TB & Outbreaks Week articles from August 2003

TB & Outbreaks Week archives from August 2003

Anti-TNF antibody reduces ceftriaxone efficacy against pneumococcal pneumonia.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Anti-TNF antibodies should not be used to treat patients with pneumococcal pneumonia, researchers in Europe warn. "Treatments aimed at inhibition of tumor...

Novel PCR assay effective for determining plasmodial chloroquine resistance.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A novel polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay enables accurate assessments of chloroquine resistance in malaria parasites, researchers in France report. ...

Verocytotoxin-producing E. coli O157 varies in beef suckler cows.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Several factors, including presence of wild geese during raising, may affect the degree of E. coli 0157 in beef. According to published research from Scotland, "A study was designed to investigate...

Distinguishing features of MAC, tuberculosis infection identified.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists in Japan have identified distinguishing features of MAC and tuberculosis infection. "To clarify the clinical features of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAC)...

Transmission patterns of SARS in Hong Kong elucidated.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The transmission patterns of SARS in Hong Kong have been characterized. Researchers in England presented "an analysis of the first 10 weeks of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic...

Certain leukocyte IgG receptors affect immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Certain leukocyte IgG receptors affect vaccine-induced immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae. According to a study from the Netherlands and Iceland, "Members of the leukocyte immunoglobulin (Ig) G...

Mechanisms of oxazolidinone activity elucidated.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The mechanisms of oxazolidinone activity have been elucidated. "Oxazolidinone antibiotics, an important new class of synthetic antibacterials, inhibit protein synthesis by interfering with...

Novel model describes release of antimicrobial agents from food packaging films.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel system can be used to characterize antibiotic release from food packaging films. "A mathematical model able to describe the release kinetics of antimicrobial agents from crosslinked...

Helicobacter pylori disease may be exacerbated by in vivo cell invasion.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Helicobacter pylori is found to be readily invasive in cell culture, but there is scant evidence for invasion coming from clinical samples so far. "In this review we evaluate the pros and cons of...

Beta-lactamase export does not depend on signal recognition particle.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bacterial beta-lactamase export does not depend on signal recognition particles. According to recent research from Germany, "in Escherichia coli, three different types of proteins engage the SecY...

Happy people may have more immunity to common cold.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- People who are energetic, happy and relaxed are less likely to catch colds, while those who are depressed, nervous or angry are more likely to complain about cold symptoms, whether or not they get...

Possible bacterial cause found.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The bacterium Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis may be the cause of Crohn disease, say researchers from St. George's Hospital Medical School in London and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology...

BPI-ANCA in sera are responsible for lower resistance to P. aeruginosa.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies appear to be directly responsible for lowering cystic fibrosis patient's ability to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to a study from Czech Republic,...

Antimicrobial testing method results differ greatly when testing bonding agents.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two methods commonly used for determining antimicrobial properties of substances were found to have different results when testing tooth bonding agent activity against cariogenic bacteria. ...

Satellites will join search for source of virus.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Microscopes are not the only tools available to study disease. A new European Space Agency (ESA) project employs satellites to predict and help combat epidemic outbreaks, as well as join the hunt for...

Dengue virus strain patterns in Venezuela characterized.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The epidemiology of recent dengue virus epidemics in Venezuela has been characterized. "During the past 40 years, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) have emerged in humans,...

WHO report documents worsening global TB/HIV crisis.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The World Health Organization has called for free anti-TB drugs (ATDs) and quality care to be made widely available to people living with HIV, along with renewed efforts to increase access to...

Fresh enteroinvasive isolates are best recovered from xylose-lysine-deoxycholate.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The best recovery of enteroinvasive Escherichia coli from fecal samples is from the use of xylose-lysine-deoxycholate agar, in combination with MacConkey or eosine-methylene blue. "MacConkey,...

Drug-resistant staphylococci found in Italian dry fermented sausages.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Drug-resistant staphylococci have been isolated from several types of Italian sausage. "The transfer of bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobial agents or resistance genes from animals to humans...

Distribution of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotypes varies.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotype C is more likely to be found with Porphyromonas gingivalis in subgingival pockets of normal Japanese adults. According to recent research from Japan,...

Novel bean-derived protein has potent antiretroviral and antifungal activity.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel bean-derived protein has potent antiretroviral and antifungal activity. According to a study from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, "a protein with an N-terminal sequence displaying...

RdxA mutation is not a good marker for determining metronidazole resistance.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Relatively few metronidazole resistant Helicobacter pylori have rdxA mutations; it is not a good marker for resistance, nor degree of resistance. "Metronidazole (Mtz) resistance in the gastric...

