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As scientists race to create a vaccine for the Zika virus, new research from the University of Georgia suggests almost half of Americans wouldn’t be interested in getting the shot even if public health officials recommended it for them. Only 1 in 3 people in an October 2016 nationally representative survey said they would be willing to get a Zika shot if one were available and recommended. More than two out of five respondents said they would not be interested in getting a Zika vaccine, and another quarter were undecided on the question.

The Zika virus remains a mystery. Isolated from macaque monkeys in the Ziika Forest in Uganda in 1947, the virus was shown to infect humans not long after, but it was identified as a benign disease, with mild symptoms. For this reason, it was not heavily studied until almost 70 years later when it appeared to be associated with an unusual cluster of cases of microcephalic birth defects and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) paralysis in Brazil in 2015 and 2016.

Dr. Hans Wildschutte has his eye on finding answers to the serious global issues of antibiotic resistance and novel drug discovery. The research in Wildschutte’s lab focuses on finding environmental bacteria that can kill one or multiple pathogens.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) affect more than 2 million patients annually and cost over $4.5 billion. Infection prevention bundles are increasingly being used that include nasal decolonization, and evidence supporting its effectiveness is growing. Although mupirocin (trade names including Bactroban, Centany) is commonly used for nasal decolonization, it may be prudent to consider new nasal antiseptics with which antimicrobial resistance is not an issue [trade names including Nozin (alcohol) and 3M and Clorox (iodine).

Every year, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) releases the latest version of its Guidelines for Perioperative Practice to its 41,000 members. Each edition of the book features updated instruction on practices that help perioperative nurses and, in turn, infection preventionists, ensure patient health and safety. For example, the 2017 publication contains detailed new insight into hand hygiene in the surgi-cal suite. The information discusses how fingernails, and even polish, can harbor germs, and offers best practices for preventing contamination that could hurt the patient. Through the teaching efforts of AORN members, and the acceptance of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Guideline Clearinghouse, these directions will reach more than 2,500 hospitals and more than 160,000 RNs.

The life of a watershed is complex. The watershed is the area of land separating the smaller water flows that feed into a larger, common outlet--like a river, lake or ocean. As such, it is often home to a variety of wildlife, as well as subject to agricultural and recreational uses. From this complicated ecosystem, bacteria, viruses and parasites emerge--sometimes making their way into the water supply. One reason that drinking water and public swimming pools are treated with chlorine is to kill such disease-causing organisms. Chlorine successfully eliminates a number of harmful pathogens--but not all of them.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists have established in mice a way to study potentially life-threatening meningitis caused by Salmonella. Bacterial meningitis happens when bacteria infect the central nervous system (CNS), causing a serious disease that can be life-threatening and difficult to diagnose and treat. Patients who survive often have permanent brain damag

A Michigan State University research team is the first to show how a common bacterium found in improperly cooked chicken causes Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). The federally funded research, now published in the Journal of Autoimmunity, not only demonstrates how this food-borne bacterium, known as Campylobacter jejuni, triggers GBS, but offers new information for a cure. If chicken isn't cooked to the proper minimum internal temperature, bacteria can still exist.