All articles tagged with #chronic infections
Supportive Oligonucleotide Therapy (SOT) is an emerging, experimental gene-silencing treatment showing promise for chronic infections like Lyme disease, but it is not yet FDA-approved and requires further research to confirm safety and efficacy.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have identified a small RNA, named SicX, that regulates the transition between chronic and acute Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. The gene that drives the switch, PA1414, was found to be highly expressed in human tissue samples of chronic bacterial lung and wound infections. The researchers also found that low oxygen drives the high expression of the gene. SicX potentially serves as a biomarker for the chronic-to-acute switch, which could lead to better predictions of when an infection might become life-threatening and the development of targeted therapeutics.
Genetic sequencing of wastewater samples from sewer systems across the US has uncovered dozens of unique strains of the coronavirus, with multiple mutations in unusual combinations. These "cryptic lineages" could be traced back to people who have been living with a chronic Covid-19 infection for years, shedding at least a thousand times more virus than an average patient does. While the cryptic lineages do not pose a public health threat, finding these people can help them get the medical attention they need and perhaps help researchers learn more about long Covid.