Antibiotic Resistance News and Research

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UIC receives federal contract to develop antibiotics against three bacterial infections

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology have been awarded a federal contract for up to $13.8 million to develop antibiotics to treat anthrax, tularemia and plague.

28 Apr 2011

Low-cost colorimetric sensing array identifies bacterial infections

Bacterial infections really stink. And that could be the key to a fast diagnosis.

28 Apr 2011

Durata attains global rights for dalbavancin to treat abSSSI

Durata Therapeutics today announced the Company has attained worldwide rights for the development and commercialization of Durata's lead product, dalbavancin, a long-acting, intravenous (IV) lipoglycopeptide for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (abSSSI). In December 2010, Durata acquired from RaQualia Pharma commercialization rights for dalbavancin in Japan.

26 Apr 2011

Creative approach can tackle bacterial infections in patients with cystic fibrosis

An over-the-counter drug used to treat diarrhea combined with minocycline, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, could one day change the lives of those living with cystic fibrosis.

25 Apr 2011

Durata commences dalbavancin Phase 3 study in acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections

Durata Therapeutics today announced the Company initiated a global, pivotal, Phase 3 study (DISCOVER-1) of its lead product, dalbavancin, a long-acting, intravenous (IV) lipoglycopeptide for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (abSSSI). The pivotal study is being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreed upon with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

20 Apr 2011

IncP-1 plasmids can transport antibiotic resistance genes between bacterial species

The part of bacterial DNA that often carries antibiotic resistance is a master at moving between different types of bacteria and adapting to widely differing bacterial species, shows a study made by a research team at the University of Gothenburg in cooperation with Chalmers University of Technology. The results are published in an article in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

12 Apr 2011

IDSA develops plans to combat deadly antibiotic-resistant 'super bugs'

To head off a health care disaster, the Infectious Diseases Society of America has developed a plan to combat deadly antibiotic-resistant "super bugs" and is rolling out the multi-pronged plan today, on World Health Day 2011.

8 Apr 2011

Empire implements AGA, ACG guidelines for evaluation and management of dyspepsia and PUD

Empire BlueCross BlueShield today announced an initiative to inform and educate physicians and consumers about important findings from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) related to a little known but common infection that is a precursor to serious stomach ailments.

7 Apr 2011

Superbugs and antibiotic resistance

Health experts come together today (Thursday) to warn that a new form of superbug that gives bacteria the power to resist virtually all known antibiotics is spreading quickly, posing a global health disaster. It is called New Delhi metallobeta-lactamase, or NDM-1 for short. This enzyme destroys carbapenems, an important group of antibiotics used for difficult infections in hospitals, and has been found in a wide variety of bacterial types. British researchers last August reported that infections involving NDM-1 had been found in patients in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Britain.

6 Apr 2011

Experts welcome World Health Day on antibiotic resistance as timely

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) welcomes the focus on drug resistance for this year’s World Health Day as it is an issue that the Society has been proactively working on for the past 25 years.

6 Apr 2011

The Economist examines factors contributing to antimicrobial resistance

"Antibiotic resistance has now become a costly and dangerous problem," The Economist writes in an article examining the factors that have contributed to the global rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, ahead of next week's World Health Day dedicated to the issue.

2 Apr 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Infectious Diseases editorial describes the growing public concerns over a global rise in antimicrobial resistance. "Bearing in mind that our objective is to contain antibiotic resistance rather than eradicate it, several policies could be adopted to help guarantee a future for antibiotics," the editorial states, adding, "We need reliable data to tackle antibiotic resistance.

2 Apr 2011

Antibiotic treatment does not benefit patients with discoloured phlegm

Prescribing antibiotics for patients with discoloured phlegm caused by acute cough has little or no effect on alleviating symptoms and recovery, a Cardiff University study has found.

25 Mar 2011

Collaborative study may lead to strategies to reduce antibiotic resistance

In a study that literally analyzed competing bacteria fighting it out to the death, a University of Houston (UH) researcher and his colleagues identified evolutionary 'winners' and 'losers.' Continuing research to understand the basis of these fates may become a useful tool is designing roadblocks to antibiotic resistance.

24 Mar 2011

Scientists devise new strategy to prevent spread of drug-resistant bacteria

A team of scientists from the University of Oxford, U.K. have taken lessons from Adam Smith and Charles Darwin to devise a new strategy that could one day slow, possibly even prevent, the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. In a new research report published in the March 2011 issue of GENETICS, the scientists show that bacterial gene mutations that lead to drug resistance come at a biological cost not borne by nonresistant strains.

19 Mar 2011

CDC to award $2M grant to continue CARPE program in preventing healthcare-associated infections

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is awarding researchers at the Cook County Health & Hospitals System and Rush University Medical Center a $2 million grant to continue a successful program aimed at preventing healthcare-associated infections, antibiotic resistance, and other adverse events associated with healthcare.

19 Mar 2011

Scientists discover bacterial communication mediated pathway

A pathway whereby bacteria communicate with each other has been discovered by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The discovery has important implications for efforts to cope with the spread of harmful bacteria in the body.

3 Mar 2011

Accelr8 to present new BACcel test study results against hVISA in Europe

Accelr8 Technology Corporation announced that one of its outside principal investigators received acceptance to present results of a new study in Europe.

2 Mar 2011

Renishaw launches first RUO multiplex assay system

Renishaw Diagnostics Ltd, a world leading provider of trace level detection technologies based on the exploitation of surface enhanced Raman scattering and surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering, for research and molecular diagnostics applications, today announced the launch of its first research use only multiplex assay system which allows precious research samples to be 'screened' for 10 or more 'targets', from a single sample.

1 Mar 2011

Signaling mechanism in bacterial ribosome linked to antibiotic resistance

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a signaling mechanism in the bacterial ribosome that detects proteins that activate genes for antibiotic resistance.

23 Feb 2011