Transient apoptosis of lymphocytes following infection may be homeostatic.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the rhesus macaque model, Helicobacter pylori infection is followed by transient apoptosis of gastric lymphocytes that may be part of normal homeostastis after T cell activation. "In vitro...

Two vacA genotypes are related to ulcers and gastroesophageal reflux.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Helicobacter pylori with genotype vacA s2 is related to gastroesophageal reflux, more virulent vacA s1 is associated with peptic ulcer disease. According to a study from Brazil, "Infection with...

Osteoarticular tuberculosis seen in elderly patient after dynamic hip screw osteosynthesis.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tuberculosis infection may be a risk for hip surgery patients. Scientists in Morocco described "the case of a 72-year-old woman who developed osteoarticular tuberculosis after dynamic hip screw...

FDA approves Infanrix fifth dose indication.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that its combination vaccine, Infanrix (Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Adsorbed), received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

Bartonella strains and Yersinia pestis found in prairie dogs.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Novel Bartonella strains and Yersinia pestis were found in prairie dogs and their fleas by researchers using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. According to recent research from the United States,...

Fighting AIDS, TB, malaria top priority, Annan tells officials gathered in France.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Turning the tide on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is a priority second to none, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to government ministers gathered in Paris for an...

Head lice may act as Rickettsia prowazekii vectors.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Head lice may be involved in the spread of epidemic typhus. "Since the pioneering work of Charles Nicolle in 1909 [see Gross (1996) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:10539-10540], most medical officers and...

Sleeping sickness re-emerging in sub-Saharan Africa.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Once thought to be well-controlled, sleeping sickness has returned to Africa with a vengeance. "Devastating epidemics of human African trypanosomiasis are currently re-emerging in many sub-Saharan...

Vaccine makers settle with drug recipients.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The maker of the discontinued Lymerix Lyme disease vaccine has agreed to settle class-action lawsuits alleging that it could cause an arthritic condition in some people, but those who received the...

Cysteine proteinase gene Llacys1 is similar to genes in other Leishmania.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The cysteine proteinase gene Llacys1 of L. amazoniensis is similar to genes in other Leishmania. A study from Brazil "describes the cloning and characterization of a gene encoding a cysteine...

Different Borrelia species may be responsible for clinical symptoms.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Different Borrelia species may be responsible for different clinical forms of the disease. "Of the 10 different species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato which have been characterized to date, only...

Gram-negative bacteria activate toll-like receptor TLR4, production of IL-12.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Macrophages produce IL-12 p70 specifically as a response to Gram-negative over Gram-positive bacteria, and detection of this product may help in diagnostics. "Purified components from bacteria...

Immtech completes Plasmodium vivax patient enrollment in clinical trial.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immtech International, Inc., (IMMT) has successfully enrolled malaria-afflicted patients in a phase IIa human clinical trial with Immtech's oral drug DB289. The clinical trial is designed to test...

Novel plasmodial rhoptry protein identified.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel plasmodial rhoptry protein has been identified. "Rhoptries are apical organelles which play an important role in erythrocytic invasion," scientists in the United States explained. In a...

GIS-based information system may aid malaria control in India.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Geographical Information System (GIS) may aid malaria control in endemic areas. "A GIS-based information management system has been developed to help Urban Malaria Control in India," scientists...

Carbon-centered free radicals may play role in artemether activity.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Carbon-centered free radicals may play a role in artemether activity. In a recent study, W.M. Mu and coauthors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai found that the "reaction of the...

Novel isoquinolones show promise.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A series of novel isoquinolone derivatives show promise for the treatment of malaria. In a recent study from India, "1,4,7-trisubstituted isoquinolines were designed, synthesized and evaluated for...

Helicobacter pylori can colonize gastric mucosa, doesn't worsen pathology.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Heterotopic gastric mucosa can be colonized with Helicobacter pylori, but infection does not appear to worsen Meckel diverticulum. A study from Israel's "purpose was to evaluate the role of...

Green tea catechins have anti-tyrosine phosphatase activity from Prevotella.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Green tea catechins have activity against protein tyrosine phosphatases in Prevotella species, but not Poryphyromonas gingivalis. According to a study from Japan, "Members of the Prevotella...

Bowel inflammation from radiotherapy may produce clostridial myonecrosis.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bowel inflammation due to radiotherapy is enough to produce remote clostridial myonecrosis and death. According to a study from the United States, "Clostridial myonecrosis (CM) is a rare, life...

