Antibiotic News and Research

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Antibiotics are drugs used to treat infections caused by bacteria and other microorganisms.

Researchers identify new antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea strain

An international research team has discovered a strain of gonorrhea resistant to all currently available antibiotics. This new strain is likely to transform a common and once easily treatable infection into a global threat to public health.

11 Jul 2011

EU countries should pool funding to create 'prize' for bringing new antibiotics to market, report says

"European policy makers were urged Wednesday to find viable financial incentives to get drug companies to discover new antibiotics, because the lack of fresh supplies poses acute dangers to health care and efforts against infectious diseases," according to a report by the Office of Health Economics and funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports.

8 Jul 2011

Scientists track public health trends through Twitter

Twitter allows millions of social media fans to comment in 140 characters or less on just about anything: an actor's outlandish behavior, an earthquake's tragic toll or the great taste of a grilled cheese sandwich.

8 Jul 2011

Mesenchymal stem cells protect and heal

A stem cell that can morph into a number of different tissues is proving a natural protector, healer and antibiotic maker, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and their peers have found.

8 Jul 2011

New technique shields patients from toxic parts of antibiotic drug

A new technique which targets antibiotic-resistant bacteria and shields patients from the toxic parts of an antibiotic drug has been developed by Cardiff University scientists.

8 Jul 2011

NUS, NTU students win WFF's Ph.D. Prizes for environmental research

Antibiotics, which are among the world's most widely prescribed medicines, can easily find their way into rivers and lakes because they tend not to be removed through the normal sewage process.

8 Jul 2011

Exenatide tQT clinical trial meets pre-specified primary endpoint

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company and Alkermes, Inc. today announced results from a thorough QT (tQT) study that assessed the potential of exenatide to increase the QT interval across a wide range of plasma concentrations.

8 Jul 2011

Antibiotic resistance is not a priority in the U.S.

Author and journalist Maryn McKenna in her "Superbug" blog on Wired.com examines U.S. spending on drug-resistant pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

7 Jul 2011

Simpler antibiotic combination could help prevent TB in patients with and without HIV

Johns Hopkins and South African scientists have further compelling evidence that new, simpler and shorter treatments with antibiotic drugs could dramatically help prevent tens of millions of people worldwide already infected with the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, and especially those co-infected with HIV, from developing full-blown TB.

7 Jul 2011

Patients with ESBL-producing bacteria need better health care

Fear and confusion surrounding the diagnosis is often the result of suffering of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Accurate information is crucial for these patients in order for them to handle their situation, yet that is the area where health care is lacking.

5 Jul 2011

Antimicrobial copper surfaces reduce risk of acquiring hospital infection

Professor Bill Keevil, Head of the Microbiology Group and Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton, has presented research into the mechanism by which copper exerts its antimicrobial effect on antibiotic-resistant organisms at the World Health Organization's first International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control.

2 Jul 2011

Checklist to stay healthy and active in summer

The summer is a great season for getting in shape. Whether by playing a sport, doing an aerobic exercise routine, or just returning to that familiar running path -- this is the time for activity.

2 Jul 2011

Study provides novel information about clinical potential of anti-cancer antibiotics

Most of us have had a doctor prescribe an antibiotic for a stubborn bacterial infection, or for a cut that gets infected. However, prescribing an antibiotic to fight cancer? In fact, anti-cancer antibiotics have been used since the 1950s to successfully treat several forms of cancer, but often the side effects limit the duration they can be given to a patient.

30 Jun 2011

Recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines hold promise against infectious diseases

A powerful new class of therapeutics, known as recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines (RASV), holds great potential in the fight against fatal diseases including hepatitis B, tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid fever, AIDS and pneumonia.

30 Jun 2011

S. aureus pneumonia rates in children have doubled over past decade

The rate of pneumonia in children caused by infection with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria has doubled over the past decade, according to a paper in the July issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

30 Jun 2011

Rapid, accurate test differentiates between bacterial and viral infections

Scientists are reporting development and successful testing of a rapid and accurate test to tell the difference between bacterial and viral infections. Those common afflictions often have similar symptoms but vastly different treatments - antibiotics work for bacterial infections but not for viruses. The report appears in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry.

30 Jun 2011

Anacor, DNDi and SCYNEXIS complete SCYX-7158 pre-clinical studies for combating sleeping sickness

Anacor Pharmaceuticals, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), and SCYNEXIS Inc. today announced the successful completion of pre-clinical studies for the first new oral drug candidate discovered specifically to combat human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness.

29 Jun 2011

Nine-year-old recovers with experimental heart pump

Nine-year-old Greer Underwood was healthy until February 2011. What seemingly began as sinusitis on a Tuesday became almost fatal by the weekend when her heart began to fail. Now, after a historic series of events at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she's the only child in the country to have used the experimental heart pump, Heartware, as a bridge to transplant.

28 Jun 2011

RCSI researchers identify novel drug target for osteomyeltitis

New research from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has identified a novel drug target for the treatment of infection in bone.

28 Jun 2011

Bdellovibrio safe and effective for treating Salmonella infection

Scientists have tested a predatory bacterium - Bdellovibrio - against Salmonella in the guts of live chickens. They found that it significantly reduced the numbers of Salmonella bacteria and, importantly, showed that Bdellovibrio are safe when ingested.

28 Jun 2011