Bacteria or Virus? Express Yourself!

Bacteria or Virus? Express Yourself!

As this year’s flu and cold season wanes down a bit, I found it heartening to read that science is focusing on a way to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections to help limit over-prescribing of antibiotics. Over the last decades doctors have been far too...

Acid-suppressing Medications and Bacterial Infections

Last week the FDA issued a warning about the use of acid-suppressing medications known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and the risk of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD), a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection.1 The FDA states that in...

Taking Antibiotics for a Bad Cold? Not so Good.

Over-prescription of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance and affects the ability of bacteria to survive antibiotic treatment.  That’s very important because if antibiotics do not work for infections, there isn’t much else that will.  Now that’s scary! A...