Personal Health

Five People Have Contracted Flesh-Eating Bacteria from the Long Island Sound—Here's What to Know About About the Rare Infection

Public health officials in Connecticut are warning residents about the risk of swimming or wading in the Long Island Sound after an “unusual number” of people became infected with flesh-eating bacteria from the water. Since July, there have been five reported cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections caused by bacteria in the water, according to a […]

Health News

Could Legionnaires’ bacteria lurk in idled buildings?

Many businesses are closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and some building managers have shut off water and air conditioning to conserve resources. Unfortunately, warmth and lack of clean water flow can contribute to the growth of potentially dangerous microbes, including the bacteria that contribute to Legionnaires’ disease. Illinois Sustainable Technology Center chemist […]

Health Problems

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria

Lyme disease is caused by four main species of bacteria. Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii cause Lyme disease in the United States, while Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii are the leading causes in Europe and Asia. The most common tick-borne illness in these regions, Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of an infected black-legged […]

Health News

Newborn immune system detects harmful skin bacteria

The immune system must learn from early in life to tolerate bacteria that normally populate healthy skin, while still defending against more dangerous “bugs,” but how immune cells make this distinction has long been a mystery. In a study of young mice, UC San Francisco scientists found that an early-life window of immune tolerance available […]

Health News

Immune system targets vitamin B12 pathway to neutralize bacteria

Close to 1.8 billion people worldwide are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the common and occasionally deadly bacterium that causes millions of cases of tuberculosis each year. The bacteria, having coevolved with humans over millennia, have devised ways of hijacking nutrients from its human host for its own benefit. Humans have equally complex ways of […]