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A new discovery by Michigan State University (MSU) scientists suggests that a common medication used to treat glaucoma could also be used to treat tuberculosis, even the drug-resistant kind. Robert Abramovitch, an MSU microbiologist, along with graduate student Benjamin Johnson who helped lead the study, have discovered that ethoxzolamide, a sulfa-based compound found in many prescription glaucoma drugs, actually turns off the bacterium's ability to invade the immune system.

Controlling mosquitoes that carry human diseases is a global health challenge as their ability to resist insecticides now threatens efforts to prevent epidemics. Scientists from the CNRS, IRD, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble and Institut Pasteur in French Guiana have identified new genetic markers for mosquito resistance to insecticides, which could improve its detection in the field. This work was published in Genome Research on July 23, 2015.

Dr. Carmem Pessoa da Silva is an infection control specialist at WHO. She was first deployed to Liberia in September 2014 when the Ebola outbreak was at its height. The number of people ill with Ebola greatly outnumbered the number of treatment beds. People needed help to safely care for their relatives and friends while waiting for an ambulance. This is how Pessoa da Silva and colleagues brought that help.

Cleaning and disinfecting are important parts of a comprehensive infection prevention strategy.  While the need for cleaning and disinfecting is increasing, there is also growing evidence that these activities can result in serious health problems, particularly respiratory illness. Occupational health programs in state health departments are receiving reports from the healthcare sector like the following case from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) take a toll on patients, their families, hospital staff and the bottom line, and impact the reputation of and funding for healthcare facilities. In fact, on any given day, 1 in 25 hospitalized patients, or roughly 600,000 each year, must deal with an HAI, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

A study of the West Nile virus risk associated with "dry" water-detention basins in Central Illinois took an unexpected turn when land managers started mowing the basins. The mowing of wetland plants in basins that failed to drain properly led to a boom in populations of Culex pipiens mosquitoes, which can carry and transmit the deadly virus, researchers report. A paper describing their findings is in press in the journal Ecological Applications.

Today only half of people living with HIV are aware of their status. This testing gap, coupled with the importance of early treatment for HIV, is driving interest in of the role of self-testing for HIV.

To fight a pathogen that’s highly resistant to antibiotics, first understand how it gets that way. Klebsiella pneumoniae strains that carry a particular enzyme are known for “their ability to survive any antibiotics you throw at them,” says Corey Hudson of Sandia National Laboratories in California.

The negative health effects of international air travel are well documented but now it seems that the common elderberry can provide some relief. Associate professor Evelin Tiralongo and Dr. Shirley Wee from Griffith University's Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MHIQ) have completed a clinical trial showing that an elderberry supplement can provide some protection from cold and flu-like symptoms following long-haul flights.