Antibiotic Resistance News and Research

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Common ingredient in sunscreen can prevent infections related to medical implants

A common ingredient in sunscreen could be an effective antibacterial coating for medical implants such as pacemakers and replacement joints.

11 Nov 2015

Paratek initiates Omadacycline phase 3 clinical study in community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP)

Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced the dosing of the first patient in its Phase 3 clinical study of its lead drug candidate, omadacycline, for the treatment of Community Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (CABP). This global Phase 3 study will assess the efficacy and safety of omadacycline compared with moxifloxacin in subjects with CABP.

9 Nov 2015

Researchers track re-emergence of scarlet fever-causing bacteria

An international study led by University of Queensland researchers has tracked the re-emergence of a childhood disease which had largely disappeared over the past 100 years.

4 Nov 2015

Microbiome researcher Martin J. Blaser earns GUMC's Cura Personalis Award

Georgetown University Medical Center will bestow its highest honor, the Cura Personalis Award, upon Martin J. Blaser, MD, a world-renowned microbiome researcher and clinician.

3 Nov 2015

Physicians leave severe acne patients on ineffective antibiotics for too long before prescribing more potent drug

A medical records analysis by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center concludes that physicians who treat severe acne leave too many patients on ineffective antibiotics for far too long before prescribing more potent needed therapy with the medication isotretinoin, sometimes known by its former brand name Accutane.

30 Oct 2015

Scientists call for coordinated effort to drive cutting edge microbiome research

A consortium of 48 scientists from 50 institutions in the United States - including Pamela Silver, Ph.D., a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University - are calling for a Unified Microbiome Initiative that would span national cross-institutional and cross-governmental agency support.

29 Oct 2015

Phage shows strong anti-microbial activity against C. sakazakii bacterium

A phage showed strong anti-microbial activity against a type of food-borne bacterium that often kills infants after infecting them via infant formula. Phages are viruses that infect only bacteria. The research is published Oct. 23 online in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

24 Oct 2015

UCSF scientists urge hospitals to buy only antibiotic-free meat to help stop spread of antibiotic resistance

To help stop the spread of antibiotic resistance, UC San Francisco scientists are urging hospitals around the country to stop buying meat from animals that were given antibiotics for growth promotion.

19 Oct 2015

Antibiotic resistance potentially threatens the safety and efficacy of surgical procedures and immunosuppression therapies

This week The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal published the strongest evidence to date that increasing antibiotic resistance could have disastrous consequences for patients undergoing surgery or cancer chemotherapy. Based on a review of published literature, researchers predict that a 30% reduction in the efficacy of the prophylactic antibiotics routinely given when these procedures are performed could result in 120,000 more infections and 6300 infection-related deaths every year in the USA alone.

16 Oct 2015

CVMA applauds Governor Brown for signing landmark antibiotics bill

The California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) applauds Governor Jerry Brown for signing SB 27 (Hill) into law. This bill sets aggressive, groundbreaking standards for antimicrobial drug use in California livestock and will positively impact antibiotic resistance in both humans and animals.

13 Oct 2015

Novel mathematical method may help reduce development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

It is estimated that each year in the United States 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to one or more types of antibiotics, and at least 23,000 people will die because of these infections. This problem is being exacerbated by overuse of antibiotics for livestock and also in community clinical practice. This overuse, combined with the slow pace of novel drug discovery is a growing threat to public health.

12 Oct 2015

UIC selected as one of six research centers to help control infectious diseases in health facilities

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been selected as one of six research centers in the U.S. to help develop a comprehensive new strategy to control Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases in health facilities.

6 Oct 2015

Unlocking the genes behind antibiotic resistance: an interview with Professor Romesberg

Bacteria are very, very diverse. This is why their susceptibility to different antibiotics can be very different. It also makes the tools they have to evolve resistance in many cases different.

30 Sep 2015

New technique supplies faster resistance results, can benefit patients with blood poisoning

When treating cases of blood poisoning, doctors resort immediately to broad-spectrum antibiotics. The problem is that in many cases the bacteria are resistant to the medicine.

26 Sep 2015

Urinary tract infections could be treated more efficiently using DNA sequencing device

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) could be treated more quickly and efficiently using a DNA sequencing device the size of a USB stick - according to research from the University of East Anglia.

From Oxford Nanopore Technologies 21 Sep 2015

Combination of TXA709 and cefdinir demonstrates synergistic antibacterial activity against MRSA

TAXIS Pharmaceuticals, a drug-discovery company focused on developing a new class of antibiotic agents to treat life-threatening, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, announced the presentation of results demonstrating the synergistic antibacterial activity of its lead clinical candidate, TXA709, when combined with cefdinir, a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic.

19 Sep 2015

Umeå University chemist explores ways to decrease bacterial colonization

Among the bacterial infections that are most difficult to treat, chronic infections associated with bacterial biofilms are one of the most hazardous. Bacterial biofilms are densely packed communities of microbial cells surrounded with secreted polymers. In her doctoral thesis, chemist Shoghik Hakbyan has studied ways to decrease the bacterial colonization at Umeå University in Sweden.

14 Sep 2015

Virginia Tech scientists discover new treatments to target antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Virginia Tech researchers have discovered a new group of antibiotics that may provide relief to some of the more than 2 million people in the United States affected by antibiotic resistance.

14 Sep 2015

New UC Davis study suggests that popular molecular tests over-diagnose C. difficile infections

Clostridium difficile is a common cause of infection and diarrhea in hospitalized patients, but a new study by UC Davis pathologists suggests that many patients are mistakenly diagnosed and do not need antibiotic treatment. As a result, patients are likely being over-diagnosed and over-treated, adding to concerns about antibiotic resistance, damage to the "good" bacteria that live in people's intestines, and increased health-care costs.

9 Sep 2015

Antibiotic resistance awareness: an interview with Professor Colin Garner

The threat of antibiotic resistance is very real. It is estimated that 700,000 people die each from resistant infections. In Europe the figure is 25,000 deaths and a similar number in the USA.

7 Sep 2015