Related topics: bacteria , immune cells , hiv , immune response , immune system
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
Daily bathroom showers may deliver face full of pathogens, says study
Sep 14, 2009 |
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While daily bathroom showers provide invigorating relief and a good cleansing for millions of Americans, they also can deliver a face full of potentially pathogenic bacteria, according to a surprising new ...
Aspirin misuse may have made 1918 flu pandemic worse
Oct 02, 2009 |
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The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Di ...
Was mighty T.rex 'Sue' felled by a lowly parasite?
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When pondering the demise of a famous dinosaur such as 'Sue,' the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex whose fossilized remains are a star attraction of the Field Museum in Chicago, it is hard to avo ...
Plant disease hits eastern US veggies early, hard
Jul 03, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Tomato plants have been removed from stores in half a dozen states as a destructive and infectious plant disease makes its earliest and most widespread appearance ever in the eastern United States.
The hepatitis healing power of blueberry leaves
Aug 07, 2009 |
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A chemical found in blueberry leaves has shown a strong effect in blocking the replication of the Hepatitis C virus, opening up a new avenue for treating chronic HCV infections, which affect 200 million people worldwide and ...
Researchers discover a new antibacterial lead
Sep 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Antibiotic resistance has been a significant problem for hospitals and health-care facilities for more than a decade. But despite the need for new treatment options, there have been only two ...
Who gets the antibiotics?
Sep 20, 2009 |
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At Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, a medical resident and avid bike rider in his late 20s noticed a nasty red swelling in his groin. A day and a half later, it had grown as big as a lime.
Yeast missing sex genes undergo unexpected sexual reproduction
May 24, 2009 |
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An emerging form of the pathogenic yeast Candida is able to complete a full sexual cycle in a test tube, even though it's missing the genes for reproduction. And it may also do so while infecting us, according to Duke Univer ...
Man dies from plague in China, 11 others infected
Aug 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Thousands of people have been placed under quarantine in a town in northwest China after a man died of pneumonic plague and 11 others were confirmed infected with the deadly lung infection, health authorities said.
Rapid DNA Detection Quickly Diagnoses Infections
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new portable device can detect bacteria and help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. This new tool takes from 15 minutes to 2 hours to diagnose a patient for infectious diseases and ...
Natural born killers -- how the body's frontline immune cells decide which cells to destroy
Jul 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The mechanism used by 'Natural Killer' immune cells in the human body to distinguish between diseased cells, which they are meant to destroy, and normal cells, which they are meant to leave ...
New Biomarker Predicts Response to Hepatitis C Treatment
Aug 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have identified the first genetic marker that predicts response to hepatitis C treatments, and a single letter of DNA code appears to make a huge difference. Duke University Medical Center scientists ...
Scientists discover mechanism to make existing antibiotics more effective at lower doses
Sep 10, 2009 |
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A new study published in the September 11, 2009 issue of Science by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine reveals a conceptually novel mechanism that plays an important role in making human pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus an ...
Preventing ear infections in the future: Delivering vaccine through the skin
May 21, 2009 |
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An experimental vaccine applied the surface of the skin appears to protect against certain types of ear infections. Scientists from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, report their ...
Researchers capture bacterial infection on film (w/ Video)
Jul 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have developed a new technique that allows them to make a movie of bacteria infecting their living host.
