Antibiotic News and Research

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

Improving tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis: an interview with Professor Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD

TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nearly 9 million people develop TB every year, and TB kills nearly 1.4 million individuals each year. While the incidence of TB has steadily declined in the west, it remains a huge public health problem in many developing countries, with India having the highest burden.

15 Feb 2013

Researchers ESTABLISH efficacy of tedizolid phosphate for skin infections

Results from the phase III ESTABLISH-1 study show that the new antibiotic tedizolid phosphate is noninferior to linezolid for the treatment of acute bacterial and skin structure infections.

14 Feb 2013

GSK1322322 targets gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant strains of MRSA

An increasing number of bacteria is evolving antibiotic resistance. Much-feared representatives of this steadily growing group include Staphylococci strains. At this point, multi-resistant forms of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus - the "hospital germ" known commonly by its acronym, MRSA - can only be treated with a select subset of antibiotics as many drugs have simply stopped working. This is precisely why the field of medicine is in desperate need of new treatment options.

14 Feb 2013

Bedside baths and bloodstream infections in children: an interview with Aaron Milstone

Bedside baths in the hospital are nothing new. They are typically done for patient comfort and to maintain basic personal hygiene.

13 Feb 2013

Combining synthetic and natural toxins could disarm cancer, drug-resistant bacteria

Cancer researchers from Rice University suggest that a new man-made drug that's already proven effective at killing cancer and drug-resistant bacteria could best deliver its knockout blow when used in combination with drugs made from naturally occurring toxins.

13 Feb 2013

Disease eradication efforts set sights on polio, Guinea worm

"It's not a race, exactly, but there's an intriguing uncertainty about whether a former U.S. president or a software magnate will cause the next deliberate extinction of a species in the wild. Will Jimmy Carter eradicate Guinea worm before Bill Gates eradicates polio?" Wall Street Journal commentator Matt Ridley asks in his "Mind & Matter" column.

13 Feb 2013

Bronchiectasis finding reveals COPD patients at mortality risk

Bronchiectasis is independently associated with mortality risk among patients with moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Spanish research shows.

12 Feb 2013

'Urgent need’ for primary care pneumonia diagnosis tools

While family doctors can exclude pneumonia with a high level of accuracy, they can only identify around a third of radiographically confirmed cases, research shows.

11 Feb 2013

Antibiotics help severely malnourished children recover

Giving severely malnourished children antibiotics in addition to nutritional therapy significantly improves their chances of making a full recovery compared with nutritional therapy alone, say researchers.

7 Feb 2013

Viral conjunctivitis: potential new treatment

Viral conjunctivitis is a highly contagious infection, often causing major ophthalmic epidemics. There is no approved acute treatment currently approved by the FDA for viral conjunctivitis. A safe broad-spectrum antiviral agent is needed to treat this unmet medical need.

5 Feb 2013

‘Urgent need’ for primary care pneumonia diagnosis tools

While family doctors can exclude pneumonia with a high level of accuracy, they can only identify around a third of radiographically confirmed cases, research shows.

5 Feb 2013

Scientists track evolution of antibiotic resistance using automated device

With the discovery of antibiotics, medicine acquired power on a scale never before possible to protect health, save lives, and reduce suffering caused by certain bacteria. But the power of antibiotics is now under siege because some virulent infections no longer respond to antibiotic drugs.

4 Feb 2013

Two new studies examine causes, treatment of severe malnutrition

"Two studies of malnourished children offer the first major new scientific findings in a decade about the causes and treatment of severe malnutrition, which affects more than 20 million children around the world and contributes to the deaths of more than a million a year," the New York Times reports.

2 Feb 2013

Researchers await clinical trial results of potential TB vaccine, expected early next week

"After nearly 100 years, researchers could be on the verge of finding a vaccine that would eradicate tuberculosis [TB] infections," Reuters reports, noting, "Global health experts are eagerly awaiting clinical trial results, expected early next week, of the first new vaccine in 90 years designed to prevent tuberculosis infections."

2 Feb 2013

Inadequate health literacy among Latinos linked with poor understanding of antibiotic use

In the first study of its kind, researchers at the Columbia University School of Nursing have established that poor health literacy among Latino parents is associated with a poor understanding of the proper use antibiotics, particularly for upper respiratory infections (URIs), which can lead to an increase in antimicrobial resistance.

2 Feb 2013

Finding medical applications for unused inventions: an interview with Gabriel Mecklenburg, Co-Founder of Marblar

Marblar is gamifying the process of technology transfer. We post technology on our platform in the form of a challenge, and the Marblar community then competes to uncover new problems these technologies could solve – thereby discovering new market applications for these technologies.

31 Jan 2013

Researchers identify mechanism by which vancomycin resistance spreads between bacteria

Worldwide, many strains of the bacterium Staphyloccocus aureus, commonly known as staph infections, are already resistant to all antibiotics except vancomycin. But as bacteria are becoming resistant to this once powerful antidote, S. aureus has moved one step closer to becoming an unstoppable killer.

31 Jan 2013

Blue light can selectively eradicate skin and soft tissue infections

Blue light can selectively eradicate Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections of the skin and soft tissues, while preserving the outermost layer of skin, according to a proof-of-principle study led by Michael R. Hamblin of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Harvard Medical School, Boston.

29 Jan 2013

Daily antibacterial baths can safely reduce risk of bloodstream infections in critically ill children

Daily baths with an ordinary antibacterial cleanser can safely reduce the risk of dangerous bloodstream infections in critically ill children, according to a trial conducted in five pediatric hospitals and led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

28 Jan 2013

Antibiotics not being used properly, leading to 'apocalyptic scenario' of drug-resistant infections, England's chief medical officer says

"The rise in drug-resistant infections is comparable to the threat of global warming, according to the chief medical officer for England," BBC News reports. Professor Dame Sally Davies "said bacteria were becoming resistant to current drugs and there were few antibiotics to replace them."

28 Jan 2013

Antibiotic News and Research

Further Reading

Improving tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis: an interview with Professor Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD

Researchers ESTABLISH efficacy of tedizolid phosphate for skin infections

GSK1322322 targets gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant strains of MRSA

Bedside baths and bloodstream infections in children: an interview with Aaron Milstone

Combining synthetic and natural toxins could disarm cancer, drug-resistant bacteria

Disease eradication efforts set sights on polio, Guinea worm

Bronchiectasis finding reveals COPD patients at mortality risk

'Urgent need’ for primary care pneumonia diagnosis tools

Antibiotics help severely malnourished children recover

Viral conjunctivitis: potential new treatment

‘Urgent need’ for primary care pneumonia diagnosis tools

Scientists track evolution of antibiotic resistance using automated device

Two new studies examine causes, treatment of severe malnutrition

Researchers await clinical trial results of potential TB vaccine, expected early next week

Inadequate health literacy among Latinos linked with poor understanding of antibiotic use

Finding medical applications for unused inventions: an interview with Gabriel Mecklenburg, Co-Founder of Marblar

Researchers identify mechanism by which vancomycin resistance spreads between bacteria

Blue light can selectively eradicate skin and soft tissue infections

Daily antibacterial baths can safely reduce risk of bloodstream infections in critically ill children

Antibiotics not being used properly, leading to 'apocalyptic scenario' of drug-resistant infections, England's chief medical officer says

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (2nd Edition) eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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