Antibiotic Resistance News and Research

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New study finds huge problem of multi-drug resistant infections among children

In a new, first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found a 700-percent surge in infections caused by bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae family resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics among children in the US. These antibiotic resistant infections are in turn linked to longer hospital stays and potentially greater risk of death.

24 Feb 2017

Researchers chart pathway of multidrug resistant bacteria living in hospital sink drainpipes

Many recent reports have found multidrug resistant bacteria living in hospital sink drainpipes, putting them in close proximity to vulnerable patients.

24 Feb 2017

Wastewater releases from oil and gas operations at West Virginia alter microbes, study finds

Wastewater from oil and gas operations -- including fracking for shale gas -- at a West Virginia site altered microbes downstream, according to a Rutgers-led study.

23 Feb 2017

UC San Diego researchers suggest transplanting good bacteria to treat patients with atopic dermatitis

Healthy human skin is alive with bacteria. In fact, there are more microorganisms living in and on the human body than there are human cells. Most can live on the human skin without harming the host, but in some people bacteria can negatively alter their health, maybe even become life-threatening.

23 Feb 2017

Scientists identify novel mutations in bacteria that promote evolution of antibiotic resistance

Scientists from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have identified novel mutations in bacteria that promote the evolution of high-level antibiotic resistance.

21 Feb 2017

New article provides thought-provoking view on the rise of allergy, autoimmune diseases

This new feature article by Megan Scudellari is a well-researched, thought provoking view on the rise of allergy and autoimmune diseases and shows how, if looked at objectively, it’s obviously due to “much more than rampant cleanliness”.

17 Feb 2017

New class of antibiotics effective in treating children with MRSA skin infections

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterial scourge. As its name suggests, MRSA is resistant to most common antibiotics and thus difficult to treat, particularly in children where it commonly causes complicated skin and skin structure infections.

17 Feb 2017

Study: Physicians more likely to prescribe antibiotics when patients' expectations are high

Experimental evidence confirms what surveys have long suggested: Physicians are more likely to prescribe antibiotics when they believe there is a high expectation of it from their patients, even if they think the probability of bacterial infection is low and antibiotics would not be effective, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

16 Feb 2017

Researchers develop new method that can rapidly profile resistome of gut microbial communities

Taking antibiotics to fight an infection won't necessarily solve your problems. Often, natural occurring bacteria in the gut harbor several resistance genes.

10 Feb 2017

UC San Diego engineers develop desktop diagnosis tool that detects harmful bacteria in few hours

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a desktop diagnosis tool that detects the presence of harmful bacteria in a blood sample in a matter of hours instead of days.

8 Feb 2017

UCLA researchers identify drug combinations that may be successful in reducing growth of bacteria

A landmark report by the World Health Organization in 2014 observed that antibiotic resistance -- long thought to be a health threat of the future -- had finally become a serious threat to public health around the world.

8 Feb 2017

Scientists evaluate rapid test that detects colistin resistance gene in bacterial isolates

Colistin is used as the "last-resort antibiotic" for dreaded multidrug-resistant pathogens, especially in hospitals. However, gut bacteria that have become insensitive to colistin now exist -- owing to the mobile resistance gene mcr-1. In early 2016, bacteria carrying this resistance gene were detected in Germany for the first time.

6 Feb 2017

Scientists identify key 'survival gene' that reduces mutation rates in mycobacteria

Scientists have discovered a key 'survival gene' that prevents strains of tuberculosis (TB) from mutating into drug-resistant 'superbugs'.

28 Jan 2017

Researchers discover how bacterial enzyme can blunt the body's key immune defenses

Scientists have discovered how a unique bacterial enzyme can blunt the body's key weapons in its fight against infection.

20 Jan 2017

Improving fungal disease diagnostics could help battle against antimicrobial resistance

Ignorance of fungal disease and lack of diagnostics across the world is causing doctors to unknowingly overprescribe antibiotics a new report warns.

18 Jan 2017

Better fungal disease diagnostics could be critical to fight against antimicrobial resistance

Poor diagnosis worldwide of fungal disease causes doctors to overprescribe antibiotics, increasing harmful resistance to antimicrobial drugs, according to a paper published today in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

17 Jan 2017

Study shows how phage-resistant cells become susceptible upon co-incubation with sensitive bacteria

Bacteriophages (phages) are probably the most abundant entities in nature, often exceeding bacterial densities by an order of magnitude.

11 Jan 2017

Research reveals how microbial context during infectious disease can compromise antibiotic therapy

Bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics can survive when enough resistant cells around them are expressing an antibiotic-deactivating factor.

28 Dec 2016

Genomic sequencing reveals new insights into major shigellosis outbreaks in California

In a study that could have significant impact on how disease outbreaks are managed, researchers at UC Davis and the California Department of Public Health have sequenced and analyzed genomes from Shigella sonnei (S. sonnei) bacteria associated with major shigellosis outbreaks in California in 2014 and 2015.

23 Dec 2016

Danish researchers uncover bacteria’s secret code language

Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is a growing global challenge. Danish researchers have now discovered that bacteria use a code language to avoid being controlled.

21 Dec 2016