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Nasal gel to fight superbug MRSA

British scientists are well on the way to developing a new drug to fight the 'superbug' Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

19 May 2008

Lotion which glows under ultraviolet light lights up nasty bacteria

A team of Canadian scientists using a lotion which glows under ultraviolet light have shown that up to a third of patient toilets are not properly cleaned. Their findings, published in BioMed Central's journal, BMC Infectious Diseases, also show that spores from the nasty bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) linger in the loo even when it has been thoroughly wiped down.

11 May 2008

New deadly superbug Steno an ever-increasing threat

Scientists in the Britain say hospitals could be facing an increasing threat from yet another deadly bacterial infection with the potential to rapidly develop a resistance to drugs.

8 May 2008

Superbug genome sequenced

The genome of a newly-emerging superbug, commonly known as Steno, has just been sequenced. The results reveal an organism with a remarkable capacity for drug resistance. The research was carried out by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge and the University of Bristol.

6 May 2008

How many hospital infections? New facts discredit CDC's official number

On Wednesday, April 16th the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform will hold a hearing on whether the federal government is doing enough to prevent hospital infections.

15 Apr 2008

Problem superbugs resistant to everything

Doctors are running out of treatments for today's trauma victims and critically ill patients because of infections due to drug resistant microbes - even after resorting to using medicines thrown out 20 years ago because of severe side effects, scientists heard at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

8 Apr 2008

Mud may help fight MRSA infections

Scientists in Arizona report that minerals from clay could form the basis of a new generation of inexpensive, highly-effective antimicrobials for fighting MRSA infections that are moving out of health care settings and into the community.

7 Apr 2008

Alligator blood may provide a source of powerful new antibiotics

Despite their reputation for deadly attacks on humans and pets, alligators are wiggling their way toward a new role as potential lifesavers in medicine, biochemists in Louisiana reported today at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

7 Apr 2008

Alligator blood extract promises to help fight superbugs

Biochemists from Louisiana in the U.S. say blood from alligators could help fight deadly 'superbugs' and other infections.

7 Apr 2008

Community-acquired MRSA spreads

Drug resistant hospital superbugs like MRSA have been kept under control in Denmark for more than 30 years.

1 Apr 2008

Superbugs resistant to everything - Doctors running out of treatments

Doctors are running out of treatments for today's trauma victims and critically ill patients because of infections due to drug resistant microbes even after resorting to using medicines thrown out 20 years ago because of severe side effects, scientists heard at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

1 Apr 2008

Green tea can help beat superbugs

Green tea can help beat superbugs according to Egyptian scientists speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

31 Mar 2008

MRSA in hospital intensive care -- what's growing where?

Researchers are finding out which bugs grow in intensive care units to develop a novel sampling regime that would indicate the threat of MRSA and other superbugs in the environment, scientists heard (Monday 31 March 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

31 Mar 2008

How Staphylococcus aureus resists our natural defenses

Researchers at the University of Washington have uncovered how the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, including the notorious MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staph aureus) "superbug" strains, resists our body's natural defenses against infection.

25 Mar 2008

Technology to defeat bacterial infections shows positive results

The use of natural controls against serious bacterial infection and superbugs is being led by a UK company. Scientists at Biocontrol Ltd have presented at the Bacteriophage 2008 meeting in Hertfordshire a first look at the results of their initial Phase II clinical trial.

25 Feb 2008