News

Consuming cranberry products has been anecdotally associated with prevention of urinary tract infections (UTIs) for over 100 years. But is this popular belief a myth, or scientific fact? In recent years, some studies have suggested that cranberries prevent UTIs by hindering bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract, thanks to phytochemicals known as proanthocyanidins (PACs). Yet the mechanisms by which cranberry materials may alter bacterial behavior have not been fully understood.

The number of tick-borne illnesses reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is on the rise. Lyme disease leads the pack, with some 35,000 cases reported annually. In the Northeast, the black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) that spread Lyme disease also infect people with other maladies, among them anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and as a new paper in the journal Parasites and Vectors reports Powassan encephalitis.

Healthcare-acquired infection (HAi) ranks within the 10 leading causes of death in the United States. More than 20 percent of all hospital acquired infection can be attributed to the infection of a surgical site. Although SSI occurs in approximately 2 percent of surgical procedures, infection rates vary widely, according to the type of procedure. At any given time, about 1 in every 20 inpatients has an infection related to hospital care. These infections cost the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars each year and lead to the loss of tens of thousands of lives. In addition, HAIs can have devastating emotional, financial and medical consequences.