Recent News

By Category: Public Health

The bacteria-fighting super element that’s making a comeback in hospitals: copper

(Washington Post)- Ancient Egyptians used copper to sterilize chest wounds and drinking water. Greeks, Romans and Aztecs relied on copper compounds to treat burns, headaches and ear infections. Thousands of years later, the ancient therapeutic is being embraced by some hospitals because of its ability to kill bacteria and other microbes on contact, which can  Read More »

Lyme Disease Cases Rising in Affected Regions

(Medscape) The number of US counties experiencing high incidence of Lyme disease has grown considerably from 1993 through 2012, according to a study published online July 15 and in the August issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.  “Despite the substantial increase in the number of counties with high incidence, the limited movement of the geographic centers  Read More »

Scientists find new variant of streptococcal bacteria causing severe infections

(Imperial College London) Scientists have discovered a new variant of streptococcal bacteria that has contributed to a rise in disease cases in the UK over the last 17 years. Group A streptococcus causes around 600 million infections per year worldwide. Severe infections can cause necrotising fasciitis, pneumonia, sepsis, or toxic shock, and around one in  Read More »

VUMC joins Human Vaccine Project as first scientific hub

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the Human Vaccines Project and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) announced this week that VUMC has become the project’s first scientific hub. Incubated by IAVI, the Human Vaccines Project is a new public-private partnership that brings together leading academic research centers, industry, governments and nonprofits to accelerate the development  Read More »

Inhalable Ebola vaccine developed

(Newsweek) Scientists have tested the first inhalable vaccine for Ebola in what could be a landmark development in the fight against the deadly virus. A new study found that primates who were treated with the vaccine survived when later injected with a lethal dose of the Ebola virus and showed no negative reactions to the  Read More »