Antimicrobial Drug News and Research

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Antimicrobials are substance that kills microorganisms such as bacteria or mold, or stops them from growing and causing disease.

Sagent Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval of Azithromycin for injection

Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of azithromycin for injection, a semi-synthetic, macrolide antibiotic that is used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections. Sagent will offer azithromycin in a 500 mg vial for intravenous use.

26 Mar 2009

Scientists develop new agents to fight superbugs

Experts from Queen's University Belfast have developed new agents to fight MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections that are resistant to antibiotics.

24 Mar 2009

CDC analysis finds unique social and behavior intervention helps reduce MRSA rates up to 62 percent

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Plexus Institute (Plexus) today announce results from an analysis of a multifaceted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevention program that employed positive deviance (PD), a novel approach to social and behavioral change, to trigger significant reductions in MRSA incidence ranging from 26 to 62 percent at participating hospitals.

23 Mar 2009

Coatings that kill superbugs

Researchers at the University of Bath are to be part of a 3 million Euros Europe-wide research collaboration to pioneer research into safer, more effective anti-bacterial plastics and coatings that can be used in items such as food packaging, medical devices to wound dressings, and nappies.

20 Mar 2009

Interventions helped reduce MRSA rates up to 62% in study hospitals

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Plexus Institute (Plexus) has announced results from an analysis of a multifaceted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevention program that employed positive deviance (PD), a novel approach to social and behavioral change, to trigger significant reductions in MRSA incidence ranging from 26 to 62 percent at participating hospitals.

20 Mar 2009

Review of hospital infection control strategies

Hand-washing, a clean environment, appropriate infection barriers and early identification of patients at high risk of colonization with a transmissible microorganism remain the essential measures to prevent and control infection.

16 Mar 2009

Pharmacies offering no-cost antibiotics should promote responsible use, CDC says

CDC last week sent out letters to several chain pharmacies that offer no-cost prescription antibiotics to low-income consumers urging them to promote responsible use of antibiotics, the New York Times reports.

5 Mar 2009

Experimental microbicide containing natural compound provides protection in monkeys against simian version of HIV

An experimental microbicide containing a naturally occurring compound provides protection in monkeys against the simian version of HIV by diminishing immune responses to the virus, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the Los Angeles Times reports.

5 Mar 2009

Antimicrobial resistance in clinics, hospitals and at home

Antibiotic resistance and the rise of illnesses that cannot be treated easily because of drug resistance is a health concern around the world.

16 Feb 2009

Sangamo BioSciences starts trial of CCR5-ZFP therapeutic to treat HIV/AIDS

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. has announced that its collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania have opened a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate SB-728-T for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

5 Feb 2009

Super-fine oil-and-water emulsion protects against superbugs that kill cystic fibrosis patients

University of Michigan scientists report highly encouraging evidence that a super-fine oil-and-water emulsion, already shown to kill many other microbes, may be able to quell the ravaging, often drug-resistant infections that cause nearly all cystic fibrosis deaths.

5 Feb 2009

MRSA head and neck infections increase among children

Rates of antibiotic-resistant head and neck infections increased in pediatric patients nationwide between 2001 and 2006, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

19 Jan 2009

First artemisinin based malaria drug may meet resistance, expert says

This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the first malaria drug to contain artemisinin, a wormwood derivative from China that has proven effective for malaria in Africa and Asia.

8 Jan 2009

Key survival circuit discovered in Salmonella bacteria

Hundreds of trillions of bacteria make their home in the vertebrate gut. Though many of these microbes perform helpful duties for their host, others - the pathogens - are unwelcome visitors, causing disease.

17 Dec 2008

Scientists fool bacteria into programming own death

Like firemen fighting fire with fire, researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have found a way to fool a bacteria's evolutionary machinery into programming its own death.

16 Dec 2008

Voriconazole effective in combating fungal infections

The effectiveness of voriconazole in combating fungal infections has been confirmed by a new study to be featured in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, published by Elsevier.

16 Dec 2008

New therapeutic targets for malaria

Scientists working on a common antimicrobial compound with antimalarial activity have discovered a range of new therapeutic strategies to combat malaria.

10 Dec 2008

Scientists identify 'border patrol agents' in the gut

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have shown in mice how and under what circumstances the gut activates its defensive mechanisms to prevent illness.

8 Dec 2008

Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe

As of 1 December 2008, the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe has reported a total of 11 735 cholera cases with 484 deaths since August 2008, affecting all provinces in the country. The overall case fatality rate is 4% but has reached up to 20¨C30% in remote areas. Out of the total number of cases, 50% have been reported from Budiriro, a high density suburb of the capital city, Harare.

2 Dec 2008

Study looks at 'vicious circle' theory infections in COPD patients

In treating flare-ups in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a major cause of disability and the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S, what was old is important again.

2 Dec 2008