Coronavirus confirmed as causative agent.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Leading scientists worldwide investigating the cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) confirm that a novel coronavirus is the primary cause of the disease. SARS was first reported in...

Critical illness is common among patients.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Patients with SARS often experience critical illness primarily involving severe respiratory failure, according to a new study. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly recognized illness...

Outbreaks could very well return this autumn, leading experts predict.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- SARS could return this autumn, predict some leading public health experts, but it is unlikely to be on the scale of an epidemic. An international panel of nine experts were asked by the editors of...

Collaborative grant to Rutgers and Georgia for research.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) has announced a cooperative research antiterrorism grant of $100,000 to a team of scientists from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and the former Soviet...

Officials fear high Native American STD rates leave door open for HIV.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- High rates of reported sexually transmitted diseases in South Dakota's American Indian population have health administrators worried about the potential for a large HIV outbreak if the disease is...

Study tests vaccine bandages.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As questions continue to swirl around President Bush's national smallpox vaccination plan, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a new smallpox bandage trial that will help answer questions...

Dedicated surgical cohort facility dramatically improves MRSA control.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Surgical facilities dedicated to staphylococcal control can dramatically reduce the infection risk for patients. Researchers in France conducted a retrospective study "to determine whether or not a...

Aspirin could reduce the risk of deadly infections.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Adding to the long list of the benefits of aspirin, researchers have found that it is responsible for reducing toxic bacteria associated with serious infections. A study led by Dartmouth Medical...

Ganciclovir can prevent post-transplant adenovirus infections.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The antiviral agent ganciclovir can prevent adenovirus (ADV) infections in stem cell transplant recipients. ADVs "are emerging as important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing...

MxA protein can be used to distinguish viral infection from GVHD.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Japan have identified a way to distinguish viral infections from graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in stem cell transplant recipients. "Many...

Oral streptococci can be classified into 6 distinct groups by 2-D gel.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two dimensional gel elecrophoresis followed by glycosyltransferase activity stain allows for classification of oral streptococci into 6 distinct groups. According to recent research from Japan,...

Improved test design may still yield appropriate immunotherapy for sepsis.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Better test design may yield better answers for what immunomodulatory therapy may improve sepsis and lower risk. According to a study from the United States, "Despite decades of research, the...

Young children main priority for prevention.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Targeting antibiotics at young children and improving hygiene are key to eradicating a potentially blinding bacterial infection that affects around 150 million people worldwide, according to a new...

Cigarette smoking does not significantly affect on tuberculin skin test results.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cigarette smoking does not have a significant effect the results of the tuberculin skin test. The "tuberculin test (purified protein derivative) is currently accepted as a standard investigation...

PCR assay provides fast, simple, and accurate tuberculosis diagnosis in HIV-negative patients.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A PCR assay provides fast, simple and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis in HIV-negative patients. "Tuberculosis is still one of the most important cause of mortality and morbidity in many...

Mutations in NRAMP1 gene not linked to tuberculosis risk in Moroccans.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mutations in the NRAMP1 gene do not appear to influence tuberculosis risk in Moroccans. "It has been well established that the host genetic background is an important modulator of tuberculosis...

Laparoscopy effective for drainage of peripancreatic tuberculous abscess.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Laparoscopy is effective for drainage of tuberculous abscesses in the pancreatic region. According to published research from India, "a 28-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain, anorexia,...

Company focuses on host immune response, not the virus.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GenoMed, Inc., (MED), a St. Louis, Missouri-based company, reaffirmed its approach to deadly viruses such as SARS, West Nile virus, and HIV. Dr. David Moskowitz, GenoMed's chairman and chief medical...

Novel equation may aid Cryptosporidium control.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel equation may aid control of Cryptosporidium parvum in water supplies. C. parvum, "a protozoan parasite, has been implicated in a number of waterborne disease outbreaks and is difficult to...

Viral genomes in mineral water may not cause infections in humans.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Viral genomes found in mineral water may not indicate risk of humans contracting infectious viruses, say French researchers. In the study, behavior patterns of poliovirus 1, norovirus and feline...

Anti-West Nile virus IgM detected in chicken serum.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Anti-West Nile virus IgM was detected in chicken serum by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. "The emergence of West Nile (WN) virus in New York and the surrounding area in 1999 prompted an...

Antisense drug for West Nile manufactured for clinical trials.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avi BioPharma, Inc., (AVII) announced that it has completed manufacturing of several lots of its West Nile virus Neugene antisense drug, Avi-4020, at its new manufacturing facility in Corvallis, Oregon....

