Springer Science+Business Media is offering all journal articles and book chapters which deal with the E. coli bacteria free of charge on its online information platform www.springerlink.com. The articles can be found by using the search terms “Enterohaemorrhagic and Escherichia and coli” or by using the link www.springer.com/ehec. A total of over 400 scientific articles are available to print out or download from now until 1 September 2011.

 

The E. coli strain of bacterium has the potential to cause severe diarrhea, followed by serious organ system damage. During the past few weeks, a significant increase in the number of patients with the disease has been reported in Europe, especially in Germany. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control says transmission of the strain of bacterium, commonly found in cattle, usually occurs through contaminated food or water and contact with animals.

 

Eric Merkel-Sobotta, Executive Vice President Corporate Communications of Springer Science+Business Media, said, “As a global scientific, technical and medical publisher, Springer plays a major role in the distribution of scientific information and access to knowledge and research. Therefore we are making all studies, published up to now on the E. coli bacteria, freely available online on SpringerLink. By doing this, we hope to play a small part in helping researchers and medical professionals solve, or at the very least alleviate, this crisis.”

 

The articles which are available free of charge concern the better-known and less aggressive strain E. coli 0157:H7. For further information and daily reports on the E. coli infection, please visit the website of the Robert Koch Institute (www.rki.de). Information is available in English.

 

SpringerLink is the world's most comprehensive online collection of scientific, technological and medical journals, books and reference works. Originally launched in 1996, SpringerLink (www.springerlink.com) provides students and researchers with electronic access to more than 45,000 eBooks, 2,000 peer-reviewed Springer journals, as well as 23,000 protocols for laboratories.

 

Springer Science+Business Media is a leading global scientific publisher, delivering quality content through innovative information products and services. The company is also a trusted provider of local-language professional publications in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands. In the science, technology and medicine (STM) sector, the group publishes around 2,000 journals and more than 7,000 new books a year, as well as the largest STM eBook Collection worldwide. Springer has operations in about 20 countries in Europe, the USA, and Asia, and more than 5,500 employees. In 2010, it generated annual sales of around EUR 866 million