Sahana Sitaraman in The Scientist:
When someone catches a lung infection, be it viral or bacterial, they usually show tell-tale symptoms, such as weakness, breathing difficulties, or brain fog. These indicators signal others to keep a safe distance from the contagious individual. But Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause a range of lung infections, from mild bronchitis to life-threatening pneumonia, that are acutely asymptomatic yet cause inflammation and destruction of tissue.1
In chronic infections, these bacteria form a biofilm of extracellular polymer matrix around themselves that shields them from antimicrobials, enzymes, and neutrophils.2 Now, in a paper published in Cell, a group of scientists investigated the underlying mechanism and reported that the biofilm hides Pseudomonas bacteria from sensory neurons in mice, preventing signals from reaching the brain and reducing sickness symptoms.3 These findings provide a deeper understanding of how biofilm-forming bacteria evade the lung-to-brain communication channel, a potentially crucial tactic in persistent infections.
More here.
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