Antimicrobial Resistance News and Research

RSS

Pharmacies offering no-cost antibiotics should promote responsible use, CDC says

CDC last week sent out letters to several chain pharmacies that offer no-cost prescription antibiotics to low-income consumers urging them to promote responsible use of antibiotics, the New York Times reports.

5 Mar 2009

Antimicrobial resistance in clinics, hospitals and at home

Antibiotic resistance and the rise of illnesses that cannot be treated easily because of drug resistance is a health concern around the world.

16 Feb 2009

Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe

As of 1 December 2008, the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe has reported a total of 11 735 cholera cases with 484 deaths since August 2008, affecting all provinces in the country. The overall case fatality rate is 4% but has reached up to 20¨C30% in remote areas. Out of the total number of cases, 50% have been reported from Budiriro, a high density suburb of the capital city, Harare.

2 Dec 2008

Six bad bugs increasingly escaping effects of antibiotics

Infectious disease experts warn that new drugs are urgently needed to treat six drug-resistant bacteria that cause most hospital infections and increasingly escape the effects of antibiotics.

1 Dec 2008

Swiss approval for Zevtera in treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections

Swissmedic, the Swiss agency for therapeutic products, has approved Zevtera (ceftobiprole medocaril) for the treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections, including diabetic foot infections which have not spread to the bone.

13 Nov 2008

Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens isolated from cattle in different European countries

Tests of antibiotic resistance in cattle have revealed stark variation across thirteen European countries. The results, published in BioMed Central's open-access journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, show that major differences were apparent in the occurrence of resistance between countries and between the different antimicrobial agents tested.

7 Jul 2008

Silver-coated endotracheal tube reduces infections from highly resistant bacteria

A silver-coated endotracheal tube may reduce infections with highly resistant bacteria over traditional tubes by nearly half, according to the results of a large randomized trial to be presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Monday, May 19.

19 May 2008

Doctors should consider alternatives to antibiotics for sinusitis

When suffering through a sinus infection, many people ask for an antibiotic to speed their recovery. However, a recent review of clinical trials found that while antibiotics can provide minor improvements in uncomplicated sinusitis cases, most patients recover without the drugs within two weeks.

24 Apr 2008

Tackling antimicrobial resistance

Drug resistance is making many diseases increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible to treat, according to Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Mar 2008

Questions over use of antibiotics in 'end of life' care

Antibiotics appear to be frequently prescribed to individuals with advanced dementia in nursing homes, especially in the two weeks before death, according to a report in the February 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Feb 2008

Mathematical approach to tackle dual-resistant hospital infections

A mathematical model that looks at different strategies for curbing hospital-acquired infections suggests that antimicrobial cycling and patient isolation may be effective approaches when patients are harboring dual-resistant bacteria.

17 Feb 2008

Cethromycin achieves all endpoints in second pivotal Phase III Trial for treatment for pneumonia

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADLS), today announced positive results from Trial CL-05, the second of two pivotal phase III clinical trials designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of cethromycin, a novel once-a-day oral antibiotic for the treatment of mild-to-moderate community acquired pneumonia (CAP), the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

16 Nov 2007

Infectious diseases experts applaud STAAR Act

With methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, and other "bad bugs" routinely making headlines, infectious diseases physicians are applauding Sens.

1 Nov 2007

Promising new tuberculosis drug given special status

Approximately one-third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB, and an estimated 1.6 million people died of the disease in 2005.

25 Oct 2007

Researchers take on E. coli 0157 and salmonella

Understanding the ecology of two dangerous foodborne pathogens and devising ways to combat them is a big job.

17 Oct 2007

Caribbean health authorities promise to reduce healthcare-associated infections

Health authorities from the Caribbean say they will work to reduce healthcare-associated infections through a series of actions that include getting healthcare providers to improve hand hygiene.

2 Oct 2007

Infectious Diseases Society of America strongly supports the STAAR Act

With extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, life-threatening drug-resistant respiratory and skin infections, and other "bad bugs" routinely making headlines, infectious diseases physicians are applauding Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Rep. Michael Ferguson (R-NJ) for introducing H.R. 3697, the Strategies To Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act.

29 Sep 2007

WHO and its partners call for increased research to improve patient safety

They emphasized the need for intensified research at an international conference that opened today in Porto, Portugal. The conference on Patient safety research: shaping the European agenda will examine evidence showing that harm from medical care poses a substantial burden in terms of suffering and death in Europe and around the world.

25 Sep 2007

Scientists decipher mechanism behind antimicrobial 'hole punchers'

In the battle against bacteria, researchers have scored a direct hit.

21 Sep 2007

Quick microchip test for dangerous and drug resistant bacteria in clinical samples

Researchers at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Surrey have developed microchips capable of quickly and cheaply identifying dangerous and drug resistant bacteria in clinical samples, scientists announced (Wednesday 5 September 2007) at the Society for General Microbiology's 161st Meeting at the University of Edinburgh, UK, which runs from 3-6 September 2007.

5 Sep 2007