HIV drugs may help fight deadly fungal infection, study finds
Antiviral drugs can make antifungals work again.
May 25, 2023
0
6
Antiviral drugs can make antifungals work again.
May 25, 2023
0
6
Humans encounter innumerable pathogenic bacteria, viruses and other microbes in their day-to-day activities. While infections from some pathogens can be easily cleared by the innate immune system, others can evade this first ...
May 11, 2023
0
2
The first study of humans with a rare immunodeficiency reveals how the immune system protects the body against pathogens known to cause serious diseases, such as tuberculosis and COVID-19. The research involving McGill University, ...
May 8, 2023
0
61
Avian flu cases have spiked around the globe in recent weeks, devastating bird populations and making headlines. The spread of the illness, caused by the H5N1 virus, has resulted in 58 million bird deaths since last fall—driving ...
Apr 27, 2023
0
1
Researchers from the University of Oxford, U.K., have investigated the evolution of antibiotic resistance properties of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). In the paper "The evolution of colistin resistance increases bacterial ...
Certain immune cells possess a homing property that directs them to the skin at birth to protect the baby, researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) discovered.
Apr 14, 2023
0
24
Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), which includes conditions such as pneumonia, has long been the leading cause of death from communicable agents and a leading cause of death in children worldwide. But despite its ...
Apr 5, 2023
0
5
Since the 1930s, scientists have explored a virus called LCMV (short for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus) to reveal the hidden workings of the immune system. The virus is carried by rodents, which makes it a useful tool ...
Mar 28, 2023
0
54
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert that infections from the fungus Candida auris are increasing. Theresa O'Meara, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at ...
Mar 23, 2023
0
7
The number of labs handling dangerous pathogens has risen to more than 100 around the world but has not been accompanied by sufficient oversight, raising biosafety and biosecurity concerns, a new report by King's College ...
Mar 16, 2023
0
4
A pathogen (from Greek πάθος path "suffering, passion", and γἰγνομαι (γεν-) gignomai (gen-) "I give birth to"), infectious agent, or (more commonly) germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring a pathogen.
The body contains many natural defenses against some of the common pathogens (such as Pneumocystis) in the form of the human immune system and by some "helpful" bacteria present in the human body's normal flora. However, if the immune system or "good" bacteria is damaged in any way (such as by chemotherapy, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or antibiotics being taken to kill other pathogens), pathogenic bacteria that were being held at bay can proliferate and cause harm to the host. Such cases are called opportunistic infection.
Some pathogens (such as the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which may have caused the Black Plague, the Variola virus, and the Maleria protozoa) have been responsible for massive numbers of casualties and have had numerous effects on afflicted groups. Of particular note in modern times is HIV, which is known to have infected several million humans globally, along with the Influenza virus. Today, while many medical advances have been made to safeguard against infection by pathogens, through the use of vaccination, antibiotics, and fungicide, pathogens continue to threaten human life. Social advances such as food safety, hygiene, and water treatment have reduced the threat from some pathogens.
Not all pathogens are negative. In entomology, pathogens are one of the "Three P's" (predators, pathogens, and parasitoids) that serve as natural or introduced biological controls to suppress arthropod pest populations.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA