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It is crucial to have a technology that can rapidly and accurately distinguish between bacterial and viral infections. Such technology can reduce the overuse of antibiotics in viral infections. MeMed Diagnostics (developed in Israel) is a personalized diagnostics company founded in 2009. The company developed an immunoassay test to differentiate bacteria from viruses using chemiluminescence detection technology. The devices distinguish between bacterial and viral infections based on patients’ immune responses to different infection types, enabling physicians to get rapid (15 minutes) and actionable clinical information to make informed antibiotic treatment decisions. The MeMed Key cartridges allow simultaneous measurements of up...

2021 was still a year dominated by COVID-19, but the food industry was better equipped to continue food production without the interruptions of 2020, and the virus no longer shut plants down as it did in 2020. 2021 looked much more like 2019 than 2020 for food safety when comparing outbreaks. While slow progress is being made in food safety, the number of outbreaks has not significantly diminished over the years. Foodborne diseases remain a global public health challenge worldwide. In 2021 the CDC reported 16 outbreaks. In the last couple of weeks, major outbreaks such as Fresh Express and...

Scientists at Ben-Burion University in Israel discovered that some artificial sweeteners hurt the gut flora to quorum sensing. The study shows that aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin have significant inhibitory actions on the Gram-negative bacteria N-acyl homoserine lactone-based (AHL) communication system. The study concluded that artificial sweeteners disrupt communication, indicating that artificial sweeteners may be problematic in changing the microbiome and potentially increasing disease risk. Three less common sweeteners, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), advantame, and neotame, did not have this effect.

FoodNet monitors laboratory-diagnosed infections caused by eight pathogens regularly transmitted through food (Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia). Cases of infection cover 10 states (covering roughly 15% of the United States’ population). A new research was published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly based on preliminary data from 2020 and issued by the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet). The study identified 26% fewer infections in 2020, compared with the average annual number during 2017–2019, including decreased infections associated with international travel. The decline was from 50 cases/100,000 during 2017-2019 to 37...