Researchers the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are currently working on a project to develop single-celled organisms that seek out and kill potentially deadly bacteria. The team was inspired by amoebas that have been known to surround and kill yeast bacteria and develop ‘soldier cells’ out of these amoebas. Using a $5 million dollar grant from DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the team is first focusing on making these cells target Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. If the project is successful, the possible applications outside of the laboratory are exciting. These amoeba soldiers could be used…
A research group called CU and the CDC comprised of both undergraduate students from Clemson and officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) had the privilege of naming a new strain of Legionella bacteria after the University- Legionella clemsonensis. The CDC sent 68 strains of Legionella bacteria that didn’t match up to any strains in the current database to Clemson students to analyze. Through sequencing two genes, the students were to determine if the species could be identified as one of the known strains of Legionella, or if the strains were new. These tests revealed that one of…
Lead researcher Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, who serves as a professor of public health and medicine, explained that his team analyzed 100 million Medicare records dated between 1991 and 2006. During that time, over 617,000 Americans had been hospitalized due to infection resulting from exposure to Legionella, which is responsible for Legionnaires’ disease; pseudomonas, which can develop into pneumonia; and mycobacteria, which can cause tuberculosis among other illnesses. These bacteria can live in pipes and survive on small amounts of nutrients found in water. Although most often water treatment plants are in place to help…
IDEXX Laboratories world campus in Westbrook, Maine IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., has developed an innovative water test called Legiolert™ to detect the presence of Legionella pneumophila in water sources, such as drinking water. This detection system can accurately depict the presence of Legionella pneumophila in potable water systems in seven days, as opposed to up to fourteen days using the customary culture methods of detecting the bacteria. Legiolert™ allows testers to skip steps of the usual testing procedures, such as colony counting and confirmation, which saves valuable laboratory time and reduces both the need for training and the risk of interpretation errors. Legionella pneumophila is the primary source of…
A new study by a team at Virginia Tech has linked the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint, MI to the city’s decision to switch its water supply. Flint suffered a surge in cases of Legionnaires’ disease from 2014 to 2015, with nearly 100 people sickened and 12 deaths. The death toll could have been higher, as Legionnaires’ disease often masquerades as pneumonia and goes unreported. Health officials assumed that the city’s decision to switch its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River was to blame, but no tests were done at the time of the outbreak. (An…
Image via http://www.unclejohnshandymanservice.com An article from the Wall Street Journal elaborates on some investigations into Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the past 15 years. The results showed that the vast majority of outbreaks were caused by negligence on the part of maintenance employees who did not maintain biocides effectively, repair or change equipment on schedule, or did not adequately maintain the plumbing. These look like easily fixable problems, but it’s more complicated than it seems. The guidelines for preventing Legionella are not standards, and there are virtually no laws requiring specific Legionella prevention. This means…
The marvel of modern medicine has drastically changed the way society functions on an everyday basis. Obviously the benefits of the advancements from the past century outweigh the drawbacks, but some issues have arisen from our progress that threaten the very purpose for which the advancements were made. For instance, the discovery of the first antibiotic, Penicillen, in 1928 by Alexander Fleming was one of the most groundbreaking advancements in modern history, and has allowed for the treatment of bacterial infections since. This greatly reduced the death rate and pioneered a new realm of medicine that has been…
Taking a shower is a staple of personal hygiene, and is generally considered a necessity. It is important to stay clean, and showers provide us with that luxury, but the environment that cleans us can also house a number of harmful substances and organisms if not properly maintained. Mirror posted an article detailing a few different ways “your shower could kill you”, and while the article is a little more alarmist than necessary it does provide some interesting facts on a few different bacteria, fungi, and pathogens that can help identify preventative measures. Additionally, the article identifies which populations are…