Antibiotic News and Research

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

Purveyors of black-market pharmaceuticals target immigrants

The bootleg medications were smuggled across the border and sold to mostly Latino immigrants in public spaces throughout Los Angeles — at swap meets, parks, beauty salons and makeshift stands outside mom-and-pop grocery stores.

16 Sep 2019

Antibiotic-impregnated shunt could prevent hydrocephalus infections, save millions

A new study reported that using shunt tubing impregnated with two common antibiotics is effective in preventing infection after brain surgery to relieve hydrocephalus. This simple but highly effective practice could save millions of pounds, prevent devastating brain damage, and shorten hospital stay and antibiotic use duration.

13 Sep 2019

Superbugs spread in the absence of antibiotics

Scientists have discovered a new mechanism by which antibiotic resistance spreads between superbug species, and say that stopping antibiotics is not enough.

12 Sep 2019

Deadly infections on the rise: New classes of antibiotics are desperately needed

Globally, the number of deaths from infections is on the rise as more bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.

12 Sep 2019

New model for vaginal microbiome transplantation

Bacterial vaginosis is a condition affecting thousands of women worldwide, and is associated not only with vaginal symptoms but with pregnancy-related complications including preterm labor and stillbirth. Now researchers have come up with an effective way to replace the unhealthy vaginal microflora with a ready-to-use microbiome – called a vaginal microbiome transplantation (VMT).

11 Sep 2019

Developing broad-spectrum antivirals to target many viruses at once

Humanity faces an essentially unlimited pool of virus threats. The emergence of new viruses like HIV, Ebola, or Zika is only going to increase as humans encroach further into the wild environment.

11 Sep 2019

Commonly prescribed antibiotics linked to two types of heart problems

Scientists have shown for the first time a link between two types of heart problems and one of the most commonly prescribed classes of antibiotics.

11 Sep 2019

Long-term antibiotic use in preemies promotes drug-resistant gut bacteria

Very preterm infants are often sick and require antibiotic treatment to save their lives. However, when this form of therapy lasts for 20 months or more, it may affect the gut microbiome over the long-term in addition to its acute effects.

10 Sep 2019

Scientists develop new method to test for drug-resistant infections

Scientists have developed a method to test whether an infection is resistant to common antibiotics.

10 Sep 2019

Early antibiotic exposure causes long-lasting collateral damage in premature babies

Nearly all premature babies receive antibiotics in their first weeks of life to ward off or treat potentially deadly bacterial infections.

9 Sep 2019

Microbiome loss from antibiotic use affects response to flu vaccine

Every living person has trillions of microbes living in their digestive tract, and more than 400 species of bacteria in the gut, more than the number of cells in the body. The normal gut flora is important to maintain eubiosis, the microbial balance in the body.

9 Sep 2019

Oral antibiotics that kill gut microorganisms can alter immune response to flu vaccines

The normal human gut microbiome is a flourishing community of microorganisms, some of which can affect the human immune system. In a new paper published this week in Cell, researchers found that oral antibiotics, which can kill gut microorganisms, can alter the human immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination.

8 Sep 2019

Scientists reveal how typhoid toxin works to accelerate aging of cells

Scientists have revealed how the typhoid toxin works to hijack DNA repair machines and accelerate the aging of cells, a breakthrough that could pave the way for new strategies to combat the killer disease.

6 Sep 2019

Newly discovered resistance-spreading mechanism is independent of the use of antibiotics

Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to common antibiotics. Often, resistance is mediated by resistance genes, which can simply jump from one bacterial population to the next.

5 Sep 2019

Thames typical of superbug-breeding rivers, says new study

The River Thames is rapidly becoming a breeding pool for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a new study, which underlines the urgent need to cut down the amount of antibiotics currently being discharge into the river by at least 80% to arrest this trend.

5 Sep 2019

$15 million grant funds new effort to develop universal vaccine for strep throat infections

CARB-X, an international non-profit partnership of private, academic and government institutions, has awarded SutroVax, Inc., a Northern California-based biopharmaceutical company, with an award of up to $15 million to develop a universal vaccine for Group A Streptococcus, the bacteria that causes pharyngitis or strep throat.

4 Sep 2019

Mouthwash impacts the effects of exercise

Scientists have long known that the blood pressure drops after exercise but the mechanism has not been fully elucidated. A new study shows that bacteria in the mouth, which produce nitrite, is key to the whole process. The use of mouthwash to reduce the number of these bacteria prevents the expected benefit of exercise on the blood pressure.

4 Sep 2019