Infection
hideAn infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host's resources to multiply, usually at the expense of the host. The infecting organism, or pathogen, interferes with the normal functioning of the host and can lead to chronic wounds, gangrene, loss of an infected limb, and even death. The host's response to infection is inflammation. Colloquially, a pathogen is usually considered a microscopic organism though the definition is broader, including parasites, fungi, viruses, prions, and viroids. A symbiosis between parasite and host, whereby the relationship is beneficial for the former but detrimental to the latter, is characterised as parasitism. The branch of medicine that focuses on infections and pathogens is infectious disease. "When infection attacks the body, anti-infective drugs can help turn the tide of battle. Four types of anti-infective drugs exist: antibacterial, antiviral, antitubercular, and antifungal. A secondary infection is an infection that occurs during or following treatment of another already existing primary infection.
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News tagged with infection
Shape of things to come: Structure of HIV coat could lead to new drugs
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Structural biologists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have described the architecture of the complex of protein units that make up the coat surrounding the HIV genome and identified in it a "seam" of functional ...
CDC now says 4,000 swine flu deaths in US
Nov 11, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Federal health officials now say that 4,000 or more Americans likely have died from swine flu - about four times the estimate they've been using.
Exposure to several common infections over time may be associated with risk of stroke
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Cumulative exposure to five common infection-causing pathogens may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the January 2010 print issue of Archives of ...
FDA-approved drugs eliminate, prevent cervical cancer in mice
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health have eliminated cervical cancer in mice with two FDA-approved drugs currently used to treat breast cancer and osteoporosis.
Scientists explain binding action of 2 key HIV antibodies; could lead to new vaccine design
Nov 09, 2009 |
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A very close and detailed study of how the most robust antibodies work to block the HIV virus as it seeks entry into healthy cells has revealed a new direction for researchers hoping to design an effective vaccine.
Possible help in fight against muscle-wasting disease (w/ Video)
Nov 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A compound already used to treat pneumonia could become a new therapy for an inherited muscular wasting disease, according to researchers at the University of Oregon and the University of ...
Pathogen protection and virulence: Dark side of fungal membrane protein revealed
Nov 06, 2009 |
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Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields ...
Report on H1N1 cases in California shows hospitalization can occur at all ages, with many severe
Nov 03, 2009 |
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In contrast with some common perceptions regarding 2009 influenza A(H1N1) infections, an examination of cases in California indicates that hospitalization and death can occur at all ages, and about 30 percent of hospitalized ...
Digital 'plaster' for monitoring vital signs undergoes first clinical trials
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 02, 2009 |
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A wireless digital 'plaster' that can monitor vital signs continuously and remotely is being tried out with patients and healthy volunteers at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, in a new clinical trial ...
Bacteria 'launch a shield' to resist attack
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Bacteria that cause chronic lung infections can communicate with each other to form a deadly shield against the body's natural defenses. Studying these interactions could lead to new ways of treating bacteria that are resistant ...
MRSA strain linked to high death rates
Nov 01, 2009 |
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A strain of MRSA that causes bloodstream infections is five times more lethal than other strains and has shown to have some resistance to the potent antibiotic drug vancomycin used to treat MRSA, according to a Henry Ford ...
Donor race may impact kidney transplant survival
Oct 30, 2009 |
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The race of kidney donors may affect the survival rates of transplant recipients according to a study by Henry Ford Hospital.
Some health products paring back on claims they boost the immune system
Oct 30, 2009 |
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Airborne, the popular dietary supplement created by a germ-averse schoolteacher, no longer boasts that it can prevent your cold or ease the aggravating symptoms. Instead, the packaging says the effervescent pill helps "support ...
Breakthrough in fight against Hendra virus
Oct 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- There has been a breakthrough in the fight against the deadly Hendra virus following the development of a treatment which shows great potential to save the lives of people who become infected ...
Study: Cholesterol drugs may improve flu survival
Medicine & Health / Medications
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A new treatment for swine flu may already be on pharmacy shelves - cholesterol-lowering statin drugs like Lipitor and Zocor.
