Antibiotic News and Research

RSS

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

Pre-op antibiotics prevent infection for wisdom teeth surger

Patients who have their wisdom teeth pulled and do not take antibiotics before surgery are twice as likely to get an infection after the surgery than those who take a single dose of antibiotics shortly before surgery, says Eastman Dental Center researchersYan-Fang Ren, DDS, PhD, MPH and Hans Malmstrom, DDS.

30 Oct 2007

What makes some clays powerful antimicrobial agents?

With funding from the National Institutes of Health-National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the UB geologists are studying the surface characteristics of a broad range of naturally occurring antimicrobial clays, including some clays from France to determine why they are such effective killers of bacteria.

29 Oct 2007

Discovery of new peptide communication factor in bacteria

Discovery by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers of a new communication factor that enables bacteria to "talk to each other" and causes their death could have significant consequences leading to development of a new class of antibiotic medications.

29 Oct 2007

Step towards vaccine to prevent Chlamydia

Genetically engineered mice may hold the key to helping scientists from Queensland University of Technology and Harvard hasten the development of a vaccine to protect adolescent girls against the most common sexually transmitted disease, Chlamydia.

29 Oct 2007

Study finds increase of avoidable hospitalizations in Washington, D.C.

The rate of avoidable hospitalizations in Washington, D.C., increased from 39.1 per 1,000 adults ages 40 to 64 in 2004 to 43.4 in 2006, and from 8.9 per 1,000 children younger than age 18 to 12.1 during the same period, according to a report released Thursday by RAND, the Washington Post reports.

29 Oct 2007

5% of MRSA patients in U.S. died

One of every 20 (or 5 percent) of the roughly 368,600 patients treated in U.S. hospitals in 2005 for Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, died, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

25 Oct 2007

Cow infections could provide clue to preventing infertility in women

Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College, London, have made a significant breakthrough in their understanding of how infection of the uterus damages fertility in cows.

25 Oct 2007

Charcot foot becoming more common

Charcot foot is a sudden softening of the foot's bones caused by severe neuropathy, or nerve damage, a common diabetic foot complication. It can trigger an avalanche of problems, including joint loss, fractures, collapse of the arch, massive deformity, ulcers, amputation, and even death. As the disorder progresses, the bottom of the foot can become convex, bulging like the hull of a ship.

24 Oct 2007

Inflammatory breast cancer

Everyone knows to be concerned about a lump as a sign of breast cancer. But there's another type of breast cancer – much more rare and much more lethal – that has as its primary sign redness, sometimes without any lump.

23 Oct 2007

One sniff may clear away that awful phobia!

Scientists from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, have found that a simple nasal spray may help people deal with irrational fears.

23 Oct 2007

Zinc can help nursing home residents who are susceptible to pneumonia

When elderly nursing home residents contract pneumonia, it is a blow to their already fragile health.

22 Oct 2007

Hand hygiene initiative aims to decrease healthcare-associated infection in developing countries

An open-access commentary in the December 2007 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology examines a recently launched a global initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat healthcare-associated infection by improving hand hygiene in health care.

22 Oct 2007

Parents panic over MRSA

The death of a 17-year-old high school student in Virginia from the superbug MRSA has prompted the closure of 21 schools in the state for cleaning and has many parents worried.

22 Oct 2007

Preventing tuberculosis reactivation

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death due to infectious disease in the world today.

19 Oct 2007

Massive reanalysis of genome data solves case of the lethal genes

It is better to be looked over than overlooked, Mae West supposedly said. These are words of wisdom for genome data-miners of today.

19 Oct 2007

Antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat, or ear infection

Antibiotics are not justified to reduce the risk of complications after upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat, or ear infection, finds a study published on bmj.com.

19 Oct 2007

19,000 Americans died in 2005 from MRSA

A new study that estimates nearly 19,000 Americans died in 2005 from a virulent, antibiotic-resistant infection acquired mostly in the hospital underscores the need for Congress to require public reporting of patient infection rates, according to Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

19 Oct 2007