New papers on Microbiology of the Built Environment, August 14, 2016

Microbes on shoes Review: Shoe soles as a potential vector for pathogen transmission: A systematic review – Tasnuva Rashid – Journal of Applied Microbiology (OA) Shoe soles are possible vectors for infectious diseases. Although studies have been performed to assess the prevalence of infectious pathogens on shoe soles and decontamination techniques, no systematic review has …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, July 31, 2016

Microbes in the air High throughput genomic sequencing of bioaerosols in broiler chicken production facilities – Kate M. O’Brien – Microbial Biotechnology (OA) Chronic inhalation exposure to agricultural dust promotes the development of chronic respiratory diseases among poultry workers. Poultry dust is composed of dander, chicken feed, litter bedding and microbes. However, the microbial composition …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, July 24, 2016

Microbes of old Early evidence for travel with infectious diseases along the Silk Road: Intestinal parasites from 2000 year-old personal hygiene sticks in a latrine at Xuanquanzhi Relay Station in China — Hui-Yuan Yeh — Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports ($31.50) The Silk Road has often been blamed for the spread of infectious diseases in …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, July 17, 2016

Microbes in the clinic Glove Contamination during Endodontic Treatment Is One of the Sources of Nosocomial Endodontic Propionibacterium acnes Infections – Sadia Ambreen Niazi – Journal of Endodontics ($35.95) The opportunistic Propionibacterium acnes recovered frequently from failed endodontic treatments might be the result of nosocomial endodontic infections. The study was aimed to determine if gloves …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, July 9, 2016

Microbes and the built environment sensu stricto This short review in Trends in Microbiology is open access, very relevant for this blog, and received quite some press. Review: Buildings, Beneficial Microbes, and Health – Jordan Peccia, Sarah E. Kwan – Trends in Microbiology (OA) Bacteria and fungi in buildings exert an influence on the human …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, July 2, 2016

Microbes in the city Also see this blog post earlier this week: Urban Transit System Microbial Communities Differ by Surface Type and Interaction with Humans and the Environment – Tiffany Hsu – mSystems (OA) Public transit systems are ideal for studying the urban microbiome and interindividual community transfer. In this study, we used 16S amplicon and …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, June 24, 2016

Microbes and citizen science Video: Citizen Science and Mapping the Microbiome – Eric J. Topol interviews Jessica Richman – Medscape (OA) In this One-on-One, Medscape editor-in-chief Eric Topol talks with Jessica Richman about the value of citizen science as well as her company, uBiome, which provides microbiome analyses to consumers and plans to begin providing …

June 21 was International Swab Day for MetaSUB

June 21 was International Swab Day for the MetaSUB project. MetaSUB stands for “Metagenomics and Metadesign of the Subways and Urban Biomes”, an initiative in which experts together with citizens will study the microbial ecosystems of public transportation systems from all over the world. From the MetaSUB website: By developing and testing standards for the …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, June 18, 2016

Microbes and disinfection Antibacterial Activity of Blue Light against Nosocomial Wound Pathogens Growing Planktonically and as Mature Biofilms – Fenella D. Halstead – Applied and Environmental Microbiology (OA) (…) Here we report the findings of a multicenter in vitro study performed to assess the antimicrobial activity of 400-nm blue light against bacteria in both planktonic and biofilm …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, June 12, 2016

Microbes in the house Fungal and bacterial growth in floor dust at elevated relative humidity levels — Karen C. Dannemiller — Indoor Air ($6 to rent, $38 to own) Under sustained, elevated building moisture conditions, bacterial and fungal growth occurs. The goal of this study was to characterize microbial growth in floor dust at variable …