Pneumonia News and Research

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Pneumonia is a leading cause of death and hospitalization, costing health care systems billions of dollars and an estimated 600,000 adult deaths worldwide each year. Pneumococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae and the term describes a group of illnesses, including invasive infections, such as bacteremia/sepsis and meningitis, as well as pneumonia and upper respiratory tract infections. Although all age groups may be affected, the highest rate of pneumococcal disease occurs in young children and older adults. In addition, persons suffering from a wide range of chronic conditions (eg, diabetes, cardiovascular disease) and immune deficiencies are at increased risk.

Study provides new insight on how lung bacteria protect against invading pathogens

New insight on how bacteria in the lungs protect against invading pathogens has been published today in the open-access eLife journal.

9 Dec 2020

Researchers determine role of NLRP1 protein in detecting the common cold virus

The role of a protein in detecting the common cold virus and kickstarting an immune response to fight infection has been uncovered by a team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National University of Singapore.

From Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) 3 Dec 2020

Research sheds light on T cell abnormality in critically ill COVID-19 patients

There is an idea within the coronavirus research field that there is some kind of T cell abnormality in critically ill COVID-19 patients, but specific details have not yet been clarified. To shed light on the problem, a research collaboration based in Kumamoto University (Japan) has performed a genetic analysis of T cells from lung tissue of COVID-19 patients.

23 Nov 2020

Researchers investigate solutions to make cell membranes resistant to coronavirus entry

The cell membrane is the cell's outermost line of defense against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 disease.

23 Nov 2020

Gaining new insights into bacterial pneumonia

Jacqueline Kimmey speaks to AZoLifeSciences about her research into bacterial pneumonia and the genes that drive its spread from the lungs into the blood.

From University of California Santa Cruz 23 Nov 2020

New laboratory test can rapidly detect infectious agents in hospitalized patients

Researchers have designed a laboratory test that can detect the microbial miscreant affecting patients hospitalized with serious infections in just six hours.

11 Nov 2020

Rapid prognosis of SARS-CoV-2 by MALDI-TOF MS

Gomila et al. recently uploaded a study to the preprint server medRxiv* (November 2020), aiming to utilize MALDI-TOF MS to analyze the sera of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in a range of disease severity states.

6 Nov 2020

Scientists develop lab-grown lung model to study SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of Duke University researchers has developed a lab-grown living lung model that mimics the tiny air sacs of the lungs where coronavirus infection and serious lung damage take place. This advance has enabled them to watch the battle between the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and lung cells at the finest molecular scale.

23 Oct 2020

Researchers develop "mini lungs" to study SARS-CoV-2 infection

'Mini-lungs' grown from tissue donated to Cambridge hospitals has provided a team of scientists from South Korea and the UK with important insights into how COVID-19 damages the lungs.

23 Oct 2020

Scientists identify molecular mechanisms of IFN responses in COVID-19 disease

SARS-CoV-2 continues to cause an ongoing pandemic as of October 2020, with over 35 million reported cases and over 1 million deaths around the world.

13 Oct 2020

Researchers identify specific cellular pathway involved in the regeneration of lung tissue

Scientists have discovered a new cellular pathway that can be targeted with a naturally occurring medication to activate the regeneration of lung tissue.

30 Sep 2020

Researchers discover how antibiotic resistance genes spread via plasmids

For the first time, researchers have discovered how antibiotic resistance genes are spreading, at a continental scale, via bacterial plasmids in the hospital superbug, Klebsiella pneumoniae.

25 Sep 2020

Druggable pocket in SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein can help eliminate COVID-19

Researchers have identified a druggable pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein that could be utilized to prevent the virus from infecting human cells.

24 Sep 2020

Researchers review the role of macrophage activation syndrome in COVID-19

A major percentage of COVID-19 cases have become so severe that hospital admissions have become mandatory for both monitoring and treatment.

10 Sep 2020

Researchers identify an effective treatment for severe cases of COVID-19 infection

Scientists are trying to figure out how SARS-CoV-2 leads to a range of symptoms that appear to persist long after the active viral infection.

From Osaka University 1 Sep 2020

Researchers describe new approach involving "antivitamins" to develop new antibiotics

Antibiotics are among the most important discoveries of modern medicine and have saved millions of lives since the discovery of penicillin almost 100 years ago.

25 Aug 2020

Researchers find associations of lifelong antimicrobial drug use with saliva microbiota diversity

The human microbiota plays an important role in health and well-being by assisting in digestion, producing nutrients, resisting invading pathogens and regulating metabolism and the immune system.

25 Aug 2020

Study may point to new therapeutic options for COVID-19

Contrary to what has been generally assumed so far, a severe course of COVID-19 does not solely result in a strong immune reaction - rather, the immune response is caught in a continuous loop of activation and inhibition.

7 Aug 2020

Synthetic peptide makes multidrug-resistant bacteria sensitive to antibiotics

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a synthetic peptide that can make multidrug-resistant bacteria sensitive to antibiotics again when used together with traditional antibiotics, offering hope for the prospect of a combination treatment strategy to tackle certain antibiotic-tolerant infections.