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Home/ WSU BIOL209 Microbiology/ Contents contributed and discussions participated by Whitney Hopfauf

Contents contributed and discussions participated by Whitney Hopfauf

Whitney Hopfauf

Eczema in infants linked to gut bacteria - 0 views

  • Eczema is a chronic inflammation of the epidermis
    • Whitney Hopfauf
       
      The flora of the gut is being implicated in so many more diseases than ever before. I remember when the probiotic craze first started and now it has become common knowledge. Maybe we could someday treat eczema by repopulating the gut with bacteroidetes (at least in children)
  • The number of bifidobacteria naturally falls with age and in total we found 21 groups of bacteria which changed in this time period.
    • Whitney Hopfauf
       
      I remember when I was growing up, my pediatrician put me on a special kind of milk that had extra probiotics in it to combat my constant ear infections. Maybe there was more validity to that than I realized.
  • early change towards adult-type bacteria which seems to be a risk factor for eczema
    • Whitney Hopfauf
       
      I wonder what would happen in the reverse (if childhood bacterial flora was present in adults). I wonder if there is a pathology associated with that.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • gut bacteria
  • with or without eczema was examined when they were six and 18 months ol
  • normally
  • six months all the infants had the same types of bacteria but by 18 months old the children with eczema had more of a type of bacteria normally associated with adult
  • while the healthy children had a greater amount of Bacteroidetes.
Whitney Hopfauf

Electron-beam pasteurization of raw oysters may reduce viral food poisoning - 0 views

  • FDA already has approved the use of electron beam technology as a pathogen intervention strategy to control the naturally occurring Vibrio vulnificus bacterial pathogen in shellfish.
    • Whitney Hopfauf
       
      Good that it has already been approved by the FDA... step in the right direction
  • Praveen said she and the other researchers also chose the viral pathogens as opposed to bacterial as they were more difficult to treat and also require a host species.
  • if a serving size of 12 raw oysters were contaminated with approximately 100 hepatitis A and human noroviruses, an e-beam dose of 5 kGy (kilograys) would achieve a 91 percent reduction of hepatitis A infection risks and a 26 percent reduction of norovirus infection risks.
  • ...6 more annotations...
    • Whitney Hopfauf
       
      Pretty significant except it still doesn't make me want to eat raw shellfish
  • how electron-beam pasteurization of raw oysters may reduce the possibility of food poisoning through virus.
  • results of this study will be published in the June
  • using a human norovirus surrogate called murine norovirus
  • uses commercial electricity
  • green technology because no chemicals are involved."
Whitney Hopfauf

Could new flu spark global flu pandemic? New bird flu strain seen adapting to mammals, ... - 0 views

    • Whitney Hopfauf
       
      These are the same researchers who did the infamous bird flu study that was temporarily banned
  • new virus has sickened at least 33 people, killing nine.
    • Whitney Hopfauf
       
      This is so concerning... and yet it seems that the general population is oblivious to the implications of this virus
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • majority of the viruses in the study -- from both humans and birds -- display mutations in the surface protein hemagglutinin, which the pathogen uses to bind to host cells.
  • The same mutation, Kawaoka notes, lets the avian virus thrive in the cooler temperatures of the human upper respiratory system
  • the new strain could be treated with another clinically relevant antiviral drug, oseltamivir.
Whitney Hopfauf

Gene data show China bird flu mutated 'under the radar' | Fox News - 0 views

  •  
    This is so scary. It is only a matter of time before bird flu is able to spread to humans....
Whitney Hopfauf

China: Reports of bird flu in humans reach 60 - CNN.com - 1 views

  •  
    This is so scary. I am always wary when China says, "Don't worry everything is under control". China was criticized during the SARS outbreak for failing to release information. If bird flu ever gains the ability to spread from human to human, we have a very bad situation.
Whitney Hopfauf

Lyme disease vaccine? Tick saliva found to protect mice from Lyme disease - 0 views

  • antibodies against a protein in the saliva of a pathogen's transmitting agent
  • has been shown to confer immunity when administered protectively as a vaccine.
  • Lyme bacterium known as
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Borrelia burgdorferi
  • . When it moves through the tick, it is coated with a tick salivary protein known as Salp15
  • injected Salp15 into healthy mice and found that it significantly protected them from getting Lyme disease
  • combined with outer surface proteins of B. burgdorferi, the protection was even greater.
  • Lyme vaccine on the market that utilized just the outer surface proteins of the bacteria. It was taken off the market in 2002
  • targeting the saliva -- the "vector molecule" that a microbe requires to infect a host -- may be applicable not just to Lyme disease but to other insect-borne pathogens
  •  
    This is slightly out of date but very interesting
Whitney Hopfauf

Recollections of Charlie: Dr. Charles Alderson Janeway, Jr. (1943-2003) - 0 views

  •  
    Immunology's Dirty Little Secret
Whitney Hopfauf

Genetically Engineered Immune Cells Found to Rapidly Clear Leukemia Tumors: Scientific ... - 0 views

  • shown promise against chronic leukemia, but there were
  • doubts about whether it could take on the faster-growing acute lymphoblastic
  • By the time the man started the trial, 70% of his bone marrow was tumor.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • ‘chimeric antigen receptor
  • ’, or CAR, that would target cells expressing a protein called CD19.
  • treatment had driven his cancer into remission
Whitney Hopfauf

Doctors warned to be vigilant for warn new deadly virus sweeping the globe from Middle ... - 0 views

  • three confirmed infections in Britain suggests the virus can pass from person to person rather than from animal to humans
  • coronavirus, part of the same family of viruses as the common cold and the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
  • 60-year-old man who had recently traveled to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and developed a respiratory illness on January 24, 2013. Samples from the man showed he was infected with both the new virus and with H1N1
  •  
    While the number of confirmed cases is really low, the unnerving aspect is that 8 of the 14 people infected died. 
Whitney Hopfauf

Kala-azar treatment failing in Nepal - 2 views

  • When Miltefosine was first introduced as part of a regional campaign in the Indian subcontinent for kala-azar elimination a decade ago, the drug proved to be very effective
  • so far no Miltefosine-resistant parasites were detected in patients
  • super-parasites
Whitney Hopfauf

First documented case of child cured of HIV - 0 views

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    Exciting when AIDS research takes a step forward. However, is it true that although they cannot detect the virus, it may lie dormant? How sensitive are those tests? There was a case of a man who had HIV and leukemia and so they treated him with a bone marrow transplant from someone who was resistant to HIV. The man was said to be cured but there were later debates on the validity. 
Whitney Hopfauf

More Tests Needed in LA Hotel Water Tank Death - ABC News - 0 views

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    Im not sure I can process this article effectively. I want to vomit.
Whitney Hopfauf

A solution to sinusitis from the sea - 0 views

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    I love the concept of using biology to treat the biological microbes that ail us. 
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