Flu Shots Decrease Use of Antibiotics

It calls attention to use of antibiotics in livestock: Researchers

(NEWSER) - Here's a happy thought with summer barbecue season just around the corner: A new study suggests that about half the meat sold in the US is contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria, the Los Angeles Times reports. Researchers tested beef, chicken, turkey, and pork from supermarkets around the country and found that 47% of the 136 samples had strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria that causes staph infections from the mild to the severe. Of those, 52% were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics. More»

Hint: Florida's not the place to be during flu season

(NEWSER) - Think spring is around the corner and the end to sneezing and sick ickyness is in sight? Think again, because there's lots of flu left to pass around. The Daily Beast runs down the 20 sickest cities, as broken down by health ranking, vaccination coverage, influenza deaths, and how much flu activity remains between now and May.

1. Dayton, Ohio—140 deaths per 100,000 people of influenza or pneumonia
2. Tampa—about 5% of its flu activity remains

Cloth seats harder to clean, allow dangerous bacteria to thrive

(NEWSER) - If you are fighting for a seat on San Francisco's BART trains, maybe you should think again—the seats are full of nasty bacteria, including a drug-resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus superbug, and several types of mold, says a new report commissioned by The Bay Citizen . “I would love to sit down, but it just grosses me out," says one 26-year-old passenger. "They’re disgusting." More»

Drug is successfully tested on humans for the first time

(NEWSER) - Soon, you may be able to forget about getting a flu shot each year—because just one jab could cover you for all strains of the illness. Oxford University scientists tested a universal flu vaccine on humans for the first time, and found it to be successful, the Guardian reports. The vaccine works by targeting proteins inside the virus—which are common across the known strains—rather than those on the external part of the virus, which often mutate and require new formulas of the flu shot to be created each year. More»

New gene makes bacteria resistant to virtually all antibiotics

(NEWSER) - People in three states have fallen prey to a new breed of superbugs, bacteria carrying a gene that makes them impervious to virtually any antibiotic. All three patients had recently received medical treatment in India, where the gene was first discovered, and has become widespread, the AP reports. “It’s a great concern,” said one infectious disease specialist. “It’s just a matter of time” until the gene, which was carried by three different bacteria in the US cases, spreads more broadly. More»