Antibiotic News and Research

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

Technique called real-time polymerase chain reaction speeds up detecting, treating wound bacteria

Using DNA detection methods though a technique called real-time polymerase chain reaction, the physician-researcher from the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center can drastically cut the time it takes for lab personnel to figure out just what bacteria they're dealing with.

1 Jun 2006

Shortages of specific medicines and supplies in Indonesia

The emergency continues in Indonesia, as World Health Organization (WHO) works with authorities work to provide medical care to survivors, to acquire the right kinds of medicines and equipment.

1 Jun 2006

Scientists gain better understanding of Proteus mirabilis

Scientists now have inside information to use in the fight against Proteus mirabilis - a nasty bacterium that can cause kidney stones, as well as hard-to-treat urinary tract infections.

1 Jun 2006

New antibiotic works against superbugs

A new antibiotic with the ability to fight drug-resistant superbugs has been developed by researchers at drug company Merck's research laboratories in New Jersey.

21 May 2006

Environmental tobacco smoke drastically increases an infant's risk for developing allergic rhinitis

University of Cincinnati (UC) epidemiologists say it's environmental tobacco smoke--not the suspected visible mold--that drastically increases an infant's risk for developing allergic rhinitis by age 1.

17 May 2006

Steroid and xenobiotic receptor and vitamin D receptor crosstalk mediates CYP24 expression and drug-induced osteomalacia

Long-term therapy with some antiepileptic drugs and antibiotics can cause osteomalacia, a condition marked by softening of the bones that is usually the result of vitamin D and calcium deficiency.

16 May 2006

Fifty more deaths in Angola from cholera

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) another 50 people have died from cholera in Angola in the last week.

14 May 2006

Abortion pill in trouble again

Clostridium sordellii is a rare germ that has killed four women who took the abortion pill RU-486 and has also been implicated in the deaths of at least 11 other women following childbirth or miscarriage.

11 May 2006

New treatment for food poisoning

A team of researchers working at the University of Bristol has found a potential new treatment for listeriosis, a deadly form of food poisoning. Their work is reported in Nature Medicine.

10 May 2006

Study reveals structure of E. coli multidrug transporter protein

This new study could potentially help researchers find new ways to avoid the problem of multidrug resistance and enhance the potency of existing drug compounds.

9 May 2006

Scientists learn valuable lesson from nature - secret behind nature's medicines

After years of wondering how organisms managed to create self-medications, such as anti-fungal agents, chemists have discovered the simple secret.

3 May 2006

Short-course postexposure antibiotic prophylaxis combined with vaccination protects against experimental inhalational anthrax

Anthrax vaccine administered in combination with a short course of antibiotics completely protected nonhuman primates from inhalational anthrax, the most lethal form of the disease, according to scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).

3 May 2006

Anthrax killed by protein that explodes cell walls

Not all biological weapons are created equal. They are separated into categories A through C, category A biological agents being the scariest: They are easy to spread, kill effectively and call for special actions by the pubic health system. One of these worrisome organisms is anthrax, which has already received its fair share of media attention. But work in Vince Fischetti's laboratory at Rockefeller University suggests that a newly discovered protein could be used to fight anthrax infections and even decontaminate areas in which anthrax spores have been released.

26 Apr 2006

New method allows heart beat triggers to be viewed and better understood

Researchers have developed unique chemical dyes that have made it possible to see what the naked eye has never seen before: action potentials, or voltage changes, of cardiac cells - including those deep inside the heart, which trigger and determine the pace of heartbeats.

25 Apr 2006

Foot problems change social behaviour - but it doesn't have to be that way

With the average person taking 9,000 steps per day -- more than 600 miles each year -- when feet start to hurt or change in shape, it can really impact a person's life. In fact, according to a new survey, of people who report having foot issues in the past five years, two out of three report that these foot issues, which range from blisters to bunions and heel pain, have changed the kind of shoes they wear, how active they are, where and how far they walk, and so on.

23 Apr 2006