Clostridium News and Research

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Handwashing with soap is the best way to control flu and respiratory infections

People are more likely to wash their hands when they have been shamed into it, according to a study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

15 Oct 2009

Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority's initiative to raise awareness of healthcare-associated infections

The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority supports "International Infection Prevention Week," October 18-24, 2009, to raise awareness of the need to protect patients and the public from healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

14 Oct 2009

Automated SafetySurveillor system to detect healthcare-associated infections

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center of Midlothian, Va., selected Premier’s SafetySurveillor® Web-based infection tracking and antimicrobial utilization tool. More than 270 hospitals use SafetySurveillor to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and optimize antibiotic use, thereby protecting patients more effectively while safely reducing hospital costs.

30 Sep 2009

Clostridium difficile's five genetic regions identified

Five genetic regions have been identified that are unique to the most virulent strain of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), the hospital superbug. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology studied the genome of the bacterium, looking for genes relating to motility, antibiotic resistance and toxicity.

25 Sep 2009

FDA Advisory Committee recommends marketing approval for Auxilium's XIAFLEX to treat Dupuytren's contracture

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUXL), a specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the Arthritis Advisory Committee appointed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended by a unanimous vote of 12 to 0 that XIAFLEX™ (collagenase clostridium histolyticum), a novel, first-in-class, orphan-designated, biologic, be granted marketing approval by the FDA for the treatment of Dupuytren's contracture.

17 Sep 2009

BioSpecifics Technologies' XIAFLEX receives marketing approval from FDA

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: BSTC), a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class collagenase-based products, today announced that the Arthritis Advisory Committee appointed by the U.S.

17 Sep 2009

Phase III clinical trial results of XIAFLEX published in a journal

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing first in class collagenase-based products today announced results of the pivotal CORD I Phase III clinical trial of XIAFLEX (collagenase clostridium histolyticum), a novel, first-in-class biologic for the nonsurgical treatment of Dupuytren's disease, was published in today's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

4 Sep 2009

Recurrence of Clostridium difficile infection is a growing area of concern in hospitals

Arlington Medical Resources (AMR) and Decision Resources find that relapse or recurrence of infections is the most challenging aspect of treating Clostridium difficile infections in the hospital setting.

3 Sep 2009

CORD I phase III clinical trial results of XIAFLEX published

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced that The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has published in its September 3rd edition, the Company's pivotal CORD I Phase III clinical trial of XIAFLEX (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) a novel, first-in-class, biologic for the nonsurgical treatment of Dupuytren's contracture.

3 Sep 2009

New method for treating hand disorder discovered

Researchers in the Department of Orthopaedics at Stony Brook University Medical Center have developed an injectable form of the enzyme, collagenase, that significantly improves outcomes of Dupuytren's contracture (or disease), a debilitating disorder caused by progressive accumulation of collagen that deforms fingers and limits motion. Reported in September 3, 2009, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, the study involved treatment of 308 patients with Duputren's disease in 16 sites nationwide. The results indicate that the injections are safe and effective.

3 Sep 2009

Eye disease medication lowers death rate among Ethiopian children

Children in Ethiopia who received the antibiotic azithromycin as a method for controlling the contagious eye disease trachoma had a lower odds of death compared to children who did not receive the antibiotic, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

2 Sep 2009

Bioneutral Group holds scientific and business discussions with major health care companies

BioNeutral Group, Inc. (“BioNeutral”) (OTCBB:BONU), a specialty chemical technology based Life Science Company, announced discussions with four of the world’s largest health care companies.

25 Aug 2009

Norovirus controlled on cruise ship Marco Polo with vaporisation process by Activ8

The cruise ship Marco Polo, whose round-Britain cruise had to be cancelled because hundreds of passengers became ill with the vomiting bug Norovirus, has been totally disinfected by SitexOrbis' revolutionary infection control fogging service in just 5 hours at the Tilbury docks.

19 Aug 2009

New online tool to help nurses prevent the 10 "Never Events"

Elsevier, a world leader in healthcare and medical publishing and online solutions, today announced the availability of a new online tool within Mosby's Nursing Consult designed to help nurses prevent the 10 "Never Events" identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in an October 2008 fact sheet.

10 Aug 2009

Machine designed to reduce infections and cut back on expensive "disposables"

Johns Hopkins experts in applied physics, computer engineering, infectious diseases, emergency medicine, microbiology, pathology and surgery have unveiled a 7-foot-tall, $10,000 shower-cubicle-shaped device that automatically sanitizes in 30 minutes all sorts of hard-to-clean equipment in the highly trafficked hospital emergency department.

30 Jul 2009

Researchers expose the biology of Clostridium difficile transmission in mice

New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted.

20 Jul 2009

Do viruses make bacteria more deadly?

In England and Wales, the national health statistics in 2007 showed that there were 8,324 death certificates which named Clostridium difficile. This is a bacterium which causes severe diarrhoea in humans and animals as the underlying cause of death, a 28% increase from 2006.

22 Jun 2009

New discovery on how botulism paralyzes nerve cells

New structures of a botulism toxin interacting with a mimic of the nerve-cell protein it destroys suggest new ways to block this often-fatal interaction. Indeed, the mimic molecules have such high affinity for the toxin and bind to it so tightly that they themselves could possibly serve as anti-toxin drugs with further modification, the researchers said.

21 Jun 2009

Antibiotics diminish diversity of helpful gutmicrobes

It's common knowledge that a protective navy of bacteria normally floats in our intestinal tracts. Antibiotics at least temporarily disturb the normal balance. But it's unclear which antibiotics are the most disruptive, and if the full array of "good bacteria" return promptly or remain altered for some time.

18 Jun 2009

Old drug Auranofin may lead to new antibiotics

A mineral found at health food stores could be the key to developing a new line of antibiotics for bacteria that commonly cause diarrhea, tooth decay and, in some severe cases, death.

1 Jun 2009