Infection Control Today Magazine

Bacterial Biofilms

Research Offers New Clues to Prevent Infection in Cardiac Devices

Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, the 'superbug' behind MRSA, can be a major problem for patients who have a medical implant, such as a replacement heart valve or pacemaker. Bacteria are able to form colonies – called biofilms – on the implanted device, which can lead ...More
April 10, 2012
Posted in News
Dentures' Biofilm Eradicated by CHG, Microwave Irradiation

Researchers in Brazil say that biofilms growing on dentures can be eradicated by a dip in CHG and by microwave irradiation. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) biofilm on dentures can be aspirated, thus causing infections such as aspiration pneumonia. The ...More
April 5, 2012
Posted in News
Mighty Mesh: Extracellular Matrix Identified as Source of Spreading in Biofilms

New research at Harvard explains how bacterial biofilms expand to form slimy mats on teeth, pipes, surgical instruments and crops. Through experiment and mathematical analysis, researchers have shown that the extracellular matrix (ECM), a mesh of proteins and sugars that ...More
January 23, 2012
Posted in News
Defend Against the 'Ninjas' of Infectious Disease

Recently, ECRI Institute’s James Davis, BSN, RN, CCRN, CIC, presented a patient safety organization (PSO) webinar on biofilms. Davis explained how biofilms are the "ninjas" of infectious disease; they are extremely difficult to detect, and with current technology, they are ...More
January 20, 2012
Posted in News
Manipulating the Way Bacteria Communicate Could Have Practical Applications

By manipulating the way bacteria "talk" to each other, researchers at Texas A&M University have achieved an unprecedented degree of control over the formation and dispersal of biofilms – a finding with potentially significant health and industrial applications, ...More
January 4, 2012
Posted in News
What Bacteria Don't Know Can Hurt Them

Bacterial clusters living in the lungs of a cystic fibrosis patient are highly resistant to killing by antibiotics. Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some ...More
November 18, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
Geoscientists Find Key to Why Some Patients Get Infections from Cardiac Implants

New research suggests that some patients develop a potentially deadly blood infection from their implanted cardiac devices because bacterial cells in their bodies have gene mutations that allow them to stick to the devices. Geoscientists were the major contributors to the ...More
October 25, 2011
Posted in News, Infections & Pathogens
New Studies on Bacterial Biofilm May Open Door to Treating Sinusitis

A biofilm is a thin layer of microorganisms, such as bacteria, that can form on a wide variety of materials, including human tissue. When a biofilm forms on an infection, treatment becomes very complicated, since the bacteria inside it exists in a state that renders it ...More
September 12, 2011
Posted in News
Biologist Discovers One Pathogen Species Can Produce Two Distinct Biofilms

Many medical devices, ranging from artificial hip joints to dentures and catheters, become sites for unwelcome guests -- complex communities of microbial pathogens called biofilms that are resistant to the human immune system and antibiotics, thus proving a serious threat ...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