New reports that stopping antibiotics when you feel better is better for you could do more harm than good. But it has reopened the debate on how long antibiotics should be used.
Green colonies of allergenic fungus Penicillium from air spores on a petri dish. Penicillin was the first antibiotic.
Satirus/Shutterstock.com
Thousands of people acquire infections while hospitalized. Many are caused by urinary catheters, a routine part of a hospital stay. But cutting back on their usage can lower infection rates.
It’s bacterial biofilms that give the Grand Prismatic Spring its colorful hues.
Karin Sauer
Karin Sauer, Binghamton University, State University of New York
The vast majority of the bacteria that surround us are not free-floating but prefer to band together in cooperative communities called biofilms. How do biofilms form and cooperate?
Bloodletting was treatment for infection in the past.
Wellcome Library, London
While some ancient therapies proved effective enough that they are still used in some form today, on the whole they just aren’t as good as modern antimicrobials at treating infections.
Staphylococcus aureus has confused researchers about how superbugs cause deadly infections.
Janice Haney Carr/wikimedia
Antibiotics can prevent serious harm and stop infections becoming fatal. But they won’t kill common cold and flu viruses, and careless overprescribing by doctors can do more harm than good.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a leading cause of hospital infections.
from www.shutterstock.com
We’ve heard a lot lately about superbugs – bacteria that are resistant to current antibiotics. But as the threat of superbugs continues to rise, the number of new treatments available has flatlined. This…
Symptoms can occur as soon as 30 minutes after exposure to the culprit organism or toxin.
Anton Brand/Shutterstock
We’ve all experienced the abdominal cramps and the urge to get to a toilet – quickly! When the stomach and intestinal tract become inflamed, our bodies respond with the sudden onset of diarrhoea, associated…
Consuming bath milk is particularly risky because it may contain the deadly STEC E.Coli bug.
Olga Prokopova/Shutterstock
The death this week of a Victorian toddler after allegedly drinking “bath milk” is a reminder of how dangerous some natural cosmetics can be. The product – Mountain View Organic Dairy’s Organic Bath Milk…
Autumn is the time when people typically notice spiders in their houses and there is usually an increase in the number of media stories suggesting that spiders – particularly the false widow spider – may…
Better antimicrobial stewardship could curb infection rates.
Global Panorama/Flickr
Going to the hospital can save your life, but it is not without risks. Patients can be exposed to dangerous infections while receiving treatment. In the United States, health care-associated infections…
About 6,000 years ago, a bacterium underwent a few genetic changes. These allowed it to expand its habitat from the guts of mice to that of fleas. Such changes happen all the time, but in this particular…
Human skin is a garden of microbes which is home to about 1,000 bacterial species. Most are benign but some invade the skin and cause illness – and of these, antibiotic resistant bacteria are particularly…
Even bacteria get sick.
Zappys Technology Solutions's photostream
Akshat Rathi, The Conversation e Declan Perry, The Conversation
Bacterial diseases cause millions of deaths every year. Most of these bacteria were benign at some point in their evolutionary past, and we don’t always understand what turned them into disease-causing…
This little thing changed the world.
Science Museum London
The introduction into clinical practice of antibiotics is arguably the most significant medical advance of the 20th century. Together with immunisation and better public sanitation, they’ve had a significant…