Antibiotic News and Research

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

Viewpoints: Trouble keeping health costs down; Ignagni says law needs some revisions; Coverage is like clean water

Now that the Supreme Court has provided legal certainty on the recent healthcare reform law, the nation must turn its attention to affordability. While the law expands coverage to millions of Americans, a goal health plans have long supported, major provisions of the law need to be changed to avoid significant cost increases for consumers and employers.

12 Jul 2012

Chest X-ray prevents excess antibiotic use in childhood pneumonia

Use of a chest X-ray as well as traditional clinical parameters to diagnose childhood pneumonia can prevent overdiagnosis and unnecessary use of antibiotics, say researchers.

10 Jul 2012

Peritoneal dialysis patients who live remotely face high peritonitis risk

Patients with renal disease who live more than 100 km from their nearest peritoneal dialysis unit face a higher risk for peritonitis, particularly with Staphylococcus aureus, than their peers who live closer, results of a large Australian study show.

10 Jul 2012

Researchers develop new silk-based stabilizer for vaccines and antibiotics

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new silk-based stabilizer that, in the laboratory, kept some vaccines and antibiotics stable up to temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

10 Jul 2012

ASM’s mBio achieves significant increase in impact factor

Less than two years after publishing its first issue, the online open-access journal mBio- is now ranked among the top 20 highest-impact microbiology journals according to Thomson Reuters, which has just released its Journal Citation Reports for 2011.

10 Jul 2012

PCV13 offers best overall protection from CAP in young children

Researchers have identified a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that is effective for treating bacteremic pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia in children aged 5 years or younger.

9 Jul 2012

New research approach can help predict the 'tenability' of antibiotics

Research by Wageningen University, part of Wageningen UR, has shown that the development of bacteria with resistance against the antibiotic cefotaxime occurs more often and more predictably than was previously assumed. Bacterial populations were found to have many mutations that increase resistance and therefore have a negative effect on public health.

4 Jul 2012

Raising vitamin D concentrations reduces risk of HAIs among hospital patients

A paper recently published in Dermato-Endocrinology indicates that raising vitamin D concentrations among hospital patients has the potential to greatly reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

4 Jul 2012

IRIN examines antibiotic resistance, efforts to discover new drugs

IRIN examines a global increase in resistance to antibiotics, writing, "Almost one in every five deaths worldwide occurs as a result of infection, but many bacterial illnesses will become incurable as the efficacy of current antibiotic drugs wanes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)."

3 Jul 2012

Study shows link between changing rates of antibiotic consumption and resistance

A new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online shows how seasonal changes in outpatient antibiotic use - retail sales of antibiotics typically get a boost during the winter - can significantly alter seasonal patterns of drug resistance. The findings suggest that hospital campaigns to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use should be coordinated with efforts in the broader community if they are to be most effective.

3 Jul 2012

Pernix to acquire Great Southern

Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Great Southern Laboratories, a privately-held pharmaceutical contract manufacturing company located in Houston, Texas.

3 Jul 2012

Three-step clinical pathway for CAP reduces length of hospital stay

A three-step pathway helps to reduce the duration of intravenous antibiotic treatment in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia, show study findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

2 Jul 2012

Big challenges from antibiotic resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are increasing and spreading at an alarming speed. The bacterial evolution is overwhelming our antibiotic defense. More and more bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics resulting in fatal consequences for millions of people. We need common action and responsibility for the development of new effective antibiotics and to stop antibiotic misuse.

30 Jun 2012

Eight-year trends in pediatric drug use examined

A review of US outpatient pediatric drug use over the past 8 years shows a decrease in systemic antibiotic, allergy, pain, and depression prescriptions, and an increase in asthma, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and contraceptive prescriptions.

29 Jun 2012

TB research finds body’s own response helps TB bacteria survive

Inhibiting a key immune response in mice during initial multi-drug treatment for tuberculosis could — paradoxically — shorten treatment time for the highly contagious lung infection according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and the Center for TB Research. Shorter duration of drug therapy is key, researchers say, to increase treatment compliance for the growing global health threat posed by the disease.

28 Jun 2012

Survey of home healthcare practices related to infection control

A healthy boy was infected with antibiotic-resistant bacterium that was traced to his mother's nurse's bag left in the family's car after his mother's home healthcare visit to a patient with the same infection. Although the boy's infection and the patient's infection were never DNA tested, the coincidence was remarkable.

26 Jun 2012

KaloBios’ KB001 shows promise against Pa pneumonia

Phase 2a trial results with KB001 suggest the recombinant, human PEGylated monoclonal antibody fragment, under development by KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Sanofi Pasteur, offers potential as an alternative to antibiotics for preventing or reducing pneumonias in mechanically ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients heavily colonized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa).

26 Jun 2012

BV treatment: full enrolment for phase 2 and first phase 3 trial

Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX:SPL; OTCQX: SPHRY) is pleased to report that recruitment is now 100% complete for its Phase 2 clinical trial to investigate the ability of VivaGel® to prevent the recurrence of BV, and also for the first of two pivotal Phase 3 studies of VivaGel® for the treatment of BV.

25 Jun 2012

B. oleronius from Demodex mites linked to rosacea development

The bacterium Bacillus oleronius from Demodex mites may play a role in the development of rosacea, suggest study findings.

22 Jun 2012

Selenium reduces Staph populations in medical implants

Selenium is an inexpensive element that naturally belongs in the body. It is also known to combat bacteria. Still, it had not been tried as an antibiotic coating on a medical device material. In a new study, Brown University engineers report that when they used selenium nanoparticles to coat polycarbonate, the material of catheters and endotracheal tubes, the results were significant reductions in cultured populations of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, sometimes by as much as 90 percent.

22 Jun 2012