E. coli News and Research

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E. coli or Escherichia coli is the name of a type of bacteria that lives in your intestines. Most types of E. coli are harmless. However, some types can make you sick and cause diarrhea. One type causes travelers' diarrhea. The worst type of E. coli causes bloody diarrhea, and can sometimes cause kidney failure and even death. These problems are most likely to occur in children and in adults with weak immune systems. You can get E. coli infections by eating foods containing the bacteria. To help avoid food poisoning and prevent infection, handle food safely. Cook meat well, wash fruits and vegetables before eating or cooking them, and avoid unpasteurized milk and juices. You can also get the infection by swallowing water in a swimming pool contaminated with human waste. Most cases of E. coli infection get better without treatment in 5 to 10 days.

Mechanical stress can interrupt bacteria’s ability to survive toxin exposure

A random conversation between two Cornell researchers at a child's birthday party led to a collaboration and new understanding of how bacteria resist toxins, which may lead to new tools in the fight against harmful infections.

5 Dec 2019

Manuka honey fights infection in surgical dressings

And now, Manuka honey is proving a gamechanger in the fight against extremely drug-resistant infections, according to a new study published in the journal Frontiers.

5 Dec 2019

New study could help prevent fatal infections in babies

Premature infants born before 28-30 weeks of life are at high risk for many complications, among which the chances of dying from an infection starting in the intestine are very great. A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine reports that such infections are very much more likely if something interferes with the normal microbial accumulation in the gut. Adding certain bacterial strains protects against such infections, on the other hand.

3 Dec 2019

Vast majority of in-use make-up products are contaminated with deadly superbugs

The vast majority of in-use make-up products such as beauty blenders, mascara and lip gloss are contaminated with potentially life threatening superbugs, new research from Aston University published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology has revealed.

3 Dec 2019

New model for late-onset sepsis explores potential treatments for neonatal infection

Extremely premature infants are at risk for life-threatening infections that spread into their bodies from the intestine. Infections after the first three days of life are called late-onset sepsis, or LOS.

3 Dec 2019

Unexpected versatility of an ancient DNA repair factor revealed

If a bone breaks or a tendon snaps, you know to seek treatment immediately. But your most fragile and precious cellular commodity, chromosomal DNA, breaks with astounding frequency- some estimate as many as 10,000 times a day per cell- usually without consequence.

2 Dec 2019

New study uncovers multiple effects of little-known DNA repair protein

Injury and repair are part of the normal life cycle of any tissue or organ in the human body. However, if macroscopic tears or breaks occur in the bones or joints, for instance, the effects are immediately perceptible. Not so with chromosomes, which contain the DNA of life. Both extremely valuable and extremely fragile, DNA is the focus of highly efficient repair proteins.

2 Dec 2019

Scientists record assembly of ribosomes in real time

A team of scientists from Scripps Research and Stanford University has recorded in real time a key step in the assembly of ribosomes--the complex and evolutionarily ancient "molecular machines" that make proteins in cells and are essential for all life forms.

22 Nov 2019

Researchers discover new active substance effective against gram negative bacteria

More and more bacterial pathogens of infectious diseases become resistant to customary antibiotics. Typical hospital germs such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae have become resistant to the most - and in some cases even all - currently available antibiotics. Their additional external membrane makes these bacteria difficult to attack.

21 Nov 2019

Researchers design new antitumoral drug release strategy for breast cancer treatment

The local release of antitumoral drugs through bacterial proteins in the treatment of breast cancer can mark a before and after in precision medicine.

21 Nov 2019

Researchers turn to older treatment methods for new health challenges

The last thing anyone wants during a stay in the hospital is a hospital-acquired infection. Nosocomial infections, as they are called, are on the rise as more pathogens become resistant to drugs currently available.

21 Nov 2019

ETVAX vaccine candidate shows promise against enterotoxigenic E. coli diarrhea

University of Gothenburg reports first successful results of the oral, inactivated vaccine candidate ETVAX against enterotoxigenic E. coli diarrhea in a placebo-controlled phase I/II study in infants and children from 6 months to 5 years of age in Bangladesh.

20 Nov 2019

New database helps identify therapeutic targets to fight infectious diseases

Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms capable of entering, colonizing and growing within a host organism, thus producing an infection. Bacterial infections have been on the rise worldwide in recent years, but many mechanisms underlying bacterial pathogenesis are still poorly understood.

19 Nov 2019

Researchers decode molecular structure of cytochrome bd oxidase from E. coli

Both humans and many other creatures need oxygen for survival. In the conversion of nutrients into energy, the oxygen is converted to water, for which the enzyme oxidase is responsible. It represents the last step of the so-called respiratory chain.

14 Nov 2019

Research shows how bacteria associated with Crohn's disease tolerate antibiotics

Bacteria associated with Crohn's disease rely on multiple stress responses to survive, multiply, and tolerate antibiotics within white blood cells called macrophages, according to a study published November 14 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Olivier Espéli of the College de France and PSL Research University in Paris, France, and colleagues.

14 Nov 2019

Short-term increases in sugar consumption could raise risk of inflammatory bowel disease

Short-term increases in sugar consumption could increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease and have a significant impact on our health, a new study out of the University of Alberta suggests.

14 Nov 2019

Bacteriophages could treat E. coli without damaging the gut, new study says

Researchers in the US have developed a new therapy that uses a unique bacteriophage to treat E. coli infections.

13 Nov 2019

Study could open new avenues for antibacterial treatments

Scientists have revealed how common respiratory bugs that cause serious infections in people with cystic fibrosis interact together, according to a new study in eLife.

12 Nov 2019

Compound that may help delay onset of Alzheimer’s can be produced in baker’s yeast

Scientists prove that ergothioneine, an important compound that may be used to delay the onset of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, can be produced in baker’s yeast.

11 Nov 2019

Penn researchers tag CAR T cells with imaging markers to monitor cancer therapy

With CAR T cell therapy, a patient's own immune cells are genetically modified and inserted back into the body to find and kill cancer. This form of immunotherapy has already revolutionized some cancer treatments, but once the CAR T cells are inside a patient, where do they go? How do doctors know that they have successfully reached their target and that they are continuing to fight disease weeks, months, or even years later?

5 Nov 2019