News by Subject Medicine & Health

Physicists at McMaster University have for the first time identified a simple mechanism used by potentially deadly bacteria to fend off antibiotics, a discovery which is providing new insights into how germs adapt and behave at a level of detail never seen before.

A new study on the measles epidemic in China has far-reaching implications for eliminating the infection globally. Using a new model-inference system developed at the Columbia Mailman School, the researchers were able to estimate population susceptibility and demographical characteristics in three key locations in China, in a period that spans the pre-vaccine and modern mass-vaccination eras.

Hospital patients who have methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can prevent future MRSA infections by following a standard bathing protocol after discharge, according to research results published in the Feb. 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Using a small and inexpensive biosensor, researchers in the School of Engineering have developed a novel low-cost technique that quickly and accurately detects cryptosporidium contamination in water samples.

Training community health workers to perform verbal autopsy interviews captured more accurate data about the number and causes of deaths in rural Uganda than current health facility surveillance methods, researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and in-country partners found. PLOS ONE published the results.

A high proportion of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) cases can be cured in conflict-affected communities with molecular diagnostics, shorter treatment periods and socioeconomic incentives, according to the results of a large, long-term study in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Using sophisticated gene sequencing and computing techniques, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center have achieved a first-of-its-kind glimpse into how the body's immune system gears up to fight off infection.