Antibiotic News and Research

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

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

FimH antagonists can effectively treat UTIs

A potential new approach for treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) - which affect millions of people annually - without traditional antibiotics is being reported in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. It involves so-called FimH antagonists, which are non-antibiotic compounds and would not contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance bacteria.

21 Jun 2012

Commensal bacteria essential to fight off viral infections

Healthy humans harbor an enormous and diverse group of bacteria and other bugs that live within their intestines. These microbial partners provide beneficial aid in multiple ways - from helping digest food to the development of a healthy immune system.

19 Jun 2012

First inventory of microbial diversity in the world's oceans

The landmark publication this week of a "map" of the bacterial make-up of healthy humans has deep roots in an unexpected place: the ocean.

14 Jun 2012

Caspase-11 enzyme plays an important role in Legionella infection

New research shows that an enzyme that has long been considered relatively useless to the immune response instead has an important role in setting up immune cells to kill infection-causing bacteria.

13 Jun 2012

Hospitalization rates in NYC for patients with CA-MRSA more than tripled between 1997-2006

Hospitalization rates in New York City for patients with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA), a potentially deadly bacterial infection that is resistant to antibiotic treatment, more than tripled between 1997 and 2006, according to a report published in the July issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

13 Jun 2012

New approach can design antibiotics that kill even 'superbugs'

The world needs new antibiotics to overcome the ever increasing resistance of disease-causing bacteria - but it doesn't need the side effect that comes with some of the most powerful ones now available: hearing loss. Today, researchers report they have developed a new approach to designing antibiotics that kill even "superbugs" but spare the delicate sensory cells of the inner ear.

12 Jun 2012

Guideline update for infective endocarditis successful

The incidence of infective endocarditis did not increase after American guidelines for antibiotic use before dental procedures were updated in 2007, a report in Circulation shows.

12 Jun 2012

Scientists discover new genetic information linked with shigellosis

Scientists have found new genetic information that shows how harmful bacteria cause the acute diarrheal disease shigellosis, which kills more than a million people worldwide each year.

12 Jun 2012

Hospira releases enhancement to TheraDoc clinical surveillance system

Hospira, the world's leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies, today released an important enhancement to its TheraDoc clinical surveillance system designed to support hospital antimicrobial stewardship efforts, with the goal of helping to improve patient outcomes, reduce antimicrobial resistant infections and reduce costs.

11 Jun 2012

JCAD publishes results from clincal study of Tria Skin Perfecting Blue Light for acne

The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology (JCAD), a respected peer-reviewed dermatology publication, has, in its May 2012 issue, published the results of a single-center study of the Tria Skin Perfecting Blue Light for acne, showcasing the overall effectiveness of the device in significantly reducing the amount of acne, as well as the frequency, severity and redness of acne flares.

10 Jun 2012

Prophylactic antibiotic regimens lack evidence of PARITY

Results from the PARITY study highlight the need for consensus in the prevention of infection in patients undergoing endoprosthetic limb reconstruction following sarcoma.

8 Jun 2012

Experimental drug tested against multi-drug resistant TB

"Researchers who tested a novel type of antibiotic against multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis [MDR-TB] are reporting that nearly half of patients who got the new drug cleared the bacteria from their lung fluid in two months," according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports.

8 Jun 2012

Pneumonia and diarrhoea remain biggest killers of East Asia-Pacific children

A new report from UNICEF has highlighted the huge child survival gap between the richest and the poorest children by focusing on pneumonia and diarrhoea – the two primary killers of children under the age of five.

8 Jun 2012

Sorrento receives $300,000 STTR grant to develop novel therapeutics against Staph infections

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has received an Advanced Technology Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Fast Track grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH.

8 Jun 2012

WHO warns of drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea

"Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea have spread to countries across the world, the U.N. health agency said on Wednesday, and millions of patients may run out of treatment options unless doctors catch and treat cases earlier," Reuters reports.

7 Jun 2012

Call for increased screening and faster testing for drug-resistant tuberculosis

Johns Hopkins experts in the prevention and treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are calling for increased screening and more rapid testing of the 9 million people worldwide estimated to be infected each year with TB, and now at risk for this form of the highly contagious lung disease. The call follows results of a survey showing that the harder-to-treat TB variants are much more widespread than previously thought.

7 Jun 2012