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IDSA, U.S. health officials describe ways to respond to global threat of antimicrobial resistance

To coincide with World Health Day on Thursday, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) released a policy paper with nine recommendations for how to control the "ever-growing threat of antimicrobial resistance," CIDRAP News reports.

11 Apr 2011

Marking World Health Day, WHO warns misuse of antibiotics undermining global fight against infectious diseases

U.N. officials on Thursday marked World Health Day with a warning that "the misuse and irrational use of antibiotics has undermined the global fight against tuberculosis and malaria, warning of a possible return to the days before the drugs were developed," and called for urgent action to control the spread of drug resistance, Reuters reports.

8 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

New ‘nanotech’ weapon against drug-resistant superbugs

Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) and IBM Research – Almaden have developed the first biodegradable polymer nanoparticles to combat drug-resistant superbugs, such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These nanoparticles can selectively kill the bacteria without destroying healthy red blood cells, and being biodegradable, have great potential to treat infectious diseases in the body. This was reported today in the leading scientific journal, Nature Chemistry [(2011) DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1012].

3 Apr 2011

Honey for wound healing: Study

Researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) and the Queensland Government have found honey from an Australian native myrtle to be effective as an anti-bacterial agent that can be used to treat wounds and viruses.

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

New DNA technology to study cystic fibrosis 'superbug' during infection

The bacterium, called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is the most common cause of persistent and fatal lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Scientists at Liverpool identified a particularly virulent strain of the bacteria that is transmissible between patients. The Liverpool Epidemic Strain (LES), referred to as a cystic fibrosis 'superbug', can cause aggressive infection and results in progressive lung decline.

23 Feb 2011

Researcher finds antibiotic in Eastern Red Cedar tree effective against MRSA

Most people would never suspect that a "trash tree," one with little economic value and often removed by farmers due to its ability to destroy farmland, could be the key to fighting a deadly bacterium. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found an antibiotic in the Eastern Red Cedar tree that is effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a "superbug" that is resistant to most medications.

22 Feb 2011

Vaccine to prevent MRSA infections after bone and joint surgery

University of Rochester Medical Center orthopaedic scientists are a step closer to developing a vaccine to prevent life-threatening methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections following bone and joint surgery.

18 Jan 2011

IDSA releases MRSA treatment guidelines

Physicians now have help in their battle against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a potentially deadly infection that initially was limited to hospitals and health care facilities but has become a growing problem in healthy children and adults. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released its first guidelines for the treatment of increasingly common MRSA infections.

7 Jan 2011

Lancet editorial highlights similarities between current health challenges, those from 1911

"After a century of progress, the issues that medicine must tackle in the coming year aren't that different from the ones that faced doctors at the start of 1911, according to the observations" published Jan. 1 in a Lancet editorial, LiveScience reports (Parry, 12/30).

4 Jan 2011

Beginner's guide to cancer

An academic from The University of Nottingham has written the first introductory guide to cancer, covering everything from the biology of the disease and why some people are more at risk of developing it than others, to the latest research into prevention, treatment and cure.

4 Nov 2010

MicroPhage receives $977,916 QTDP grant for development of MRSA/MSSA Blood Culture Test

MicroPhage, Inc. announced today that it has received two Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) grants totaling $977,916 from the IRS. The grants, awarded as part of the Affordable Care Act, apply to small-company R&D expenditures that reduce the cost and increase the quality of healthcare in the U.S. The grants will be applied to the development of MicroPhage's first product, the MRSA/MSSA Blood Culture Test, currently under review at the FDA.

4 Nov 2010

Researchers find new antibiotic strategies for hibernating bugs

New strategies to apply antibiotics more effectively to hibernating bugs have been developed by researchers at the University of Hertfordshire.

26 Oct 2010

Food labeling urged to be more stringent

After recent research from campaigning organization Greenpeace found the S-26 Soy brand of infant formula contains GM or genetically modified ingredients that are not disclosed on the product label, two Senators are urging the Federal Government to tighten Australia's food labeling laws.

30 Sep 2010

Excelimmune presents positive results for HRPA therapy against MRSA infections

Excelimmune, Inc. announced positive results from preclinical studies evaluating the efficacy of its human recombinant polyclonal antibody (HRPA) therapy against infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

14 Sep 2010

Experts warn dip in antibiotic R&D could lead to treatment challenges

The 50th annual meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) kicked off in Boston on Sunday with experts warning that a "slowdown" in research on antibiotic development could result in treatment challenges.

14 Sep 2010

WHO regional meeting in South-East Asia addresses antimicrobial resistance, developing country access to medical devices

During the WHO's 63rd Regional Committee Session for South-East Asia in Bangkok on Wednesday the WHO called for enhanced "efforts at the national and international level to preserve the efficacy of antimicrobial agents through the rational use of antibiotics," Indian Express reports (Thacker, 9/9).

10 Sep 2010

Tetraphase announces 13 data presentations on TP-434 broad spectrum antibiotic at ICAAC 2010

Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that 12 poster presentations and an oral summary presentation on preclinical and clinical data for its lead drug candidate, TP-434, will be presented at the 2010 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in Boston, MA, being held September 12 -15 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

9 Sep 2010

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

"The health ministry has formed a committee to frame a policy for antibiotic use, following an uproar over a Lancet study that traced a drug-resistant bacterial superbug's origins to India," LiveMint.com reports. The panel will also look into the "excessive use of antibiotics among Indians," partly fueled by self-medication, that has increased resistance to the drugs. The article notes that the Indian government "rejected the findings of the report" but has "taken note of a lack of policy on antibiotics" (Pandeya, 9/3).

7 Sep 2010