Antibiotic News and Research

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

Anticonvulsant drug may help develop new class of antibiotics

McMaster scientists have found that an anticonvulsant drug may help in developing a new class of antibiotics.

23 Sep 2014

Elusys completes phase 3 clinical program of obiltoxaximab in healthy adult volunteers

Elusys Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing antibody therapies to treat infectious disease, today announced it has completed three phase 3 healthy adult volunteer safety studies of obiltoxaximab (ETI-204).

23 Sep 2014

MIT engineers find new strategy to combat superbugs

In recent years, new strains of bacteria have emerged that resist even the most powerful antibiotics. Each year, these superbugs, including drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis and staphylococcus, infect more than 2 million people nationwide, and kill at least 23,000. Despite the urgent need for new treatments, scientists have discovered very few new classes of antibiotics in the past decade.

22 Sep 2014

Research roundup: Home health nurses' workloads; readmissions at the VA; SHOP choices

In anticipation of next year's premium announcements and given some information already made public, concerns have surfaced about the potential for double-digit percent increases in nongroup and small-group health insurance premiums. This analysis shows that, although average annual increases in small-group premiums over the past 13 years averaged roughly 5.5 percent, double-digit average premium increases are common for states and large metropolitan areas.

22 Sep 2014

Obama orders plan to reduce peril of antibiotic resistance

The measures include incentives to develop new drugs, tighter control of existing ones and better tracking of resistant microbes.

19 Sep 2014

Common type of hospital-associated infections can be prevented with vaccine

The most common type of hospital-associated infection may be preventable with a vaccine, new research in mice suggests.

18 Sep 2014

TSRI scientists devise new vancomycin-based antibiotic to rout resistant bacteria

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have devised a new antibiotic based on vancomycin that is powerfully effective against vancomycin-resistant strains of MRSA and other disease-causing bacteria.

18 Sep 2014

Blocking bacteria's access to iron: an interview with Dr. Laxminarayana Devireddy

Iron is a key nutrient for nearly all living organisms, including bacteria. Iron is a cofactor for many enzymes necessary for basic metabolic reactions such as DNA synthesis and electron transport. Iron serves as the conduit for the electron transport chain that generates the energy necessary to drive the bacterial cell.

16 Sep 2014

New antiseptic agent holds promise for treatment of periodontitis

The study, published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, by Shinichi Arakawa and colleagues at Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, evaluated the bactericidal activities of ozone nano-bubble water - also known as NBW3 - against the two main bacterial agents that cause periodontitis as well as its toxicity to human oral tissue cells.

15 Sep 2014

NSF, NIH, USDA receive more than $12 million in new EEID grants

Ebola, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), malaria, antibiotic-resistant infections: Is our interaction with the environment somehow responsible for their increased incidence?

11 Sep 2014

Widespread use of unnecessary antibiotics drives up avoidable healthcare costs

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Premier, Inc. have released new research on the widespread use of unnecessary and duplicative antibiotics in U.S. hospitals, which could have led to an estimated $163 million in excess costs.

11 Sep 2014

Bacteria in fresh honey produce myriad of active antimicrobial compounds

Raw honey has been used against infections for millennia, before honey - as we now know it - was manufactured and sold in stores. So what is the key to its' antimicrobial properties? Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a unique group of 13 lactic acid bacteria found in fresh honey, from the honey stomach of bees.

9 Sep 2014

Nearly half of hog workers carry livestock-associated bacteria to home

A new study suggests that nearly half of workers who care for animals in large industrial hog farming operations may be carrying home livestock-associated bacteria in their noses, and that this potentially harmful bacteria remains with them up to four days after exposure.

9 Sep 2014

Chinese study of serogroup 6 S. pneumoniae finds no antibiotic-resistant clones

A survey of serogroup 6 Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from children in China has identified no antibiotic-resistant clones, leading the authors to speculate that the isolates may be under antibiotic selective pressure.

8 Sep 2014

Researchers modify protocol to test dangerous form of antibiotic resistance

Researchers from Oregon State Public Health Lab have modified the protocol for a relatively new test for a dangerous form of antibiotic resistance, increasing its specificity to 100 percent.

8 Sep 2014

Antibiotic stewardship programs reduce hospital readmissions due to infection

Antibiotic stewardship programs, which promote the appropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals and other healthcare centers, not only lead to reduction in antibiotic use with reduced adverse events, but also lead to significant savings.

8 Sep 2014

FDA provides QIDP designation to Debiopharm’s Debio 1450 for treatment of ABSSSI

Debiopharm Group™(Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical company developing prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs including anti-infective and oncology therapeutics as well as companion diagnostics, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated its anti-infectious agent Debio 1450 as a Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).

4 Sep 2014