Zoonotic transmission: predictive mapping
Barbara Han, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y., has been working on mapping zoonoses. Drawing on hundreds of studies of emerging zoonotic diseases that come from mammals, she has tracked what classes of creature harbor the most known human pathogens, and where those reservoirs are most likely to be found. The results, published Tuesday in the journal Trends in Parasitology, are complicated and...
What’s wrong with this picture? – Week 2
Following our glove use post of last week, here are this week’s photos: .Tell us what’s wrong with these pictures, and enter to win a prize. Leave your comments below! (If you can’t see the Leave A Reply section, click on More, bottom right.) Need a review on correct glove use? Click here...
Glove Use: What’s wrong with this picture?
Correct glove use is an important part of hand hygiene. Every year, millions of pairs of gloves are used within BC’s healthcare facilities… but are they all being used correctly? PHSA employees and medical staff are invited to enter the “What’s wrong with this picture?” competition and tell us what not to do when it comes to glove use. (Employees of other health authorities can find this contest on their intranet.) For...
How Stenotrophomonas maltophila led to a biotech discovery
Quantum dots are tiny crystals that may offer sharper and brighter images for cellphones and TVs, for less money. Bryan Berger, a co-author of a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week, stumbled across an alternative for creating the little dots through an unintended sequence of events. It began when an alarmed hospital staff in Pennsylvania discovered a superbug growing on metal surfaces in 2011. Berger’s...
Zika news updates: Study strengthens suspected link between Zika and paralysis; Rapid test developed
Two new updates today on Zika virus: Portable Zika test Researchers have created a portable test that can show whether someone has been infected with the Zika virus, even in remote areas far from a hospital or lab. In a study published Friday in the journal Cell, a group of scientists led by the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University describe how the inexpensive test was able to rapidly...