Here is a look at some important infectious disease news reported across the globe:
How Common Pain Relievers May Promote Clostridium difficile Infections
Image/CDC
Clostridium difficile causes the most common and most dangerous hospital-born infections in the United States and around the world. People treated with antibiotics are at heightened risk because those drugs disturb the microbial balance of the gut, but observational studies have also identified a link between severe C. difficile infections and use of NSAIDs, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The study is published in the journal, mBio.
Fighting Human Disease with Birth Control… for Mosquitoes
Depending on where you live, the buzz of a nearby mosquito can be a nuisance, or it can be deadly. Worldwide, more than 500 million people suffer from diseases transmitted by the blood-feeding insects, including malaria, Dengue Fever, Zika, and West Nile, and nearly a million deaths are attributed to mosquito-borne illnesses each year.
Study highlights spread of unique Staph strain in Brooklyn
A new study led by researchers with the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine is providing insight into how a unique strain of virulent and antibiotic-resistant community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) spread within a community and how genomic sequencing technology could prevent wider spread of community-based infections.
New anti-Wolbachia drug could potentially treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis
Researchers from LSTM and the University of Liverpool have successfully optimized a hit from a whole cell screening of a 10000-compound library to deliver the first novel fully synthetic and rationally designed anti-Wolbachia drug, AWZ1066S, which could potentially be used to treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF).
IDALS works to prepare for potential African swine fever outbreak
The ongoing spread of African swine fever has experts concerned about the long-term damage it could cause to agriculture.
Preparations are being made in the event the spread becomes a full-fledged outbreak.
