Superbugs may be here to stay

Multidrug-resistant bacteria may be here to stay. The common wisdom that superbugs with antibiotic resistance are outcompeted by their non-super neighbours in the absence of antibiotics has been turned on its head.

Bacterial antibiotic resistance is a major concern because it can lead to the appearance of dangerous and difficult-to-treat infections in humans. Resistance generally occurs in one of two ways: either through mutations in the bacterial DNA or, more commonly, through the acquisition of resistant genes from other organisms through horizontal gene transfer.

Stroke Rates Among Pregnant Women and New Moms on the Rise

Although strokes rarely occur among women during pregnancy and just after birth, the rates of incidence have made an alarming jump over the past decade. According to a study from the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of stroke-related hospitalizations for new moms and mothers-to-be has increased by a disturbing 54 percent in the last twelve years. Details on the study were recently published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Three out of four mums wouldn't know what to do if their child suffers a severe allergic reaction to a wasp sting

Three out of four mums don't know what to do if their child suffers a severe allergic reaction to a wasp sting, new research warns.
Findings reveal that three quarters (76 per cent) of mums wouldn't know how to treat anaphylactic shock if their child experienced it, while over two thirds (66 per cent) worry about the threat posed by wasps during the warm summer months.