Advocate Groups Reach Out to President's Science Advisors Ahead of
Antibiotics Meeting | Food Safety News
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will meet Friday to discuss its work on antibiotic resistance and nanotechnology and to hear from speakers about oceans policy.A group of public health, consumer, and environmental protection organizations have sent a letter to PCAST expressing concern that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Guidance for Industry #213 and a proposed Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) rule do not go far enough in addressing antibiotic overuse on farms.By March, FDA had heard from 25 of the 26 drug manufacturers affected by Guidance #213...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 8, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy
You may find yourself craving strange combinations of foods or foods that you didn’t even care for before you were pregnant. Though most foods are safe to eat, there are some foods that should be avoided during pregnancy, and the list of foods that are off-limits may be surprising.
Many of these foods are foods that you may have eaten regularly pre-pregnancy with no problem. However, during pregnancy the bacteria or parasites found in these foods can be extremely dangerous to your baby.
Three Common Foodborne Bacteria and Parasites
Listeria is a type of bacteria that can cause complications during pregnancy. It is found...
Source: Cord Blood News - June 7, 2014 Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Authors: joyce at mazelabs.com Tags: babies brain development Cord Blood medical research parents pregnancy due dates healthy pregnancy eating healthy pregnancy food parenting raw food sushi what not to eat when pregnant why save cord blood Source Type: blogs
Why Chopping Sugar From The Diet Will Allow You To Be Healthy
A concentrate on positive nourishment should be the purpose of everybody. In creating a balanced food plan as Alexander Simring will significantly benefit you, analysis will be key. Just utilize the guidance in the post below, and you should be nourishing the body with good nutrition very quickly. Girls who are pregnant or lactating have critical dietary requirements. Expectant mothers require a lot of protein, and getting hired down due to lack of hunger can be a pain. To get an adequate amount of protein in her diet, an expecting mom can put eggwhites to her breakfast smoothie. Eggwhites include a large amount of protein...
Source: aids-write.org - April 4, 2014 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: aidswrite Tags: nutrition tips Source Type: blogs
Feline hyperthyroidism: our Puzzola.
Last year Stefano and I took our eldest cat, Puzzola, to the vet because she had peed all over my bathrobe, which indicated in no uncertain terms that she had a urinary tract infection (I wrote a post about this episode in February 2013, btw). The vet confirmed the infection and immediately put her on antibiotics. Then, while checking her out, the vet found a small nodule on Puzzola’s thyroid gland. A blood test confirmed what she suspected–Puzzola had hyperthyroidism. At that time, it was a very mild case…
Puzzola was supposed to go back for a checkup (=blood test) after a month or thereabouts, but all this unfortun...
Source: Margaret's Corner - March 24, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll Source Type: blogs
mBio - home of some really cool, #openaccess microbiology papers
Am really enjoying the suite of papers coming out in mBio - the Open Access PLOSOne like journal from the American Society for Microbiology. Here are some examples of recent papers that caught my eye:Biogeochemical Forces Shape the Composition and Physiology of Polymicrobial Communities in the Cystic Fibrosis Lung by Robert A. Quinn, Yan Wei Lim, Heather Maughan, Douglas Conrad, Forest Rohwer and Katrine L. WhitesonCauses for the Persistence of Impact Factor Mania by Arturo Casadevall and Ferric C. FangComparative Analysis of Salmonella Genomes Identifies a Metabolic Network for Escalating Growth in th...
Source: The Tree of Life - March 22, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs
Blu-ray Discs and Players Used for Massive Pathogen Screening
Blu-ray discs are great for watching movies, but the technology within them and the players that spin them has been harnessed for pathogen detection by a team of Spanish scientists. The Blu-ray discs had a layer of microarrays applied to their surface where antibody reactions and signal amplification takes place. The discs were then placed into a Blu-ray player, the laser of which was used to measure the optical properties of each node within the microarrays that correlated to a successful reaction or not.
The team tested the system for detection of Cronobacter sakazakii, a GI parasite, and Salmonella typhimurium. They ...
Source: Medgadget - March 14, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: in the news... Source Type: blogs
It's coming. It's coming for all of us.
At this point, it doesn't matter whether it's a mismatch between this year's flu shot and this year's virus, or a secret government plot, or just plain crappy luck: everybody I know, practically, has the flu.We have nine full-time nurses in our unit. Two of them have pneumonia. A third is out for another week, until the Tamiflu and chicken soup kick in. The remaining half-dozen of us are bathing in alcohol foam, refusing to get too close to each other (I swear; it's like Sweden up in there), and running away from anybody with the slightest hint of a cough. I myself have taken to bathing daily in boiling bleach and wrapping...
