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09 July 2009 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
Rickettsia: old enemies newly defined
Russia, 1918. World War I was over but a tiny enemy was still on the move. It had killed millions – on both sides - during the war but wasn’t finished. By 1922 it had struck at least three million famine-struck civilians. The deadly adversary was Rickettsia prowazekii, a tiny bacterium that causes epidemic typhus.
10 June 2009 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
A tick too close: the emerging threat of tick-borne diseases
It’s that time again - the season for hiking, bathing, grilling… and a badly needed blood meal. The mosquitoes are thrilled! We – as the blood meal – don’t share their excitement, but for those of us living in temperate regions, mosquitoes are – with a few exceptions - a nuisance but not much of a health threat. But don’t put down your defenses! Another bloodsucker is on the prowl. In mild, moist climates, ticks are in their element and are vectors of some nasty diseases.
19 May 2009 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
Dying for Clean Water
An estimated 1.1 billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water, and more than twice as many live with inadequate sanitation. While the consequence is predictable, the numbers are staggering: lack of clean drinking water causes more than 2 million deaths each year, 90% of which are children under the age of five. The microbial culprits are well-known, and the infections they cause are for the most part both preventable and treatable.
16 April 2009 Dr. Evi Wollscheid-Lengeling & Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
Infectious Diseases and Aging
How old is old? For most of human history - from the Stone Age to modern times - the average life expectancy remained fairly constant: 20 to 35 years, just enough time to allow production of a few offspring, ensuring continuation of the human race. Average life expectancy is now ~75 years for men and somewhat over 80 years for women. Have we reached the maximum, or will future generations live even longer?
10 March 2009 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
Vaccine fatigue: the danger of measles
In 1963, the first vaccine for measles appeared. At that time, measles was a common childhood disease, infecting – alone in the United States - 3 to 4 million individuals each year. In 2000, the United States was declared free of endemic measles, and Europe has set the goal to be measles-free by 2010. Another vaccination success story! So it seemed.
10 February 2009 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
Infections and Neurodegenerative Diseases: Prions and beyond
It’s a success story: All over the world, people are living longer, and effective prevention and treatment of infectious diseases has played a large part. But at the same time, cancer, autoimmune syndromes and many other chronic ailments are on the rise. This includes neurodegenerative diseases, with the number of patients afflicted with the two most prevalent - Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s - estimated to double by 2030.
12 January 2009 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
A Virus in the Limelight - Papilloma and the Nobel Prize
The cause of warts – papillomaviruses - has only recently come to light. In 2006, the approval of a vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of cervical cancer, was met with enormous enthusiasm…and waves of controversy that are still reverberating. And two years later, Harald zur Hausen, whose findings made the HPV vaccine possible, was awarded the greatest honor a researcher can receive, the Nobel Prize. Two pretty eventful years for a tiny little virus!
16 December 2008 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
We wish you a Merry Microbe!
‘Tis the season of feasts and treats. And what does that have to do with Infection Research? It’s true that’s we’re usually interested in the “bad guys” among microbes, but in the spirit of the season it seems appropriate to remember the other – helpful – side of the microbial world as well. Chances are, whatever your dietary indulgence(s) in the name of holiday celebration, microbes have a role in its production.
10 November 2008 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
Parasites and the hygiene hypothesis
In the 20th century, quality of life in developed countries was dramatically improved by reducing bacterial, viral and parasitic infections, the result of combined efforts of improved sanitation, hygiene, vaccines and antimicrobials. However, the last 50 years have seen startling increases in the frequencies of allergy and other atopies. At the same time, the frequency of autoimmune diseases seems to be on the rise. Is there a connection?
15 October 2008 Dr. Kristen Kerksiek
Parasites - the uninvited dinner guests
We think of living beings as existing in either aquatic or terrestrial environments, but there’s a third category: the bodies of other organisms, occupied by life forms termed parasites. From a biological standpoint, parasitism seems to be a fruitful lifestyle; more than half of all species are parasitic at some point in their lifetime. Every free-living, non-parasitic species of plant and animal has its own species-specific parasites but also shares parasites with other species. We, as non-parasites -at least in the biological sense of the word-, are outnumbered!
