Saturday 27 April 2019

Do I Need an Antibiotic? Bacterial vs. Viral Infections





Do I Need an Antibiotic? Bacterial vs. Viral Infections


Bacteria vs virus – learn the difference and the best way to fight each.
Think a good dose of antibiotics will knock that cold or flu out of you? Think again. Antibiotics, if prescribed and taken correctly, usually can kill bacteria but they are useless against viruses such as the cold and flu.
Unlike bacteria, viruses generally require a vaccination to prevent them in the first place or antiviral drugs to treat them. Often, the only treatment for a viral infection is to let the illness run its course.


What’s the difference?

Bacteria: Mostly friendly

Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that are everywhere—in the air, soil and water, on plants and in animals. Most bacteria—including those in our intestines —are harmless. Some actually help by digesting food and destroying disease-causing microbes, according to the Mayo Clinic, which notes that fewer than 1 percent of bacteria cause disease in people.
Some infections bacteria can cause include strep throat, tuberculosis, and urinary tract infections (UTI).
How is a bacterial infection treated?
Taking a prescribed course of antibiotics according to a doctor’s instructions can kill the infection. Unfortunately, bacteria are adaptable and the overuse of antibiotics has helped create strains of bacteria that have grown resistant to antibiotics. Plus, overuse of antibiotics also can kill off healthy bacteria in your body and may let toxic germs gain a foothold, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control.
Virus: Invading you to stay alive
Viruses are smaller than bacteria and can’t survive without a living host. A virus attaches itself to cells and usually reprograms them to reproduce itself. Also, unlike bacteria, most viruses do cause disease.
Some virus-caused diseases include the common cold, AIDS, herpes, and chickenpox.
Viral infections require either vaccinations to prevent them in the first place—like with vaccinations against polio or the measles—or antiviral drugs to treat them.
How is a viral infection treated?
Antiviral drugs, developed largely in response to the AIDS pandemic, do not destroy a virus but inhibit its development. Antivirals also are available to treat some illnesses like the herpes simplex virus, the flu and shingles, according to Medical News Today.
Antibiotics are not effective against viruses, and the Centers for Disease Control and other health organizations now recommendagainst using antibiotics unless there is clear evidence of a bacterial infection.
Most viral infections tend to resolve on their own without treatment so any treatment generally is aimed at providing relief from symptoms like pain, fever and cough.
How are they spread?
Both viral and bacterial infections are spread in similar ways:
  • Coughing and sneezing
  • Contact with infected people, especially through kissing and sex
  • Contact with contaminated surfaces, food, and water
  • Contact with infected creatures, including pets, livestock, and insects like fleas and ticks
How can a doctor tell the difference?
Viruses and bacteria are tricky. Not only can they cause similar symptoms but many illnesses—like pneumonia, meningitis and diarrhea—can be caused by either a virus or a bacterium.
Your doctor often can diagnose you through a medical history and physical exam. The doctor may order blood or urine tests or a spinal culture to help pinpoint a viral or bacterial infection.
According to physicians interviewed by health.com, most doctors consider four things when faced with a virus vs. bacteria question:
  • Have a fever? Common with both bacterial and viral illnesses. But if the flu is  circulating in your area right now, antibiotics won’t be the answer to the virus. Your doctor will look to treat your symptoms. Be sure to get a flu shot next season, if possible. 
  • Been sick long? Viral infections that linger sometimes can turn into a larger problem, such as a sinus infection when bacteria join in. Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic.
  • What color is it? While green or yellow mucus can be a sign of a bacterial infection, doctors say that’s an unreliable indicator of the need for an antibiotic.
  • What’s your throat look like?White spots can be a sign of bacteria. A sore throat without other cold symptoms can be strep throat, which absolutely requires antibiotics. To be sure, you need a culture or rapid antigen test, which can be done while you wait.
Make yourself feel better
The CDC offers a lengthy list of non-prescription drug measures you can seek for relief of your symptoms. Besides generally getting rest of drinking plenty of fluids, here are some of the easiest ones for adults to follow:
Colds
  • Use a clean humidifier or cool mist vaporizer
  • Avoid smoking, secondhand smoke, and other pollutants
  • Take nonprescription pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen to relieve pain or fever
  • Use saline nasal spray or drops

Sore Throat

  • Ice chips, sore throat spray, popsicles, or lozenges
  • Gargle with salt water

Sinus Pain/Pressure

Differences Between Bacteria and Viruses and their infection and tretment







Differences Between Bacteria and Viruses



Although bacteria and viruses both are very small to be seen without a microscope, there are many differences between Bacteria and Viruses.

Some of the Differences Between Bacteria and Viruses are as follows:

S.N.

Characteristics

Bacteria

Viruses

1SizeLarger (1000 nm)Smaller (20-400 nm)
2Cell WallPeptidoglycan or LipopolysaccharideNo cell wall. Protein coat present instead.
3RibosomesPresentAbsent
4Number of cellsOne cell (Unicellular)No cells
5Living/Non-LivingLiving organismsBetween living and non-living things.
6DNA and RNADNA and RNA floating freely in cytoplasm.DNA or RNA enclosed inside a coat of protein.
7InfectionLocalizedSystemic
8ReproduceAble to reproduce by itselfNeed a living cell to reproduce
9ReproductionFission- a form of asexual reproductionInvades a host cell and takes over the cell causing it to make copies of the viral DNA/RNA. Destroys the host cell releasing new viruses.
10Duration of illnessA bacterial illness commonly will last longer than 10 days.Most viral illnesses last 2 to 10 days.
11FeverA bacterial illness notoriously causes a fever.A viral infection may or may not cause a fever.
12Cellular MachineryPossesses a cellular machineryLack cellular machinery
13Under MicroscopeVisible under Light Microscope.Visible only under Electron Microscope.
14BenefitsSome bacteria are beneficial (Normal Flora)Viruses are not beneficial. However, a particular virus may be able to destroy brain tumors. Viruses can be useful in genetic engineering.
15TreatmentAntibioticsVirus does not respond to antibiotics.
16ExamplesStaphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, etcHIV, Hepatitis A virus, Rhino Virus, etc
17Diseases/InfectionsFood poisoning, gastritis and ulcers, meningitis, pneumonia, etc

AIDS, common cold, influenza, chickenpox, etc

What's the difference between a bacterial infection and a viral infection?

