infections

Arthur Jackson (right) gets blood tests during home visits in Boston from nurse Brenda Mastricola. He's also getting intravenous penicillin to treat a serious bone infection in his foot. The medication's pump is connected to an indwelling IV catheter. It'

The Case For Sending Drug Users Home From The Hospital With Open IV Lines

7:19pm February 20, 2020

by Martha Bebinger

When patients need long-term treatment with IV antibiotics, hospitals usually let them do it at home — but not if they have a history of injection drug use. A Boston program wants to change that.

Bacteria (purple) in the bloodstream can trigger sepsis, a life-threatening illness.

Health & Safety

Regulations That Mandate Sepsis Care Appear To Have Worked In New York

5:16pm July 16, 2019

by Richard Harris

Sepsis, the body's overreaction to infection, strikes more than a million Americans a year and kills more than 250,000. Evidence suggests that regulations can improve its diagnosis and patient care.

About two years ago, Alphonso Evans went to the hospital for what he thought was just another bladder infection and ended up in intensive care. In an effort to combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs, scientists have created "living antibiotics" made of vir

Scientists Modify Viruses With CRISPR To Create New Weapon Against Superbugs

8:49pm May 22, 2019

by Rob Stein

Superbugs are bacteria that can beat modern medicine's most powerful drugs. So doctors are racing to find new ways to fight back.

Queue Listen Now

A blacklegged tick like this one can be hard to spot.

Health & Safety

Ticks And Lyme Disease: 3 Factors Determine Risk Of Infection

5:14pm July 24, 2018

by Paul Chisholm

The chance of catching Lyme disease from an individual tick ranges from zero to roughly 50 percent. Three factors matter: the tick species, where it came from and how long the tick was feeding.

This image depicts a strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health & Safety

New Medical Worry: Deadly Fungal Infection That Resists Treatment

4:05pm January 24, 2017

by Susan Brink

Candida auris first was identified in Japan in 2009 and now has been found in five continents.

This illustration depicts Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, which can cause different types of infections, including pneumonia, bloodstream infections and meningitis.

A Superbug That Resisted 26 Antibiotics

5:56pm January 17, 2017

by Susan Brink

How close are we to the point when a bacterial infection can resist all available antibiotics? A case in Nevada, reported this past week in the CDC journal, says that we're already there.

The amoebas that can cause rare brain infections resemble white blood cells under the microscope.

A Young Woman Dies, A Teen Is Saved After Amoebas Infect The Brain

2:00pm August 28, 2016

In Florida, perfect timing and alert medical staff saved a teen from almost certain death. But in North Carolina, one young woman died of an amoeba infection after rafting at a popular tourist site.

Could Depression Be Caused By An Infection?

8:23am October 25, 2015

by Bret Stetka

Infection and autoimmune activity result in inflammation. And psychiatric researchers now suspect that inflammation may play a role in some cases of depression and other mental illnesses.

How Many Viruses Have Infected You?

4:12pm June 05, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Most tests for viruses aim to detect only one or two. But researchers can now check a drop of blood for antibodies to hundreds of viruses, tracing the history of a lifetime of infections, old and new.

Queue Listen Now

C. difficile bacteria, shown in yellow, are common in hospitals and nursing homes, and very difficult to treat.

Spore Wars Help Fend Off Life-Threatening Bacterial Infections

11:42am May 05, 2015

by Nancy Shute

Infections with C. difficile are a big problem for people in hospitals and nursing homes. An experimental treatment with spores from a harmless version of the bacterium prevented new infections.