Newspaper headlines from the U.S. to the U.K. and most places in between highlight the surge in sick patients suffering from respiratory viruses. The so-called “tripledemic” of lung infections including respiratory synclinal virus (RSV), influenza (flu) and COVID-19 (coronavirus) is likely to last throughout the winter season. This explosion of infections requires more treatment options to support overloaded hospitals and overworked medics as they restore people’s health.

It has been known for a long time that intubation of an infant with any lung condition, or even an adult with severe COVID-19 using either ventilation or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), comes with risks and side effects that could cause permanent damage not limited to the lungs. However, hypoxia, which means oxygen deficiency, is a medical emergency that is a common complication of severe lung infections. If not treated, it can lead to severe disability and even death.

UNIGE researchers have discovered that a medication commonly used to treat herpes can combat an antibiotic-resistant bacterium by disrupting its defense mechanisms.

Antibiotic resistance, or the ability of bacteria to develop resistance to treatment with antibiotics, has become a major concern for global health. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers it one of the greatest threats to health. The overuse of antibiotics has contributed to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can cause serious illness and death. One example of an antibiotic-resistant pathogen is Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium commonly found in hospitals and known for its virulence. Without effective treatment options, we could see a resurgence of diseases such as pneumonia and salmonella, which were once easily treated with antibiotics.

Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have found that edoxudine, an anti-herpes molecule developed in the 1960s, can disrupt the protective surface of Klebsiella bacteria and make them more vulnerable to being eliminated by immune cells. The researchers’ findings were recently published in the journal PLOS ONE.

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month, which makes this a good time to learn more about treating this group of eye conditions.

About 3 million people in the U.S. have glaucoma, and it’s the second-leading cause of blindness worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, often due to abnormally high pressure in your eye. Elevated eye pressure is due to a buildup of the fluid that flows throughout the inside of your eye. When this fluid is overproduced or the drainage system doesn’t work properly, the fluid can’t flow out at its normal rate and eye pressure increases.

Exercise and physical activity reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It has been observed that an active individual is at a 30% to 40% lower risk of CVD. However, previous cross-sectional studies have failed to determine whether exercise has a significant impact on expediting coronary atherosclerosis and plaque morphology. A recent Circulation journal paper has focused on investigating the relationship between exercise volume and intensity and the progression of coronary atherosclerosis in middle-aged and older male athletes.

Study: Exercise Volume Versus Intensity and the Progression of Coronary Atherosclerosis in Middle-Aged and Older Athletes: Findings From the MARC-2 Study. Image Credit: sciencepics / Shutterstock.