Skip to main content

Home/ Groups/ WSU BIOL209 Microbiology
Nate Scheibe

CDC: Man died of rabies from kidney transplant - CNN.com - 0 views

  • Doctors knew the donor had encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, when they harvested the organs. However, they didn't know rabies was the cause.
  • In this most recent case, the donor was experiencing "changes in mental status" before he died, according to Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, director of the CDC's Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety. He said doctors in Florida tested the donor for various causes of encephalitis, including West Nile Virus and herpes, but did not test for rabies.
  • Hospitals do test for other causes of encephalitis, and if no cause is found, the organs are donated.
  •  
    The part that is most concerning is that the doctors knew the patient had encephalitis (granted not all causes of encephalitis are infectious in nature) and decided to donate the organs anyway.
Katelyn Madigan

When hungry, Gulf of Mexico algae go toxic - 0 views

  • Karenia brevis algae, which cause red tide blooms across the Gulf of Mexico, become two to seven times more toxic when levels of phosphorus, a major algal nutrient found in fertilizers and human waste, are low.
  • excess nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen play key roles in fueling algal growth and harmful algal bloom development.
Tyrell Varner

CDC warning of superbug 'nightmare' - Canon City Daily Record - 0 views

    • Tyrell Varner
       
      This is pretty much exactly what we covered in lecture. I just wonder how far/severe the outcome will be until harsh regulation takes place?
  • Overuse and improper use of antibiotics over the years, both in the medical community and the livestock industry, has led to an increase in the number of bacteria that are drug-resistant.
  • At least 80 percent of antibiotics used annually in the U.S. are used routinely in livestock to promote growth.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Food and Drug Administration
  • banned only one type of antibiotic in livestock and urged the industry to voluntarily limit antibiotic use to promote growth.
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. 
Casey Finnerty

'We Have a Limited Window of Opportunity': CDC Warns of Resistance 'Nightmare' | Wired ... - 0 views

  • “We have a very serious problem, and we need to sound an alarm.”
  • Healthcare institutions in 42 states have now identified at least one case of CRE. The occurrence of this resistance in the overall family of bacteria has risen at least four-fold over 10 years. In the CDC’s surveillance networks, 4.6 percent of hospitals and 17.8 percent of long-term care facilities diagnosed this bug in the first half of 2012.
  • CRE stands for “carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.” Enterobacteriaceae are a family of more than 70 bacteria which share the characteristic of being gut-dwelling (“entero”)
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • the CDC reviewed six steps that they first published last year in a CRE Toolkit and want health care facilities to take:
  • But an important point is that none of this is required, and none of this is funded.
  • There are no reimbursements, under Medicare, for infection-control as a hospital task
  •  
    This article does a good job summarizing this week's announcement by the CDC director on the gravity of the CRE problem.
Katelyn Madigan

First documented case of child cured of HIV - 0 views

  • i diagnosed with HIV at birth and immediately put on antiretroviral therapy.
  • brought back into care at 23 months, despite being off treatment for five months, the child was found to have an undetectable viral load
  • d today no signs of HIV infection in the child can be detected by the most sensitive means available.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • physician was able to treat his leukemia with a stem-cell transplant from a person who was born with a genetic mutation causing immunity to HIV infection. Following the transplant, Mr. Brown was able to stop HIV treatment without experiencing a return of his HIV disease
  • achieved by antiretroviral therapy alone
Richard Herron

Child born with HIV cured by US doctors | Society | The Guardian - 0 views

  • Doctors in the US have made medical history by effectively curing a child born with HIV, the first time such a case has been documented.
  • Dr Hannah Gay, who cared for the child at the University of Mississippi medical centre, told the Guardian the case amounted to the first "functional cure" of an HIV-infected child.
  • but it is likely that a tiny amount remains in their body.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • ypically, women with HIV are given antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy to minimise the amount of virus in their blood. Their newborns go on courses of drugs too, to reduce their risk of infection further. The strategy can stop around 98% of HIV transmission from mother to child.
    • Richard Herron
       
      I had no idea modern medicine was this effective against transmission from mother to child.
  • "It is far too early for anyone to try stopping effective therapy just to see if the virus comes back," she said.
Whitney Hopfauf

First documented case of child cured of HIV - 0 views

  •  
    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. 
Richard Herron

Viruses Can Have Immune System, Study Finds | Biology | Sci-News.com - 1 views

  • A new research led by Dr Kimberley Seed from the Tufts University School of Medicine provides the first evidence that bacteriophages – viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria – can acquire a wholly functional and adaptive immune system.
  • The study, published today in the journal Nature, finds that a viral predator of the cholera bacteria can steal the functional immune system of bacteria and use it against its bacterial host.
  • Developing phage therapy is particularly important because some bacteria, called superbugs, are resistant to most or all current antibiotics.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • This study focused on a phage that attacks Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium responsible for cholera epidemics in humans.
  • Finding a CRISPR/Cas system in a phage shows that there is gene flow between the phage and bacteria even for something as large and complex as the genes for an adaptive immune system,”
Charles Bach

BACTERIOPTICA CHANDELIER - 1 views

  •  
    This is really sweet. Applying microbiology to home design and efficiency. This chandelier is run completely off bacteria. There is not an on/off switch but you can configure the light to different a brightness by changing the bacteria in the petri dishes or changing the dish size.
Charles Bach

Living Furniture! - 1 views

  •  
    Using algae and cyanobacteria to make homes for efficient. Pretty sweet!!!
Katelyn Madigan

Superbugs may have a soft spot, after all - 1 views

  • identified a weakness in at least one superbug that scientists may be able to medically exploit
  • discovered that two proteins already present in E. coli cells -- RbfA and KsgA -- need to be in balance with each other in order for ribosomes to function
  • RbfA does not exist in humans
Casey Finnerty

A DNA Lesson, From the Expert's Pen - NYTimes.com - 1 views

  • The final piece in solving the puzzle of DNA was achieved on the morning of Feb. 28, 60 years ago this week, when Dr. Watson saw how the bases of DNA paired up.
Elijah Velasquez

These psychedelic animal specimens are unlike anything you've ever seen - 1 views

  •  
    This has little to do with microbiology but this staining technique is much more badass than Gram staining.
« First ‹ Previous 601 - 620 Next › Last »
Showing 20 items per page