Antibiotic News and Research

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

Researchers make breakthrough in understanding enzymes that assemble the antibiotic enacyloxin

One of the WHO's three critical priority pathogens, Acinetobacter baumannii, for which new antibiotics are urgently needed is one step closer to being tackled, as researchers from the Department of Chemistry - University of Warwick have made a breakthrough in understanding the enzymes that assemble the antibiotic enacyloxin.

24 Sep 2019

Version of an antibiotic drug extends survival in mice with lethal pediatric brain tumors

Versions of an antibiotic drug called DON first isolated from soil bacteria more than 60 years ago have shown promising signs of extending survival in mice models of especially lethal pediatric brain tumors marked by the high expression of a cancer-causing gene known as the MYC oncogene, according to results of two studies from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

23 Sep 2019

Natural antioxidant in green tea can help eliminate antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Scientists at the University of Surrey have discovered that a natural antioxidant commonly found in green tea can help eliminate antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

23 Sep 2019

IDSA calls for meaningful funding to control current Ebola outbreak

Spending bills released by Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday demonstrate encouraging recognition of some of the most urgent health challenges threatening individual and public health at home and abroad.

23 Sep 2019

African bacterium resists almost all drugs

It looks like it’s time to pay the piper. The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain of Salmonella typhimurium, called ST313 sublineage II.1, has cropped up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This fails to respond to any of the antibiotics that are commonly used in the DRC, except for ciprofloxacin. And to make things worse, one sample has been isolated that shows incomplete response even to this last drug.

22 Sep 2019

Researchers find way to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a dangerous bacterium that causes infections in hospital settings and in people with weakened immune systems. It can cause blood infections and pneumonia, while severe infections can be deadly.

20 Sep 2019

Salmonella responsible for bloodstream infections in sub-Saharan Africa exhibits extensive drug resistance

The first extensively drug-resistant strains of Salmonella Typhimurium, a pathogen which is responsible for millions of bloodstream infections per year in sub-Saharan Africa, have been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

19 Sep 2019

Antibiotic resistance is transferring from humans to animals

Resistance to antibiotics could be moving from humans to animals, research by a Clemson University professor has shown. The research details results that demonstrate reverse zoonosis, a process by which humans infect other species of animal with diseases.

18 Sep 2019

Genetic mutation appears to help people fight off MRSA

Researchers have discovered that people who carry a certain genetic mutation may have a greater chance of fighting off MRSA infections.

18 Sep 2019

Gut bacteria linked to stronger muscles in older people

The gut bacteria are related to muscle mass and physical function, in a relationship called the gut-muscle axis, which has been studied in mouse models and in young adults. A new study looks at the GMA in older adults for the first time.

18 Sep 2019

Study supports drawing blood cultures prior to starting treatment for sepsis

Severe bacterial infections are a leading cause of death globally. Delays in effective treatment can increase the chance that a patient dies but treating a patient before blood cultures are drawn may make it impossible to identify the bacteria causing the infection and make it challenging to identify the best choice of treatment.

18 Sep 2019

New study alters guidelines for management of sepsis

A new study that measured the reliability of administering antibiotics before obtaining blood cultures could end the debate among physicians regarding sepsis management.

18 Sep 2019

Researchers discover link between alcohol-producing gut bacteria and NAFLD

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the build-up of fat in the liver due to factors other than alcohol. It affects about a quarter of the adult population globally, but its cause remains unknown.

17 Sep 2019

Researchers study typhoid genomes of travelers from different parts of the world

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi causes more than 20 million cases of typhoid fever each year, and disproportionately infects children in low and middle income countries.

From PLOS ONE 17 Sep 2019

Inherited genetic tendency appears to protect people from MRSA infections

An inherited genetic tendency appears to increase the likelihood that a person can successfully fight off antibiotic-resistant staph infections, according to a study led by Duke Health researchers.

17 Sep 2019

Stopping cold viruses dead by blocking replication

The common cold virus (and its more deadly cousins, the viruses that cause polio and acute flaccid myelitis) may just have met its nemesis. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Microbiology on September 16, 2019, scientists reported a potentially successful new approach to stop cold viruses from replicating inside human cells – by blocking the formation of a protein that is vital to this process.

17 Sep 2019

Gut bacterial changes influence lupus treatment results in pregnancy

The course of pregnancy, like that of true love, doesn’t always run smooth when you have lupus, correctly called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This autoimmune disease is an occasionally violent, occasionally subdued, chronic inflammation that constantly smolders within multiple tissues in the body.

16 Sep 2019

Antibiotic resistance in dolphins mirrors disturbing trend in humans

Antibiotic resistance in bottlenose dolphins shows that up to 88% of pathogenic organisms in this species is resistant to one or more antibiotics. This finding offers very useful insights into the identical phenomenon in humans. This species is termed a sentinel species, which means it reflects environmental risks to humans in advance of their occurrence in humans.

16 Sep 2019