Antimicrobial Drug News and Research

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Antimicrobials are substance that kills microorganisms such as bacteria or mold, or stops them from growing and causing disease.

Textiles with permanent antibacterial properties

Antimicrobial agents are not new to the marketplace. Our stores are filled with antibacterial soaps and gels, and in a post-9/11 world, wearable protection from biological agents is in increasing demand. So far, antimicrobial textile production has used coatings that can wash away over time, reducing the useful life of protective clothing.

21 Jun 2005

Promising new tuberculosis drug enters clinical trial

A promising new drug candidate that may be effective against both actively dividing and slow-growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) has begun testing in humans, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced this week.

15 Jun 2005

Eat raisins to fight gum disease!

Compounds found in raisins fight bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and gum disease, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

8 Jun 2005

Lactose intolerance linked to ancestral environment

Got milk? Many people couldn't care less because they can't digest it. A new Cornell University study finds that it is primarily people whose ancestors came from places where dairy herds could be raised safely and economically, such as in Europe, who have developed the ability to digest milk.

1 Jun 2005

New product for advanced treatment of chronic wounds

Insense Ltd, a UK biotechnology company, announced successful clinical trial results for "Oxyzyme", a new product for advanced treatment of chronic wounds.

23 May 2005

Antimicrobial soaps may expose consumers to significant quantities of chloroform

Researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered that the use of antimicrobial soaps and other products may unnecessarily be directly exposing consumers to significant quantities of chloroform.

12 Apr 2005

Blue light kills gum disease

Scientists at The Forsyth Institute have found that blue light can be used to selectively suppress certain bacteria commonly associated with destructive gum disease.

3 Apr 2005

Neonatal infections in hospital born babies are up to 20 times higher in developing countries

Neonatal deaths account for over one-third of the global burden of child mortality. Infections are the major cause of neonatal deaths in developing countries. (See The Lancet Neonatal Survival Series, March 2005) Data suggest that unhygienic practices in labour and delivery, and in after-birth care, put babies in the developing world at great risk of infections and death soon after birth.

28 Mar 2005

Fabric treated with an antimicrobial compound can kill dormant anthrax spores

Military textile fabric treated with an antimicrobial compound can kill dormant anthrax spores and could provide the basis for enhancing military protection in the event of a biological attack. Scientists from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) reported their findings at the 2005 American Society for Microbiology Biodefense Research Meeting.

23 Mar 2005

Researchers identify biochemical target that could lead to a new class of antibiotics to fight TB

A worldwide health problem, tuberculosis kills more people than any other bacterial infection. The World Health Organization estimates that two billion people are infected with TB, and that two million people die each year from the disease.

14 Mar 2005

Massage with sunflower seed oil helps low birth weight babies

Massaging low birth weight babies with sunflower seed oil is a low cost intervention that can protect them from infections, concludes a study published online by The Lancet.

3 Mar 2005

Project targeting the increasing resistance of some viruses to drugs

A new project targeting the increasing resistance of some viruses to drugs is being funded with the help of nine million euros under the Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health area of the EU’s Framework Programme.

28 Feb 2005

Balance between potassium and sodium is very important for proper body function

Important, interrelated factors leading to hypertension include obesity, stress, and the genetic vulnerability of American consumers, in addition to their sodium intake. The balance between potassium and sodium is very important for proper body function, and more attention should be given to ways for improving potassium intake.

27 Feb 2005

Study reveals need for change in surgical procedures

IPRO has announced progress in surgical infection prevention after the Archives of Surgery published a study highlighting the need for better, more consistent practices to address infection risk factors.

22 Feb 2005

Antimicrobials improperly used about 50% of the time

Antimicrobial medications intended to prevent surgical site infections are appropriately administered to patients (within one hour before incision) only 55.7 percent of the time, according to a study published in the February issue of Archives of Surgery.

21 Feb 2005

Three-day antibiotic treatment for treating bladder infections in women

A three-day regimen of the antibiotic amoxicillin-clavulanate is not as effective as ciprofloxacin at treating an uncomplicated bladder infection in women, according to a study conducted by Thomas M. Hooton, M.D., of the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, and colleagues.

21 Feb 2005

Prescription of antibiotics in primary care in Europe vary greatly

Resistance to antibiotics is more common in southern and eastern Europe than in northern Europe because the regions have high rates of antibiotic use, suggests a study published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

10 Feb 2005

Anti-bacterial additive triclocarban widespread In U.S. waterways

Many rivers and streams in the United States are believed to contain a toxic antimicrobial chemical whose environmental fate was never thoroughly scrutinized despite large scale production and usage for almost half a century, according to an analysis conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

24 Jan 2005

Research breakthrough in treatment of TB and MDR-TB

FASgen Inc.'s compound, FAS20013, has emerged from an intense multi-year program of pre-clinical studies that clearly validate its potential as an ideal new drug for the treatment of tuberculosis and MDR-TB, the disease caused by organisms that are resistant to the drugs now commonly used to treat TB. Initial clinical trials in both TB and MDR-TB are scheduled for later this year.

12 Jan 2005

Study on first new potential drug for tuberculosis in 40 years

454 Life Sciences, a majority-owned subsidiary of CuraGen Corporation, announced today that its proprietary whole genome sequencing technology was used by scientists at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development L.L.C. (J&JPRD) to help understand the basis of tuberculosis drug resistance.

20 Dec 2004