncooked-meat-97078-1.htm A new study has found that plasma zaps can be an effective method for killing harmful bacteria on uncooked poultry, which is responsible for outbreaks of foodborne illness. The bacteria responsible for most foodborne illnesses, Campylobacter and Salmonella, are found to contaminate 70 percent of tested chicken meat, especially their upper surfaces. Plasma, known as the "fourth state of matter" (after solid, liquid and gas), is a high-energy, charged mixture of gaseous atoms, ions and electrons, the Journal of Food Protection reports....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/plasma-zaps-kill-harmful-bacteria-in-uncooked-meat-97078-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cell-permeable-peptide-impeding-hepatitis-c-virus-keyed-97013-1.htm Researchers have now found a cell-permeable peptide, which obstructs a hepatitis C virus protein and bars viral replication that can cause liver cancer and cirrhosis. This finding by Dr. Samuel French, an assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the study, builds on previous work by the French laboratory that identified two cellular proteins that are important factors in hepatitis C virus infection. French and his team initially set out to identify the cellular factors involved ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cell-permeable-peptide-impeding-hepatitis-c-virus-keyed-97013-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/link-between-environmental-bacteria-and-asthma-96977-1.htm An allergic reaction to a common environmental bacteria causes biasthma/i/b, suggests research. Researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California in San Francisco have found a link between common environmental bacteria and airway inflammation. Specifically, their research suggests that some strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cause white blood cells to produce very high levels of histamine, which in turn leads to inflammation, a hallmark symptom of asthma....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/link-between-environmental-bacteria-and-asthma-96977-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/link-between-mental-illness-and-borna-disease-virus-explored-96961-1.htm Previous research conducted over the last three decades has linked Borna disease virus (BDV) with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder and dementia. Genetic fragments and antibodies to this RNA virus, which causes behavior disorders in a range of mammals and birds, have been found to be prevalent in psychiatric patients, but study results have been inconsistent. Now, the first blinded, case-control study to examine this issue finds no association between the virus and psychiatric illness....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/link-between-mental-illness-and-borna-disease-virus-explored-96961-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/various-other-microbes-find-lungs-infected-with-plague-bacteria-to-be-fertile-96911-1.htm The mystery of the deadly pneumonic plague bacterium, iYersinia pestis/i is one among the many infectious disease puzzling experts. It goes concealed in the initial days of lung infection, often until it's too late for medical treatment. New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has opened a door to the answer. Researchers led by William E. Goldman, PhD, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hilland a leading authority on Y....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/various-other-microbes-find-lungs-infected-with-plague-bacteria-to-be-fertile-96911-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/how-bacteria-behind-serious-childhood-disease-evade-vaccines-96804-1.htm The answer to why vaccines used in both the UK and US to combat serious childhood infections can eventually fail may lie in genetics, says a new study. The study, published today in INature Genetics/I, which investigates how bacteria change their disguise to evade the vaccines, has implications for how future vaccines can be made more effective. Pneumococcus (IStreptococcus pneumoniae/I) causes potentially life-threatening diseases including pneumonia and meningitis. Pneumococcal ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/how-bacteria-behind-serious-childhood-disease-evade-vaccines-96804-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/probiotic-bacteria-effectively-target-tumors-in-mice-96785-1.htm Engineered probiotic bacteria provide accurate 3D images of tumors in mice, reports study published in the journal iPLoS ONE/i. The specially engineered probiotic bacteria, like those found in many yoghurts, were intravenously injected into mice with tumors, after which the researchers took full body bioluminescent images. The 3D images revealed information about the number and location of the bacteria, to the level of precisely revealing where within the tumour the bacteria were living, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/probiotic-bacteria-effectively-target-tumors-in-mice-96785-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/rapid-technique-to-detect-influenza-virus-infection-developed-96675-1.htm A new diagnostic technique has succeeded in detecting influenza virus infection in only 40 minutes. Developed by researchers at the RIKEN Omics Science Center (OSC), the test was able to detect flu virus with one hundred times the sensitivity of conventional methods. Clinical research conducted in 2009 and 2010 confirms the new technique accurately identified the 2009 pandemic (pdm) influenza virus in Japanese patients less than 24 hours after fever onset, much faster than standard diagnostic tests....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/rapid-technique-to-detect-influenza-virus-infection-developed-96675-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/new-detection-method-for-bacteria-causing-urinary-tract-infections-promises-better-treatment-cuts-costs-96574-1.htm Faster, more effective treatment and a reduction in costs can be expected by implementing a new method for identifying bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs). The procedure, described in the IJournal of Medical Microbiology/I, could eventually be used for the identification of micro-organisms in other bodily fluids, including blood and spinal fluid. Scientists at the University Hospital Essen in Germany tested urine samples from in-house patients and were able to effectively ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/new-detection-method-for-bacteria-causing-urinary-tract-infections-promises-better-treatment-cuts-costs-96574-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Lethal-Mosquito-Virus-Doing-Its-Rounds-in-Australia-96526-1.htm ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Lethal-Mosquito-Virus-Doing-Its-Rounds-in-Australia-96526-1.htm