ESBLs: A Clear and Present Danger?

ESBLs: A Clear and Present Danger?

Extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) are enzymes produced by a variety of Gram negative bacteria which confer an increased resistance to commonly used antibiotics. They are a worrying global public health issue as infections caused by such enzyme-producing organisms are associated with a higher morbidity and mortality and greater fiscal burden. Coupled with increasing prevalence rates worldwi...

Ebola virus: a clear and present danger.

An epidemic of Ebola virus disease is occurring in Western Africa on a scale not seen before, particularly in the countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The continued spread is facilitated by insufficient medical facilities, poor sanitation, travel, and unsafe burial practices. Several patients diagnosed with Ebola virus disease in Africa have been evacuated to the United States for tr...

Ebola-a danger: clear and present.

Water: a clear and present danger.

Clean drinking water. It is something that the public has pretty much taken for granted for the past hundred years. The public has little idea and, perhaps understandably, little interest, in the many people and agencies struggling daily to ensure that drinking water remains uncontaminated. But our environment is changing, new pathogens are emerging, drinking water systems are aging, and govern...

Hepatocyte death: a clear and present danger.

The hepatocyte is especially vulnerable to injury due to its central role in xenobiotic metabolism including drugs and alcohol, participation in lipid and fatty acid metabolism, its unique role in the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids, the widespread prevalence of hepatotropic viruses, and its existence within a milieu of innate immune responding cells. Apoptosis and necrosis are the most...