Medicine & Health

Three antibiotics that, individually, are not effective against a drug-resistant staph infection can kill the deadly pathogen when combined as a trio, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have killed the bug — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) — in test tubes and laboratory mice, and believe the same strategy may work in people.

Infections with one of the most troublesome and least understood antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” are increasing at alarming rates, particularly in health-care settings. But by studying A. baumannii, a frequent cause of difficult-to-treat infections in hospitals,  researchers have identified a naturally occurring​ process that restores its vulnerability to antibiotics.

The acidity of urine — as well as the presence of small molecules related to diet — may influence how well bacteria can grow in the urinary tract, a new study shows. The research, led by Jeffrey Henderson, MD, PhD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, may have implications for treating urinary tract infections, which are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide.

A reformulation of OxyContin (left) that makes it less likely to be abused than the older formulation (right) has curtailed the drug’s illicit use. But researchers at the School of Medicine have found that a significant percentage still abuse the drug despite package labeling that emphasizes its abuse-deterrent properties. 

Antibiotics aren’t supposed to be effective against viruses, but new evidence in mice suggests they may help fight norovirus, a highly contagious virus that causes severe gastrointestinal illness, scientists at the School of Medicine report.

Genetic mutations may cause more cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) than scientists previously had realized, according to researchers. Shown are study authors Janet Cady, a PhD candidate, and Matthew Harms, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the School of Medicine.

An investigational treatment for Marfan syndrome is as effective as the standard therapy at slowing enlargement of the aorta, the large artery of the heart that delivers blood to the body, according to a new study co-authored by Alan C. Braverman, MD. Slowing aortic growth in Marfan syndrome is important in protecting against the tearing of the aorta.

Signals from the immune system that help repel a common parasite inadvertently can cause a dormant viral infection to become active again, a new study from the School of Medicine shows. Pictured is a helminth parasite.

A provocative study links prolonged episodes of sepsis — a life-threatening infection and leading cause of death in hospitals — to the reactivation of otherwise dormant viruses in the body. Pictured is the Epstein-Barr virus.

Asymmetric hearing is a difference between the two ears’ ability to detect and process sound. New studies indicate that people with asymmetric hearing experience greater communication difficulties than previously assumed. Researchers led by Jill B. Firszt, PhD, have received a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the effects of asymmetric hearing loss in adults and children.