Texas A&M University assistant professor Sorg seeking remedy for dangerous bacteria

[TexasTowelie]

Texas A&M University biologist Joseph Sorg will be studying fecal samples from hundreds of people as part of a federally backed effort to deal with the gut bacteria Clostridium difficile, the cause of about 14,000 deaths a year in the United States.

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The bacteria cause infections primarily during hospital visits, when antibiotics alter the composition of microbial flora in the colon and make patients, most commonly the elderly, vulnerable to infection.

Death can occur in the most severe cases, but usually C. difficile infection results in severe diarrhea which unleashes dormant spores that are immune to antibiotic treatment.

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Beyond the psychological and physical toll on its victims, C. difficile is an economic burden: A 2011 University of Pittsburgh study estimated that costs related to infections exceed $1.8 billion.

More at http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_71469051-4497-5773-aa94-6afedff91515.html .

Cross-posted in Health Group.

[font color=maroon]An Aggie professor studying shit--isn't that the topic for an Aggie joke?[/font]

[Ilsa]

1. Kind of like proctologists being "asshole drs"?

But this is serious business. The gut is part of the immune system. I make sure my family members take probiotics after a course of antibiotics.

[DhhD]

2. Treatment using Viral Phage found for C. perfringins, but not for Clostridium difficile yet.

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/121-a48/