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.

Discovery of new survival mechanism in common bacteria

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a survival mechanism in a common type of bacteria that can cause illness.

8 Jun 2007

Congress urged to cover home infusion therapy for Medicare beneficiaries

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging Congress to support the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2007 (H.R. 2567), bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday by Reps.

8 Jun 2007

VA tops private hospitals in infection-control study

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are more likely than non-VA hospitals to follow recommendations for preventing bloodstream infections associated with central venous catheters, says a survey of more than 500 U.S. health care centers.

3 Jun 2007

Community-associated antibiotic-resistant staph infections increase

The incidence of antibiotic-resistant staph infections associated with being acquired in the community and not in health care institutions increased almost seven-fold in Chicago's Cook County Hospital system between 2000 and 2005, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

30 May 2007

New understanding of C. difficile bacteria

Researchers studying the genetics behind why C. difficile causes disease have come to a simple conclusion -- the bacteria do it because they are starving.

28 May 2007

Oral hygiene recommendations

For more than 75 years, the American Dental Association (ADA) Seal of Acceptance program has helped consumers make informed decisions about safe and effective oral care products.

24 May 2007

Cause of drug-resistant wound infections among soldiers in Iraq down to hospitals not battlefield

An outbreak of drug-resistant wound infections among soldiers in Iraq likely came from the hospitals where they were treated, not the battlefield, according to a new study in the June 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

22 May 2007

Flash-heating breast milk infected with HIV successfully deactivates virus

A simple method of flash-heating breast milk infected with HIV successfully inactivated the free-floating virus, according to a new study led by researchers at the Berkeley and Davis campuses of the University of California.

22 May 2007

Origins of modern medicine lie in ancient Egypt not Greece

Scientists examining documents dating back 3,500 years say they have found proof that the origins of modern medicine lie in ancient Egypt and not with Hippocrates and the Greeks.

From The University of Manchester 10 May 2007

MRSA treated with maggots

University of Manchester researchers are ridding diabetic patients of the superbug MRSA - by treating their foot ulcers with maggots.

From The University of Manchester 4 May 2007

Study shows effectiveness of Peramivir in mouse model of H5N1 virus infection

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has announced that investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, reported favorable results evaluating peramivir treatment in an animal model of influenza using a highly virulent strain of H5N1 virus (an avian influenza strain that had caused fatal human infection in Viet Nam).

4 May 2007

Quarterly UK Clostridium difficile and MRSA figures

Latest figures from the Health Protection Agency show there were 55,681 cases of Clostridium difficile infection reported in patients aged 65 years and above in England in 2006.

27 Apr 2007

Researchers use bacterium to obtain biopreservatives from food

The research group "Estudio de sustancias antagonistas producidas por microorganismos" (Antagonistic substances produced by microorganisms), part of the Microbiology Department of the University of Granada, has succeeded in isolating enterocin AS-48, which could have a medium-term use as food biopreservative.

18 Apr 2007

Trojan horse approach designed to defeats drug-resistant bacteria

A new antimicrobial approach can kill bacteria in laboratory experiments and eliminate life-threatening infections in mice by interfering with a key bacterial nutrient, according to research led by a University of Washington scientist.

19 Mar 2007

Clean hands save patient lives

Experts on patient safety are urging countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to join a global effort to improve hand hygiene and related practices in hospitals and health care facilities to help reduce the growing number of deaths and illnesses due to health care-associated infections.

5 Mar 2007

Tea tree oil can lead to antibiotic resistance

Repeated exposure to low doses of Tea Tree Oil - a common ingredient in many beauty products - can increase the chances of suffering from "superbug" infections, University of Ulster scientists have revealed.

18 Feb 2007

Modified skin cells that may help protect cultured skin substitutes from infection

Cincinnati burn researchers have created genetically modified skin cells that, when added to cultured skin substitutes, may help fight off potentially lethal infections in patients with severe burns.

9 Jan 2007

Global Patient Safety Challenge: Clean Care is Safer Care

Half the people in the world can look forward to cleaner and safer care and a lowered risk of becoming ill with an infection as a result of their health care.

13 Nov 2006

New smart anti-microbial approach to preventing tooth decay

Preventing cavities could one day involve the dental equivalent of a military surgical strike. A team of researchers supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research report they have created a new smart anti-microbial treatment that can be chemically programmed in the laboratory to seek out and kill a specific cavity-causing species of bacteria, leaving the good bacteria untouched.

23 Oct 2006

When it comes to the flu, antivirals far more effective than antibiotics

It seems that even though influenza has been shown to be better treated with anti-viral medication doctors and hospitals continue to use antibiotics, often with deadly consequences.

2 Oct 2006