bacterial infection

Researchers find that bacteria stimulate a headache-causing pain pathway to suppress the immune system and infect the brain. 

Syphilis is among the oldest known sexually-transmitted infections. Scientists still struggle to detect and treat it.

The Scientist spoke with Jonathan Kagan about his idea that immune cells respond to “errors” made by unsuccessful pathogens, not the pathogens themselves.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae with pathogenic genes replaced by biofilm-degrading ones enhance survival in a mouse model of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

The international group coordinating emergency vaccines recommends administering one dose instead of two to combat the “dire shortage” of cholera vaccines worldwide.

IgA antibodies appear to bind to specific species of commensal gut bacteria in mice, according to a study.

Genetic testing of people who died in Kyrgyzstan eight years before plague reached Europe reveals an ancient strain of the bacterium Yersinia pestis.

In work that has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers present evidence that microbes can and do live inside the venom glands of several dangerous species. It remains unclear whether they’re to blame for infections linked to bites.

Recent studies describe how resident microbiota appear to outcompete unwelcome visitors, either with superior weaponry or by guzzling up local resources.  

CDC investigators continue to search for the source of the bacteria that caused four infections—two of them lethal—in four different states. The Scientist spoke with melioidosis expert Bart Currie about the disease.

The temporary loss of olfaction stops the flies from eating any more of whatever it is that made them sick.

Tweaking the genomes of two phages and combining them with a third phage helped to clear a persistent Mycobacterium infection in the patient.

Mice receiving the treatment produced their own monoclonal antibodies and survived infection with the life-threatening pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Increases in oceanic populations of these bacteria—both pathogenic and not—is an effect of climate change, scientists show.