Source: Head Nurse - February 5, 2014 Category: Nurses Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
INFOGRAPHIC: A Close Look at How Prepared We Are for the Next Outbreak
From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:
From antibiotic-resistant superbugs to the seasonal flu to Salmonella, infectious diseases are a serious health threat that also cost individuals and the health care industry billions. A new report from Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Outbreaks: Protecting Americans from Infectious Diseases, assesses gaps in our public health system that could severely limit our ability to effectively respond to an outbreak.
For the complete report, visit the Outbreaks report page: http://bit.ly/1bcG27m
For the infographic, visit the RWJF website: http://bit.l...
Source: BHIC - December 20, 2013 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Naomi Gonzales Tags: Public Health Source Type: blogs
Cancer Researcher Turns to Crowdfunding to Support His Research
Medical researchers are turning to new ways to fund their work in light of cuts at the NIH due to the sequester and chronic cost-cutting by the agency. I recently blogged about a project at the University of Michigan called MCubed in which individuals outside of the University are encouraged to fund seed projects at the University to the tune of $75,000 (see: Fund Your Own Seed Research Project at the University of Michigan). For MCubed, the funders must have a research question in mind to ask and then are able to tap into the UM faculty resources to get answers. Another approach is being tried at the University of M...
Source: Lab Soft News - December 3, 2013 Category: Pathologists Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Medical Ethics Medical Research Source Type: blogs
Thanksgiving Risk Parade
There's wild turkey (for the roaster, fryer or smoker) and then there's Wild Turkey (for the shot glass or the tumbler). While most of us are quite aware of the risks involved in preparing the former (salmonella, fire, etc), we shouldn't overlook the risks inherent in serving the latter.Margarita (heh!) Tapia, of the IIABA tips us that "party hosts need to understand their responsibilities when inviting others into their homes and serving food and drinks."That includes potent potables, of course, but also food that your guests may bring, or that you have catered in. The organization reminds us that:"Even if food was prepar...
Source: InsureBlog - November 27, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Antibiotics for people, not animals - LA Times
So far this year, more than 300 people have gotten sick from bacteria called Salmonellaheidelberg. Almost three-quarters of them live in California.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that chicken produced in three Central California processing facilities is the "likely source of this outbreak" and that the bacteria are "resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics."The CDC estimates that for every reported salmonella infection, there are about 29 more unreported cases, bringing the potential toll to more than 9,000 victims. About 42% of the patients who reported their illness hav...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 23, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Magnetoelastic Biosensing System for Detecting Bacteria on Food and Surfaces
Food borne disease outbreaks occur around the world, even in countries with strict regulations and attention to safety. Inevitably someone forgets to wash the lettuce or does it with impure water, a shipment becomes essentially poisonous, and there’s no practical way of detecting whether bacteria are breeding all over the surface. Now researchers at Alabama’s Auburn University are reporting the development of a portable device that has demonstrated the ability to detect Salmonella‘s presence on fresh food.
The device consists of a sensor and a special coil that detects how the sensor resonates in front ...
Source: Medgadget - October 22, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: in the news... Source Type: blogs
Current Salmonella Outbreak Dates to 2004
Foster Farms, a large producer of raw chicken for the consumer market, has been identified as the source of the current Salmonella illness outbreak in California and 17 other states. The company has been tracked as a source since 2004.Contributor: Charles SimminsPublished: Oct 08, 2013 (Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content)
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - October 8, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs
ALERT: could our spices possibly be contaminated with salmonella?
Holy cats! As I read the two articles (see below), my hair stood on end for a moment or two. And, if you use spices in your kitchen (as I hope you do!), your hair is probably going to do the same…But keep in mind that the second article provides an easy peasy solution to this […] (Source: Margaret's Corner)
Source: Margaret's Corner - August 30, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll Source Type: blogs
Engineered Salmonella Targets Malignant Cells to Eradicate Cancer
(A) Illustration of the migration of cargo-carrying tumor-tropic bacteria toward a tumor. The outer cells (dark blue) are proliferating cells. The green cells represent dormant cancer stem cells (CSCs). Note that in real tumors the fraction of this subpopulation of cells is very low, and they can be widely scattered. The red cells are necrotic cells, and the light blue cells are stromal cells (see Ben-Jacob et al4 for more details). (B) Illustration of cargo-carrying Trojan-horse bacteria engineered to express antibodies targeting the tumor-specific antigens. This recognition enables the bacteria to enter the cells and inj...
Source: Medgadget - August 17, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Yona Gidalevitz Tags: in the news... Source Type: blogs