FDA grants clearance to diagnostic test for West Nile Virus.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Panbio received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for a diagnostic kit to test patients with suspected symptoms of the potentially fatal West Nile virus (WNV) disease. Panbio's...

Infection can cause serious neurological effects for some.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Infection with West Nile virus can cause short- and long-term neurologic effects, including headaches, memory loss, movement disorders and polio-like paralysis, in a small percentage of patients,...

Quality control system selected for Procleix clinical trials.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- AcroMetrix announced that their investigational West Nile Virus (WNV) RNA External Quality Controls were selected for use in clinical trials designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new...

The 2002 season in U.S.A. brought new diagnostic and treatment information.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Advances in diagnosis and treatment of West Nile virus include and IgM immunoassay and some antiviral agents. "West Nile fever has now spread to much of the United States. This disease can be...

Candida versatilitis fungemia outbreak reported in microbiology lab.
August 5, 2003... 2003 AUG 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Candida versatilitis fungemia pseudo-outbreak was reported in a microbiology laboratory. "Candida versatilitis was isolated from 10 blood cultures that had been supplemented with olive oil to...

Novel PBMC-based tuberculosis immunoassay fast, accurate.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A novel blood test enables fast and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis infection, researchers say. Rubhana Raqib and colleagues at the International Centre...

Interleukin-8 gene mutations affect tuberculosis susceptibility.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Mutations in the gene coding for the cytokine interleukin (IL)-8 have a significant effect on susceptibility to tuberculosis infection, researchers in the...

High HTLV-1 rate confirmed in blood donors from Iranian city.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Blood donors from the Iranian city of Mashhad have a high rate of HTLV-1 infection. "The city of Mashhad is the capital of Khorasan, the northeastern province of Iran, which has been recognized as...

Novel acylides active against Gram-positive and -negative pathogens.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel group of acylides are active against a wide variety of pathogens. In a recent study from Japan, a "series of acylides, 3-O-(aryl)acetylerythromycin A derivatives, were synthesized and...

Monoclonal antibody typing useful for identifying genotypic subgroups.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Monoclonal antibody (MAb)-based typing is useful for identifying genotypic subgroups of the pathogen responsible for Legionnaires disease. "An outbreak of 18 pneumonia cases caused by Legionella...

Interferon gamma levels in whole blood can help determine tuberculosis severity.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel blood test can be used to diagnose tuberculosis and determine disease severity. Scientists in Japan conducted a study "to determine whether whole-blood interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)...

Detrick vaccine tested.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Work done at the U.S. Army's research institute at Fort Detrick, Maryland, has led to several clinical trials across the country for a possible new anthrax vaccine. The new vaccine would require...

Listerial invasiveness occurs due to listeriolysin O mediated calcium influx.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The mechanism of invasion of pathogenic Listeria is controlled by listeriolysin O mediated, extracellular calcium influx into Hep-2 epithelial cell. A study from France investigates "factors which...

Southern chamois in Spain have antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Southern chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) in Spain have antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi. "Ungulates are involved in the epidemiology of Borreliosis as maintenance hosts for vector tick species,"...

Interferometry can be used to determine bacterial drug susceptibility.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Interferometry can be used to identify drug-resistant strains of bacterial pathogens. In a recent study, scientists in Brazil found that "bacterial activity, even of slowly growing species, can be...

Cytolethal distending toxin exists in genome or even as a cosmid in many strains.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cytolethal distending toxin exists in the genome or in a cosmid of many enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, and may have a phage origin. According to a study from Germany, "We identified a...

IroBCDEN cluster found on a transmissible plasmid may prove horizontal transfer.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An iroBCDEN gene cluster found on a transmissible plasmid in uropathogenic E. coli appears to be in a pathogenicity island on other E. coli and Salmonella enterica chromosomes, showing evidence of...

Urological virulence appears to be associated with FimH A27V mutation.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Urological virulence in Escherichia coli B2 isolates appears to be associated with FimH A27V mutation. "Correlations between FimH mutations and virulence were established by studying a collection...

Novel E. coli locus useful for pathogenic strain identification.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel E. coli gene locus can be used to identify pathogenic strains of this microorganism. According to a study from Japan, "the ability of the complete genome sequence of enterohemorrhagic...

Unstable GFP variants useful for study of transient mycobacterial gene expression.
August 12, 2003... 2003 AUG 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Highly unstable versions of green fluorescent protein (GFP) can be useful for the study of transient mycobacterial gene expression. Unstable GFP variants, "tagged with C-terminal extensions, which...