Antibiotic Resistance News and Research

RSS

Fluctuation in PCV-7 vaccine dosing time increases pneumococcal serotype 19A strains: Study

Infants who received heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV-7) at 2, 4, and 11 months were more likely than unvaccinated controls to have nasopharyngeal (in the nasal passages and upper part of the throat behind the nose) acquisition of pneumococcal serotype 19A, a leading cause of respiratory pneumococcal disease, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA.

8 Sep 2010

Scientists urge government to set target effectiveness for newly approved antibiotics

The United States must focus on conserving the use of antibacterial drugs, or face a public health crisis from rapidly rising rates of antibiotic-resistant infections, according to an analysis out today.

7 Sep 2010

BARDA awards $27 million contract to Achaogen for antibiotic development

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) today awarded a contract to develop an antibiotic that could be used against possibly two types of bioterrorism as well as common infections that are becoming resistant to antibiotics.

31 Aug 2010

U-M researchers explore prevention measures, treatments for C. difficile infection

Clostridium difficile, a wily, familiar bacterium, causes a growing number of serious infections in U.S. hospitals and nursing homes. With a $7.5 million, five-year award from the National Institutes of Health, University of Michigan researchers plan to discover what factors in the microbe and in patients make C. difficile a formidable, costly problem.

27 Aug 2010

Coalition of organizations request FDA to govern antibiotic usage in food animal production

Today a broad coalition of organizations hand-delivered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more than 180,000 letters responding to the agency's request for comments on rules governing the use of antibiotics on industrial farms.

27 Aug 2010

USPTO to allow patent for Advaxis’s new vaccine technology

Advaxis, Inc., the live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) immunotherapy company, has been notified that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will allow a patent issuance of its application No. 11/785,249 entitled "Antibiotic Resistance Free Vaccines and Methods for Constructing and Using Same."

21 Aug 2010

Experts to discuss the problem of antibiotic resistance

The growing problem of antibiotic resistance, which compromises our ability to treat common infections, represents one of the greatest threats to public health worldwide. Researchers, politicians and representatives from public health organisations and the pharmaceutical industry will gather in Uppsala from 6-8 September to discuss global strategies.

18 Aug 2010

Severe inflammatory response to initial UTI causes bladder damage: Research

The immune system may open the door to recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) by overdoing its response to an initial infection, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.Researchers showed in mice that severe inflammatory responses to an initial UTI cause bladder damage and allow infection to persist longer. After one to two weeks of infection, the bladder wall undergoes additional changes that leave mice more vulnerable to later infection. Suppressing the immune system during initial infection decreases these vulnerabilities, they report Aug. 12 in PLoS Pathogens.

13 Aug 2010

Superbug purportedly from Asia on the rise in UK & Australia

British scientists have claimed that a new gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1 has emerged that makes the bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics. India has rejected the claim that it is the source of this superbug. Cases have been detected in the UK and Australia and are on the rise in the UK.

12 Aug 2010

AdvanDx announces European launch of CE-IVD marked GNR Traffic Light PNA FISH test

AdvanDx today announced the launch of its CE-IVD marked GNR Traffic Light™ PNA FISH® test in Europe. GNR Traffic Light PNA FISH is the first-ever test capable of simultaneously identifying Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa directly from positive blood cultures in less than 90 minutes.

12 Aug 2010

Scientists to develop new antibiotics to tackle infection-causing bacteria

Detailed pictures published today reveal how a new type of experimental antibiotic can kill bacteria that are already resistant to existing treatments. The findings could ultimately help scientists to develop new antibiotics to tackle the bacteria responsible for many hospital and community-acquired infections.

5 Aug 2010

Advanced Life Sciences enters agreement with UBC to develop antimicrobial peptides

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, today announced that the Company has entered into a sponsored research and option agreement with The University of British Columbia (UBC) to develop several antimicrobial peptides.

27 Jul 2010

Hospitals adopt advanced computer technology to prevent HAIs

Hospitals that adopt advanced computer technology to identify healthcare-associated infections are more likely to have implemented best practices to prevent such infections, according to research presented today at the 37th Annual Conference and International Meeting of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

13 Jul 2010

Communication between bacterial species promotes resistance to antibiotics: Study

Ear infections caused by more than one species of bacteria could be more persistent and antibiotic-resistant because one pathogen may be communicating with the other, encouraging it to bolster its defenses. Interrupting or removing that communication could be key to curing these infections. Researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center publish their findings today in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

7 Jul 2010

Phase III clinical trial data of Cayston versus TIS in CF patients with P. aeruginosa presented at ECFC 2010

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that its head-to-head Phase III clinical trial of Cayston (aztreonam for inhalation solution) versus tobramycin inhalation solution in cystic fibrosis patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa achieved one of its co-primary endpoints of non-inferiority for mean percent change in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) percent predicted after 28 days of treatment.

19 Jun 2010

Anti-infectives could circumvent the problem of antibiotic resistance

For a successful infection, bacteria must outwit the immune system of the host. To this aim, they deliver so-called virulence factors through a transport channel located in the bacterial membrane.

14 Jun 2010

Extensive usage of antibiotic linezolid associated with ICU outbreak of LRSA

An outbreak of infection due to linezolid and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LRSA) in 12 intensive care unit patients in Spain was associated with transmission within the hospital and extensive usage of the antibiotic linezolid, often used for the treatment of serious infections, with reductions in linezolid use and infection-control measures associated with resolution of the outbreak, according to a study in the June 9 issue of JAMA.

10 Jun 2010