Infection

Brain-eating amoebas have killed three young Americans this summer. What is this scary bug? How does it get to the brain? Where is it, and how can you avoid it? WebMD answers these and other questions.

Public restrooms are often filled with infection-causing bacteria, a study shows.

Too many kids are still getting antibiotic prescriptions for colds, viral sore throats, and other illnesses that don't require or respond to antibiotics, a study suggests.

A rapid blood test that distinguishes between viral and bacterial infection in less than two hours could prove to be a useful weapon in the battle against antibiotic resistance.

Scientists released 300,000 mosquitoes they had infected with an insect germ that makes the bugs unable to spread dengue virus. The germ spread to nearly all mosquitoes in a remote region of Australia.

Antibiotic overuse doesn’t just lead to drug-resistant superbugs, it may also permanently wipe out the body’s good bacteria.

The white coats, scrubs, and smocks of hospital doctors and nurses often look clean, but bad bugs may be hitching rides on their clothes, new research shows.

Babesiosis, a potentially life-threatening tick-borne disease, is an uncommon but serious complication of blood transfusions, according to a CDC report.

Eight people died and about 14,000 people in 38 states and Puerto Rico were sickened by bacteria and other bugs picked up during recreational swimming activities in a two-year period ending in December 2008, a new CDC report shows.

A new study has found 92% of cell phones in the U.K. have bacteria on them, including E. coli, because people aren't washing their hands after going to the bathroom.

A new study shows what many people have long suspected -- bacteria are plentiful in public restrooms.

CDC: Consumers across the U.S. should avoid cantaloupe from the Rocky Ford region of Colorado. The cantaloupe may carry deadly Listeria bacteria. There have been 15 hospitalizations and one death in four states so far.

Jensen Farms in Colorado appears to be the source of listeria-contaminated cantaloupe. The outbreak so far has killed two people and hospitalized 20 others in seven states.

Four people are confirmed dead and three more deaths are under investigation as the outbreak of Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes grows to 35 cases in 10 states.

CDC: The death toll has risen to 8 as the ongoing outbreak of listeria food poisoning from Colorado cantaloupes has sickened at least 55 people in 14 states.

The CDC says 72 people have been sickened and 13 have died as a result of eating cantaloupes tainted with Listeria bacteria, making it the deadliest outbreak of food-borne illness in the U.S. in a decade.

WebMD offers in-depth information on Listeria monocytogenes, the deadly bacteria behind the ongoing outbreak of listeriosis from cantaloupe.

A potential E. coli 0157:H7 contamination has spurred the recall of over 130,000 pounds of ground beef products.

True Leaf Farms of Salinas, Calif., has recalled 2,498 cartons of chopped or shredded romaine lettuce due to suspected listeria contamination. It was shipped to retail or wholesale distributors in 21 states.

The toll from the ongoing outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe has reached 18 deaths among 100 cases in 30 states.

The current listeria outbreak from cantaloupe is now the second largest in U.S. history.

Two more deaths have been reported in the ongoing outbreak of listeria food poisoning from Colorado cantaloupes.

Results of an investigation by state and federal health officials have shed light on how cantaloupes grown by a Colorado farm became contaminated with deadly listeria bacteria.

With 29 adult deaths, the ongoing outbreak of listeria food poisoning from tainted cantaloupe is the deadliest listeria outbreak in U.S. history. There were 18 adult and 10 newborn deaths in the 1985 listeria outbreak -- although that year there were 20 miscarriages, compared to one so far this year.

Smucker's is recalling its Natural Peanut Butter Chunky due to possible salmonella contamination. The product would have been sold only from Nov. 8 through Nov. 17. No illnesses have been reported.