As you might think, bacterial infections are caused by bacteria, and viral infections are caused by viruses. Perhaps the most important distinction between bacteria and viruses is that antibiotic drugs usually kill bacteria, but they aren't effective against viruses.

Bacteria

Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that thrive in many different types of environments. Some varieties live in extremes of cold or heat. Others make their home in people's intestines, where they help digest food. Most bacteria cause no harm to people, but there are exceptions
Infections caused by bacteria include:
  • Strep throat
  • Tuberculosis
  • Urinary tract infections
Inappropriate use of antibiotics has helped create bacterial diseases that are resistant to treatment with different types of antibiotic medications.

Viruses

Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and require living hosts — such as people, plants or animals — to multiply. Otherwise, they can't survive. When a virus enters your body, it invades some of your cells and takes over the cell machinery, redirecting it to produce the virus.
Diseases caused by viruses include:
  • Chickenpox
  • AIDS
  • Common colds
In some cases, it may be difficult to determine whether a bacterium or a virus is causing your symptoms. Many ailments — such as pneumonia, meningitis and diarrhea — can be caused by either bacteria or viruses
Must be read this link
https://vinodkumarkushwaha.blogspot.com/2019/04/indicators-of-food-microbial-quality.html?spref=fb&m=1

Wednesday 24 April 2019

New Enzyme To Arrest Bacterial Growth Discovered By CCMB Scientists

New Enzyme To Arrest Bacterial Growth Discovered By CCMB Scientists

Written on 04/23/2019




New Enzyme To Arrest Bacterial Growth Discovered By CCMB Scientists
Center for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) Scientists has found a new enzyme which helps in breaking cell walls of bacteria and consequently, offers a potential for a new drug delivery route to arrest the anti-bacterial resistance through existing antibiotic drugs.
In a press conference held on Tuesday, CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra and Seniors scientist Manjula Reddy explained – that for research it is vital to understand how the cells grow in bacteria to comprehend the resistance to antibiotics that were currently available.
Scientists all around the world are trying to understand this phenomenon. Dr. Reddy Labs has been analyzing the way e.coli bacteria cells operate, split and grow to understand diseases like cholera, leprosy, tuberculosis and so on.
Dr. Reddy along with her research scholar Ch. Pavan Kumar has been working on how the cell governs the machinery to construct the cell wall in the first place, identified the players on the other side of the process and discovered that the mechanism or enzyme through which the cell regulates the growth of its wall.
Other bacteria, also, have the enzyme since the cell wall is fundamental for bacterial growth and division. By blocking this ‘scissors’ enzyme’ from working – effective ways to target microbes can be figured out leading to the development of novel antibiotics.
In contrast, existing antibiotic drugs functions by targeting the last stages in cell development to block cell growth like penicillin that hits on the machinery that creates the cell wall – a mesh-like structure of sugars and peptides.
Dr. Mishra and Dr. Reddy Concluded that – The Research done till now is very innovative. Now further they have to find out the molecule of the enzyme endo-pepcidine and it needs to undergo drug trials to unravel a new mix of drugs to replace existing antibiotics though it’s tough to forecast a timeframe.
The above research by CCMB can be read at the latest issue of Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, USA.

Sunday 21 April 2019

Brain marker for angry dreams: Sleep study advances understanding of emotions experienced during dreaming

Brain marker for angry dreams

Sleep study advances understanding of emotions experienced during dreaming

Date:
April 22, 2019
Source:
Society for Neuroscience
Summary:
Researchers have identified a pattern of brain activity that predicts anger experienced during dreaming, according to a new study of healthy adults. The research could potentially inform efforts to understand the neural basis of the emotional content of nightmares, a feature of various mental and sleep disorders.
 


Researchers have identified a pattern of brain activity that predicts anger experienced during dreaming, according to a new study of healthy adults published in JNeurosci. The research could potentially inform efforts to understand the neural basis of the emotional content of nightmares, a feature of various mental and sleep disorders
Although emotions are experienced during both waking and dreaming, few studies have investigated the brain mechanisms underlying the affective component of dreams. Pilleriin Sikka and colleagues at University of Turku, University of Skövde, and University of Cambridge discovered a shared emotional mechanism between the two states of consciousness.
The researchers obtained electroencephalography recordings from participants during two separate nights in a sleep laboratory. After five-minute bouts of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, participants were awoken and asked to describe their dream and rate the emotions they experienced in the dream. Individuals who displayed greater alpha-band brain activity in the right, as compared to the left, frontal cortex during evening wakefulness and during REM sleep experienced more anger in dreams. This neural signature -- called frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) -- has been linked to anger and self-regulation during wakefulness.
Together, these results suggest FAA may reflect a universal indicator of emotion regulation.

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