Got food poisoning? The cause might be bacterial spores, en extremely hardy survival form of bacteria, a nightmare for health care and the food industry and an enigma for scientists. Spore-forming bacteria, present almost everywhere in our environment, can also cause serious infectious diseases, such as tetanus, anthrax, and botulism. Now researchers from Lund University [...]

Preparing for this flu season, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) PSAB Committee on Laboratory Practices has recently published a new interim algorithm providing guidance to clinical laboratories responsible for testing patients with respiratory illness for Influenza A, including H1N1. The document provides a detailed flowchart that guides microbiologists and physicians through patient assessment and [...]

New wireless keyboards for use with hospital patient entertainment and point-of-care terminals are hygienic, monitoring their own disinfect status to give reminders when sterilisation is due.
Keyboards can harbour strains of harmful bacteria such as MRSA and E coli and pose a significant cross-contamination risk as they can be easily passed from user to user. JAOtech’s [...]

A review by researchers at Northwestern University (Chicago, IL) and University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) of the utility of probiotics in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) found that Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 was the only probiotic strain out of 13 different individual strains or preparations reviewed to significantly improve symptoms of IBS, including [...]

Infection by Eschericia.coli O157:H7 from undercooked cattle meat proves deadly to about 60 people in the U.S. each year. While testing is available to detect the presence of the bacterium in raw meat, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison would prefer to address the problem before the meat is sent to market.