Hospitals are supposed to be the place where the sick get well. They can also be where the sick get sicker, thanks to the virulent bacteria and viruses that live there.
A few months before her second birthday, a small bump about the size of a pimple appeared on Audriana Willman's right leg. Her parents, Andrew and Chelsea, noticed the boil in the evening, as they prepared their daughter for bed.
Meat and poultry produced in the United States is widely contaminated with "multi-drug-resistant" bacteria, according to a study published Friday in a medical journal.
Almost half of the meat and poultry sold at U.S. supermarkets and grocery stores contains a type of bacteria that is potentially harmful to humans, a new study estimates.
A new study claims that nearly half the U.S. meat supply is contaminated with staph. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports.
Holiday travelers are filling up flights, and flu season is in full swing, so it's more important than ever to protect yourself against illness. We dug deep to identify the major germ zones on planes (and tips to avoid them). No, you're not likely to contract meningitis, but better safe than sorry, right?
New research suggests penicillin is becoming obsolete, and antibiotic resistance could lead to a "major health crisis" unless governments act to promote research into new drugs.
Perched above the ring after professionally battering a man for the first time in three years, Cole Escovedo's tortured legs quivered under his slender frame.
When the swine flu burst onto the scene in April, the bug arrived with a few particularly ominous signs: The flu was resistant to a class of drugs often used to fight flu in the past, and experts were surprised that a nonhuman virus could have such rapid human-to-human transmission. Why was swine flu resistant to current medicines, and was this strain a new supergerm?
For most, the flu is a winter inconvenience -- stuffy nose, fever, body aches and a few days of bed rest. But what seems fairly routine also can become life-threatening.
It was 10 a.m. on a recent weekday and the emergency room at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, was quiet, except for a little boy crying in room 45.
MRSA infections
updated: Mon Mar 02 2009 09:31:00
Thousands of Americans will contract dangerous staph infections this year, kids included, as CNN's Judy Fortin reports.
Are we overly concerned about germs? CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look inside a typical home to find out what's inside.
Jake Austin, 10 months old, loves playing on the ground. On a typical February morning, Jake and his 4-year-old brother, Hank, are rolling around on the family's shiny hardwood floor, the same floor where they and their parents track in dirt from outside every day.
Variations of two deadly superbugs that had previously only been discovered in the United States have surfaced in South America.
My fiancee and i moved to this area from the Midwest and since being here we have been plagued with boils. Small, big you name it -- on our mid-section, back of knee, thigh, buttock and lower sides. What can we do to get rid of, treat, or keep from getting them? They are painful and quite embarrassing. Please help.
If you've ever shaken someone's hand, only to watch them slather themselves with hand sanitizer afterwards, you're not alone.
A 6-foot-4 football player is more than a million times the size of a typical Staphylococcus bacterium. But under the right conditions, that athlete could find himself defenseless against the microscopic bug.
The league is learning the hard way that a microscopic foe can be much more imposing than a 300-pound lineman, as a sudden slew of staph infections has sacked several football players
Brett Favre has done it again. He's involved in yet another controversy with his former team. Only this time he may be losing the respect of some of the guys who used to be his teammates, to say nothing of other NFL players and officials.
Using naturally occurring antibacterial compounds found in soil, Rutgers University researchers say they may have discovered a new antibiotic drug
Our visits to the gym seem to be a lot more dangerous lately. Forget battling only boredom and feeling the pain. Now the fight is us against them -- and the enemy is germs.
CNN's Judy Fortin explores how to keep germs away from your health club.
When I heard that high schools were closing and teenagers were dying because of the MRSA superbug, I felt lucky. Since the middle of 2006, I've had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus six times and somehow managed to avoid the worst: I've never been hospitalized and don't fear for my life. But, please, take my advice and do everything you can to avoid this dangerous infection.
Smaller biotechnology companies are ready to take the lead away from big pharma in developing antibiotics that can take on a new generation of deadly "superbugs."
Superbug missed?
updated: Tue Oct 30 2007 14:20:00
A hospital is accused of misdiagnosing a boy who apparently died from MRSA. CNN's Jim Acosta reports.
The family of a Brooklyn boy who died this month from an antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus infection plans to file a $25 million lawsuit against the city of New York, the family's attorney said Tuesday.
Just days before his death, the Brooklyn, New York, middle-school student who died from an antibiotic-resistant staph infection had visited a hospital with skin lesions and was treated with allergy medicine, according to the family's lawyer, Paul Weitz.
Parents and officials want answers after a student dies from a drug-resistant staph infection. CNN's Jim Acosta reports.
CNN's Jim Acosta reports on the death of a 12-year-old New York middle school student from a staph infection.
The death of a 12-year-old student in Brooklyn from the staph infection MRSA has prompted fear among parents and students throughout the New York City school system, forcing officials to respond.
A middle school student from Brooklyn died Thursday, probably from the staph infection MRSA, according to the New York City Health Department.
For parents, sending kids off to summer camp is an emotional balancing act: There's the prospect of fresh air and friendships, competition and camaraderie, but there's also the worry of insect bites, injuries and allergies.