Antibiotic News and Research

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

How some antibiotics kill bacteria

Researchers have uncovered how members of one family of antibiotics kill bacteria that make people sick.

11 Aug 2005

Expert warns of spread of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

An expert on infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is warning that humans can inadvertently help spread infectious organisms beyond traditional state boundaries.

11 Aug 2005

Study estimates Staphylococcus aureus infections cause 12,000 deaths, cost hospitals $9.5 billion

Staphylococcus aureus infections (S. aureus) create an enormous burden to hospitals by significantly increasing costs, length of patient stays and mortality rates, a Northwestern Memorial Hospital researcher found in the most comprehensive study to date, published today's Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Aug 2005

Scientists enhance the anti-cancer properties of a digitalis, a drug commonly used to treat heart disease

Employing a simple new technique to manipulate the sugars that power many front-line drugs, a team of Wisconsin scientists has enhanced the antic-cancer properties of a digitalis, a drug commonly used to treat heart disease.

9 Aug 2005

Three dead in New Zealand from legionnaires' disease

Three people have died in an outbreak of legionnaires' disease in Christchurch, New Zealand.

9 Aug 2005

DDT resistance in flies carries no cost

For those concerned with the troublesome effects of genetic resistance to drugs and pesticides, the conventional wisdom of evolution offers a reassuring word: In the absence of the original chemical threat, most resistance mutations would cause a disadvantage to their hosts and might be expected to quickly leave the genetic landscape once the use of a drug or insecticide is suspended or withdrawn.

9 Aug 2005

Officials in China sacked over pig disease cover-up

According to Xinhua the government news agency in China, four officials have been sacked for trying to cover up the trail of dead pigs, early in an outbreak of a swine-borne disease that has killed 39 people in southwest China.

8 Aug 2005

Supplements of multivitamins and minerals don't prevent infections in the elderly

Researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, say giving daily supplements of multivitamins and minerals do not prevent respiratory, stomach, skin and other types of infections in the elderly.

8 Aug 2005

China admits to the extent of pig disease

China has, for the first time admitted to the number of pigs which have been killed by a deadly bacteria. The bacteria, Streptococcus suis, or Swine flu, has also claimed the lives of at least 38 people, and made over a hundred sick, who slaughtered, handled or ate the infected animals.

7 Aug 2005

Multivitamins don't prevent infections in older people

Multivitamin and mineral supplements don't appear to prevent infections in older people living at home, finds a study in this week's British Medical Journal (BMJ).

4 Aug 2005

Discovery may lead to new diagnostic tests for immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID)

Defects in a single gene can result in two immune system disorders that leave affected individuals vulnerable to frequent or unusually severe infections, according to new findings reported in the August issue of Nature Genetics.

4 Aug 2005

Antibiotics "to go" may stop STD spread

Giving men with STDs antibiotics to take to their partner(s) is an effective way to stop the spread of STDs says Tulane University epidemiologist Patricia Kissinger.

2 Aug 2005

Pig fever added to notifiable disease list

Secretary for Hong Kong's Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow said today the move will enable the Government to strengthen surveillance, and aid early detection and implementation of health control measures.

2 Aug 2005

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has broken the immune system's code

The human opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has broken the immune system's code, report researchers from the University of Chicago, enabling the bacteria to recognize when its host is most vulnerable and to launch an attack before the weakened host can muster its defenses.

1 Aug 2005

Two studies reveal how plague disables immune system

Two studies by researchers at the University of Chicago show how the bacteria that cause the plague manage to outsmart the immune system and how, by slightly altering one of the microbe's tools, the researchers produced what may be the first safe and effective vaccine.

1 Aug 2005

FDA bans antibiotic use for poultry

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the use of a poultry antibiotic made by Bayer.

31 Jul 2005

Pig disease in China now claims 24 lives and renders 117 sick

The death toll from an outbreak, of what is now thought to be a pig-borne disease, in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan, has risen to 24, with another 117 thought be sick.

27 Jul 2005

Pneumonia - another use for statins

Patients hospitalised because of pneumonia are at less risk of dying from the disease if they have been taking the widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs 'statins' before hospital admission.

25 Jul 2005

Bacteria use host's immune response to their competitive advantage

Millions of bacteria live within the recesses of our noses and upper respiratory tracts, waiting for a chance to infiltrate and infect. But long before these bacteria break through our immune defenses, they must first compete against other bacterial species to colonize the mucus-lined surfaces of our noses.

24 Jul 2005

Innovative laser and light treatments to tackle acne, rosacea, sun damage and signs of aging

Millions of Americans suffer from skin conditions that affect their appearance and can cause emotional and social distress. Thanks to technological advances, many of these conditions are treatable with laser and light therapies which offer a faster way to improve appearance with less recovery time and a higher degree of safety.

21 Jul 2005