Infection Control Today Magazine

Bacteria

Scientists to Study Novel Treatment for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Infections

The bacteria Enterococcus can cause infections that typically target the digestive tract or bowel; if the bacteria spread, an abdominal abscess or urinary infection could result. Enterococcus also can invade the bloodstream, leading to meningitis, pneumonia or endocarditis ...More
November 17, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Bacteria Responsible for Common Infections May Protect Themselves by Stealing Immune Molecules

Bacteria responsible for middle ear infections, pink eye and sinusitis protect themselves from further immune attack by transporting molecules meant to destroy them away from their inner membrane target, according to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital. The study, ...More
November 17, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Study Finds Even the Cleanest Wastewater Contributes to More 'Super Bacteria'

A new University of Minnesota study reveals that the release of treated municipal wastewater – even wastewater treated by the highest-quality treatment technology – can have a significant effect on the quantities of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, often referred to as "super ...More
November 15, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Antibodies Trick Bacteria Into Killing Each Other

The dominant theory about antibodies is that they directly target and kill disease-causing organisms. In a surprising twist, researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have discovered that certain antibodies to Streptococcus pneumoniae actually trick the ...More
November 8, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Bacteria May Readily Swap Beneficial Genes

Much as people can exchange information instantaneously in the digital age, bacteria associated with humans and their livestock appear to freely and rapidly exchange genetic material related to human disease and antibiotic resistance through a mechanism called horizontal ...More
November 2, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Do Bacteria Age? Biologists Discover the Answer Follows Simple Economics

When a bacterial cell divides into two daughter cells and those two cells divide into four more daughters, then 8, then 16 and so on, the result, biologists have long assumed, is an eternally youthful population of bacteria. Bacteria, in other words, don’t age—at least not ...More
October 27, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Bellybutton Microbiomes Bust the Myth That All Skin Bacteria are Bad

Human skin is teeming with microbes—communities of bacteria, many of which are harmless, live alongside the more infamous microbes sometimes found on the skin. Nina Rountree from North Carolina State University and colleagues set out to dispel the myth that all bacteria on ...More
August 3, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Researchers Study How Bacteria Move

Jacinta Conrad, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Houston, likens her research into how bacteria move to "tracking bright spots on a dark background." Using a digital camera affixed to a microscope, Conrad and her ...More
July 25, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Bacteria Change Shape to Survive Overcrowding

One species of bacteria have developed a unique mechanism for coping with overpopulation. They change their shape. Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, describe a newly discovered mechanism that the bacterium Paenibacillus dendritiformis uses to survive ...More
July 21, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Bacteria Use Batman-Like Grappling Hooks to 'Slingshot' on Surfaces

Bacteria use various appendages to move across surfaces prior to forming multicellular bacterial biofilms. Some species display a particularly jerky form of movement known as "twitching" motility, which is made possible by hairlike structures on their surface called type IV ...More
July 18, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens

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