Clostridium News and Research

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Dirty ambulances may be a culprit in spread of superbugs

The debate in the UK over the spread of so-called superbugs such as MRSA has taken a nasty turn with the national union for ambulance staff saying dirty ambulances are the culprits.

27 Nov 2007

HPA statement on recent media interest in Pseudomonas infections

There has been some recent media interest in Pseudomonas infections.

21 Nov 2007

Cethromycin achieves all endpoints in second pivotal Phase III Trial for treatment for pneumonia

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADLS), today announced positive results from Trial CL-05, the second of two pivotal phase III clinical trials designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of cethromycin, a novel once-a-day oral antibiotic for the treatment of mild-to-moderate community acquired pneumonia (CAP), the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

16 Nov 2007

MRSA bloodstream infections showing steady decrease

Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) has published the Annual Report on Healthcare Associated Infection 2007, as well as the latest quarterly report on the MRSA blood poisoning and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection figures.

2 Nov 2007

Hospital chairman quits over superbug scandal

Following a report that as many as 345 patients may have died from an infection contracted at a British hospital, the chairman of the hospital trust at the centre of the infection scandal has resigned.

16 Oct 2007

Sandia develops portable microfluidic platform to detect biotoxins

Of all the threat scenarios facing emergency responders around the country, the release and spread of a dangerous biotoxin in a large public space is one of the most troubling.

27 Sep 2007

Clostridium difficile infection is four times more likely to kill patients with inflammatory bowel disease

C difficile is an important cause of diarrhoea among inpatients, and the numbers of new cases of the infection have been steadily increasing in recent years.

27 Sep 2007

War on infection takes on a new challenger - the Infection Prevention Society

Severe infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile may be reduced radically in the future as a new forum for infection prevention and control professionals is launched next week on 26 September 2007 at the 37th annual Infection Control Nurses Association (ICNA) conference in Brighton.

25 Sep 2007

Clostridium difficile could outstrip MRSA in Irish hospitals

Research findings on a bug which is a major threat to hospital patients and particularly elderly patients, which could outstrip MRSA, will be presented to the Irish Society for Immunology (ISI) Annual Conference at Dublin City University.

24 Sep 2007

Clostridium difficile bacterium found on patients with no obvious signs or symptoms of disease

The bacterium that causes a highly contagious and sometimes deadly form of diarrhea is frequently carried by persons who do not have any of the disease symptoms, according to a study in the Oct. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

24 Sep 2007

Soap and warm water best for battling Clostridium difficile

Hospitals world-wide battle nosocomial infections on a daily basis.

21 Sep 2007

Off with the sleeves as battle of the superbug begins

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, battling to control the spread of superbugs like MRSA, will in future ban the signature long-sleeved white coats, favoured by doctors.

17 Sep 2007

New phages to treat bacterial diseases

Viruses found in the River Cam in Cambridge, famous as a haunt of students in their punts on long, lazy summer days, could become the next generation of antibiotics, according to scientists speaking today (Monday 3 September 2007) at the Society for General Microbiology's 161st Meeting at the University of Edinburgh, UK, which runs from 3-6 September 2007.

3 Sep 2007

The battle against killer superbugs begins in earnest

A new initiative in the battle against hospital infections caused by antibiotic-resistant superbugs will be led by the very doctor who first raised the alarm bells over the deadly germs.

7 Aug 2007

Latest food scare in the U.S. - canned green beans

The latest food scare to hit North America again involves canned food; this time the culprit is green beans.

6 Aug 2007

New treatment to combat bowel infection among the elderly

Scientists at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC), based in University College Cork (UCC) and Teagasc’s Moorepark Food Research Centre, are researching a new treatment to combat the increasing incidences of hospital acquired diarrhoea which has become a major problem in hospitals, nursing homes and facilities for the elderly.

1 Aug 2007

Steam out those superbugs!

According to scientists in Britain the battle against super bugs such as MRSA could be won with steam cleaning.

30 Jul 2007

Latest MRSA bloodstream infections and Clostridium difficile figures

Latest figures for MRSA show there was a 6.4% fall in the number of cases of blood stream infection reported to the Health Protection Agency from January - March 2007.

26 Jul 2007

Botulism in chili sauce latest food scare in U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. has warned the public about canned products which may be contaminated with the bacteria that causes botulism.

21 Jul 2007

Colitis caused by Clostridium difficile more common now

The rate of cases of colitis (colon inflammation) caused by the bacteria Clostridium difficile more than doubled among patients hospitalized in the United States between 1993 and 2003, and the illness was more severe and associated with an increased mortality rate, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery.

17 Jul 2007