Press release of interest: Infants Exposed to Specific Molds Have Higher Asthma Risk

A new paper is discussed in this press release that is of interest to studies of microbiology of the built environment: UC HealthNews : Infants Exposed to Specific Molds Have Higher Asthma Risk. From the lab of Tiina Reponen who is involved in various studies on this topic. The online article is here: Full Text though it is not freely …

Follow up to post about hospital garb & microbes: overworking nurses not a good idea

Interesting article on the possible connection between overworked/burned out nurses and hospital acquired infections: Burned-out nurses linked to more infections in patients – Vitals. Not clear whether any type of causal relationship was established here (though I doubt it).  But nevertheless, this is yet another factor to consider when thinking about the transmission of microbes in …

A year old but still worth pondering – is hospital garb a vector for microbes?

Accidentally wandered into this year old story from what was then MSNBC: Hospital garb harbors nasty bacteria, study says. The story discusses something that is nearly always on my mind when I hear discussions of hospital acquired infections – scrubs.  I am amazed, for example, at how many people from the UC Davis Veterinary School/Hospital (which …

NewScientist feature on Noah Fierer “Intrepid explorer of the microbe jungle in your home”

Nice mini feature on Noah Fierer in the the New Scientist: Intrepid explorer of the microbe jungle in your home The feature is basically an interview with Graham Lawton and covers many topics of interest to studies of “microbiology of the built environment.” Good stuff in there on natural history, germaphobia, toilets and more.  Definitely worth …

Job: Postdoctoral Position in Environmental Metagenomics of Municipal Water Distribution Systems w/ Norman Pace

Postdoctoral Position in Environmental Metagenomics, Norman Pace Lab, Boulder, CO Available September 1, 2012, three years appointment, NIH salary grades. A three-year Research Associate position is available for participation with a team studying the microbial metagenomics of municipal water distribution systems. Although seemingly a mundane setting, little is known about the microbiology of municipal drinking …

Edinburgh Legionnaires’ outbreak: Cooling towers ‘likely’ source

Well, investigations of Legionella outbreaks always seem to involve a combination of microbiology and building science so I thought I would post this link here: BBC News – Edinburgh Legionnaires’ outbreak: Cooling towers ‘likely’ source.  I wonder how much Legionella is showing up in other buildings – especially in DNA based surveys – even when people …