Study: Deadly stomach bug more common than thought

news.yahoo.com — A nasty, sometimes deadly stomach bug is at least six times more common than was thought, researchers said Tuesday, based on a survey of hundreds of U.S. hospitals. The germ, Clostridium difficile, is resistant to some antibiotics and has become a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes. Doctors say it plays a role in hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations each year, and that number has been growing. The latest study estimates that more than 7,100 hospital patients are infected with it on any given day. That number is between 6.5 and 20 times greater than previous estimates, according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Researchers from that group presented their findings Tuesday at a medical conference in Orlando. read more...

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Faecal bacteria join the commute

medindia.net — More than one in four commuters has bacteria from faeces on their hands, an investigation suggests. Scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine swabbed 409 people at bus and train stations in five major cities in England and Wales. The further north they went, the more often they found commuters with faecal bacteria on their hands - men in Newcastle were the worst offenders. read more...

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WHO: Recalculation cuts malaria cases by half

news.yahoo.com — The World Health Organization halved its estimate of the number of people who get malaria each year, saying Thursday that better measurement techniques had cut the number from 500 million people to 247 million. The U.N. agency, which issued the revised figure in its World Malaria Report 2008, said the new estimate is based on better data for countries outside Africa. WHO left unchanged the figure of malaria deaths. An estimated 881,000 people were killed by malaria in 2006 — most of them were children under 5, the report said. read more...

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Bird flu hopes from 1918 victims

medindia.net — Survivors of the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic are still protected from the virus, according to researchers in the US. American scientists found that people who lived through the outbreak can still produce antibodies that kill the deadly strain of the H1N1 flu. read more...

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Researchers Find Genes That Influence West Nile Virus

health.yahoo.com — Researchers have zeroed in on more than 300 human genes that appear to impact West Nile virus infection of human cells. Finding ways to interfere with how these genes work may provide ways to treat or even prevent infection. "The point of the article was to determine what human genes are critical to or influence West Nile Virus infection," said Dr. Erol Fikrig, senior author of a paper in the current issue of Nature. "This indicates possible pathways for therapy." The findings have significance not only for West Nile virus, but also for the whole family of flaviviruses, which include dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis and others. "They're interested in identifying the genetic factors that regulate susceptibility to infection with a certain class of viruses, and among those viruses are some which are of public health importance," said Philip Alcabes, an associate professor of public health at the School of Health Sciences at Hunter College, City University of New York. "In theory, if you could identify the genetic factors that make cells susceptible to infection, you could do something about that to make people less susceptible." read more...

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Floodwaters breed hidden health dangers

msnbc.msn.com — Now that the waters are beginning to recede after this month’s devastating floods in the Midwest, state and federal officials are warning of a widespread secondary risk from dangerous bacteria and disease-bearing mosquitoes. Officials of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health officials across the Midwest said they expected this season’s mosquito population to be especially big, nurtured by hot summer temperatures and large pools of standing water that make an ideal breeding ground. “We know we have mosquitoes right now in the state that are testing positive for the West Nile virus,” Indiana State Health Commissioner Judy Monroe said. read more...

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