Imagining a post-Covid landscape
The response to Covid-19 accelerated new ways of care provision and delivery of services. Which do we keep or leave aside for a better health service in future? writes
Valerie Ryan
What will the Irish health system look like for doctors and patients – whether public or private – for hospitals and the primary care sector as we dare to imagine a post-Covid era? As of now, one year on from the first confirmed Irish case of the novel coronavirus, we are still in the middle of the pandemic as the third wave swells and wanes slowly, workforce exhaustion, heartbreak and deaths have continued.
Bioengineered probiotic could prevent Listeria infections Bioengineered lactobacillus (red) interacts with surface heat shock protein 60 (white, yellow arrows), blocking Listeria monocytogenes (green, white arrows) from crossing into the bloodstream. (Photo provided by Rishi Drolia and Arun Bhunia.)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. For pregnant women, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, listeriosis is a serious foodborne illness often linked to deli meats, fresh produce and dairy products. Even with antibiotic treatment, listeriosis is fatal for about 20 percent of patients, resulting in thousands of deaths annually.
Purdue University’s Arun Bhunia, a professor of food science, and postdoctoral researcher Rishi Drolia have developed a probiotic that could prevent infections in at-risk populations. A bioengineered version of Lactobacillus, a bacterium common in the human gut, can block the pathway the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria use to cross intestinal wall cell