Antibiotic News and Research

RSS

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

Surgery a safe treatment for Meniere’s Disease

Episodic attacks of vertigo with hearing loss, tinnitus, and aural fullness all characterize Meniere’s disease. Vertigo is the most disabling symptom of Meniere’s disease

29 Apr 2004

Antibiotics could be preventing thousands of deaths a year in intensive care units worldwide

Trials done in over 7,000 people prove conclusively that antibiotics could prevent deaths in intensive care units, but many hospitals aren't using them because of unproven fears that it might increase antibiotic resistance.

27 Apr 2004

Oxford researchers find possible new type of antibiotic

Dr Ben Davis in the Department of Chemistry at Oxford University, England and his collaborators have discovered a possible new route to antibiotics.

26 Apr 2004

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) overview

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia that first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China.

24 Apr 2004

Doctors from the University of Edinburgh and local intensive care units have linked to fight an antibiotic-resistant infection which attacks some hospital patients.

22 Apr 2004

Desensitization Useful for Allergy to Life-Saving Drug

When patients with life-threatening bacterial infections are allergic to antibiotics, drug desensitization may be an option when no other alternative exists according to a report published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

21 Apr 2004

Preventing antimicrobial resistance among long-term care residents

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is spotlighting an educational campaign to help long-term care medical directors and clinicians prevent antimicrobial resistance and protect the health of their residents.

20 Apr 2004

Poultry litter harbors agents that generate antibiotic multi-resistance

They found that poultry litter – a ubiquitous part of large broiler operations – harbors a vastly larger number of microbial agents that collect and express resistance genes than was previously known.

19 Apr 2004

76 million people get sick in US, 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from foodborne illness

Foodborne illnesses have a major public health impact in the United States. It is estimated that each year in the United States, 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die as a result of foodborne illnesses, primarily the very young, elderly, and the immunocompromised.

18 Apr 2004

Scientists will debate E.coli and the adaption by micro-organisms to modern day drugs

This debate will centre around why humans are constantly under attack from infectious diseases such as E.coli despite medical advances in vaccinations and antibiotics, and how micro-organisms that cause disease evolve and adapt quickly to the many barriers that our bodies' anti-infection strategies and our drugs industry throw at them.

16 Apr 2004

Stong evidence for lower penicillin allergic reactions

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have concluded the world's largest analysis of penicillin allergy due to re-prescription of the popular antibiotic.

14 Apr 2004

Antimicrobial alginate dressing protects the wound with silver

Johnson & Johnson Wound Management today announced the introduction of SILVERCEL™ antimicrobial alginate dressing, providing the protection of silver and the absorption of alginate.

13 Apr 2004

More evidence needed to link symptoms like tics or behavioral problems to a strep infection

Cephalosporins three times more effective than penicillin

Pediatricians treating a child who has strep throat should reconsider the role of penicillin given that a newer class of antibiotics called cephalosporins are three times more effective, according to a study being published in the April issue of Pediatrics. The findings will spark widespread debate, because they contradict long-established guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association,and World Health Organization.

5 Apr 2004

Gene of immune system linked to severe adverse drug reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)

In a study of Han Chinese patients, researchers have for the first time directly linked a gene of the immune system to a severe adverse drug reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), according to a Duke University Medical Center medical geneticist and collaborators in Taiwan.

1 Apr 2004

Heart disease can be reduced substantially by regularly treating existing gum infections

Reinforcing the relationship between periodontal disease and heart disease, oral biologists from the University at Buffalo have shown that levels of two inflammatory proteins known to raise the risk of heart disease can be reduced substantially by regularly treating existing gum infections.

31 Mar 2004

A peptide called magainin, found in the skin of the African clawed frog, holds the secret to creating bacteria-killing surfaces

A peptide called magainin, first found in the skin of the African clawed frog, holds the secret to creating bacteria-killing surfaces, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn scientists have taken a joint experimental-computational approach to mimicking magainin.

30 Mar 2004

Air pollution effects Cystic Fibrosis Sufferers

University of Washington (UW) researchers have shown for the first time that air pollution has adverse effects on people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The research results are published in the April 1 edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

29 Mar 2004

Almost half of all medicines globally are used irrationally according to WHO

Almost half of all medicines globally are used irrationally. This, say medicines experts at the World Health Organization (WHO), can have severe consequences: adverse drug reactions, drug resistance, protracted illness and even death. In addition, the financial cost incurred by individuals and governments due to irrational use is unnecessary and often extremely high, particularly in developing countries where patients often pay for medicines out of pocket.