Ninth grader explains appendix's role in combating infections in award-winning video

Fifteen-year-old Paige Bebee just won the 2015 University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Eureka science prize for a short video she created explaining the origin of the appendix and dispelling the myth that the organ is useless, Bustle reported.

Paige had her younger sister, Milla Bebee, star in the video to explain how the appendix is actually very important in maintaining intestinal health. Milla describes how a healthy appendix is actually useful in aiding the body's recovery after a bad infection.

The information in the video is supported by a study from Duke University in Durham, N.C., and Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y., in which researchers found that patients infected with Clostridium difficile are four times more likely to have recurrences of the infection if they had had their appendix removed than if they retained this underestimated organ.

See Paige's full, award-winning video below.

 

 

 

More articles on infections:
Duke creates infection control guide for NFL teams
10 of the most interesting infection control developments this year
CDC video demonstrates how infections spread between facilities

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