UTI tagged posts

E. coli bacteria. Credit: NIAID

For invading bacteria that have figured out how to scavenge iron from their hosts, it’s a fine place to grow and reproduce. And for millions of women a year, that means painful, burning, potentially dangerous urinary tract infections. Now, in an ironic twist, scientists prevented UTIs in mice by vaccinating them with the same molecules that the bacteria usually use to grab iron and fuel their growth. They caution that a human UTI vaccine based on the approach is still years away. But the success of vaccination with the small iron-grabbing molecules, ie siderophores, paves the way for further research.

The same team previously reported success in preventing UTIs using a vaccine made of proteins from the bacteria, called uropathogenic Escherichia coli or UPEC...

type 1 and P fimbriae of uropathogenic Escherichia coli, the major causative agent of urinary tract infections in humans.

A way has been found to stop deadly bacteria from infecting patients. The discovery could lead to a whole new way of treating antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’. The Austalian researchers have uncovered what may be an Achilles heel on the bacteria cell membrane that could act as a potential novel drug target. Almost every second woman suffers from a urinary tract infection, UTI during her lifetime, mostly caused by E. coli. It travels along the urethra to the bladder where it triggers painful infections.

In order to infect the bladder (which is constantly being flushed out with urine), the bacteria have developed nanofilaments which effectively anchor the bacteria to the ...