Clostridium News and Research

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Innovative strategies to reduce infections in health-care settings

Can probiotics prevent pneumonia in patients breathing with the help of ventilators? That's just one question researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis hope to answer as part of innovative new studies to reduce infections in health-care settings.

15 Mar 2011

Scientists sequence Clostridium botulinum genome that produces neurotoxin

Scientists on the Norwich Research Park have sequenced the genome of a novel strain of Clostridium botulinum, one of the most dangerous pathogens known to man. The strain produces an unusual botulinum neurotoxin, known as type A5 neurotoxin, which was isolated by the Health Protection Agency, following a case of wound botulism.

8 Mar 2011

FDA clears Meridian's illumigene C. difficile molecular amplification test

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio today announced that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new pediatric claim for its illumigene C. difficile molecular amplification test. C. difficile is a bacterium that is frequently associated with antibiotic therapy often causing diarrhea and, in severe cases, a life-threatening inflammation of the colon.

2 Mar 2011

Intercell reports EUR 255.2m net loss for full year 2010

Today Intercell AG announced its financial results for Q4 and the preliminary results for the full financial year 2010 and presented an update on the Company's development programs.

1 Mar 2011

Nearly 60,000 newly acquired infections per year in Germany's intensive care units

Infections are among the most frequent complications of a stay in hospital and raise the complication and mortality rates. Calculations based on data from the Hospital Infection Surveillance System (Krankenhaus-Infektions-Surveillance-System, KISS) showed an incidence of almost 60 000 newly acquired infections per year in intensive care units in Germany.

25 Feb 2011

Study finds GI bleeding rare outside of ICU, regardless of whether or not patients receive medication

Over the last several decades, the prophylactic use of acid-suppressive medications to help prevent gastrointestinal bleeding in hospitalized patients has increased significantly, with some studies estimating that as many as 40 to 70 percent of all medical inpatients are given these drugs at some point during their hospitalization.

15 Feb 2011

New England Journal publishes fidaxomicin Phase 3 trial results against CDI

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, announced The New England Journal of Medicine has published results from the North American Phase 3 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Company's novel antibiotic fidaxomicin as a treatment for patients with Clostridium difficile infection.

3 Feb 2011

Fidaxomicin demonstrates 45% reduction in recurrences vs. existing treatment for C. difficile infection

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a significant and growing problem in hospitals and other health care facilities, but no new drugs to treat the condition have been developed in several decades. However, a large-scale, phase 3 trial conducted by Canadian and U.S. researchers shows that the new antibiotic Fidaxomicin is superior to existing treatments, demonstrating a 45 percent reduction in recurrences vs. the existing licensed treatment.

3 Feb 2011

CDH first hospital in New England to use Xenex PX-UV disinfection system

Cooley Dickinson Hospital (CDH) today announced it is the first hospital in New England to use the Xenex PX-UV disinfection system to disinfect its patient and operating rooms.

2 Feb 2011

FDA accepts Optimer's fidaxomicin NDA for filing

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for fidaxomicin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and for reducing the risk of recurrence when used for treatment of initial CDI.

24 Jan 2011

IMDx enters multi-year agreement with Abbott Molecular for m2000 instrument system

IMDx today announced that they have signed a multi-year agreement with Abbott whereby IMDx will design, develop, regulatory clear, and manufacture assays for the Abbott Molecular FDA cleared, m2000 instrument system to be distributed worldwide. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

21 Jan 2011

Loyola offers new, nonsurgical treatment for Dupuytren's contracture

Loyola University Health System is among the first centers to offer a new, nonsurgical treatment for Dupuytren's contracture, a debilitating condition that curls fingers toward the palm.

19 Jan 2011

FDA stops operations of N.Y.-based beverage company

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice today filed a complaint for permanent injunction against a Jamaica, N.Y.-based beverage company to prevent it from processing and distributing juice and other products.

14 Jan 2011

Clostridium bacteria may offer a greener alternative to petrol

A diverse family of bacteria that can cause a potentially fatal illness in humans but could offer a greener alternative to petrol to power our cars will be the subject of a talk by a University of Nottingham academic at an international conference.

12 Jan 2011

IDSA releases MRSA treatment guidelines

Physicians now have help in their battle against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a potentially deadly infection that initially was limited to hospitals and health care facilities but has become a growing problem in healthy children and adults. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released its first guidelines for the treatment of increasingly common MRSA infections.

7 Jan 2011

C. difficile infection has become common among hospitalized children in the US

Hospitalized children in the United States are more frequently becoming infected with the bacteria Clostridium difficile, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 Jan 2011

Tru-D UV-C device effective in reducing pathogens on all environmental surfaces in hospital patient rooms

Results of an eight-month hospital study, "Room Decontamination with UV Radiation," were published in the October 2010 issue of "Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology." The study evaluated the ability of an automated UV device, Tru-D, to decontaminate patient rooms contaminated with MRSA, VRE, C. difficile and a MDR strain of Acinetobacter baumannii.

10 Dec 2010

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

9 Dec 2010

Journal of Hand Surgery publishes XIAFLEX CORD II phase III clinical trial

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing first in class collagenase-based products, today announced that The Journal of Hand Surgery (JHS) has published in its December 2010 online edition pivotal CORD II phase III clinical trial of XIAFLEX (collagenase clostridium histolyticum), a novel, first-in-class biologic, conducted by BioSpecifics' strategic partner Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc., for the nonsurgical treatment of adult Dupuytren's contracture patients with a palpable cord.

8 Dec 2010

Scientists work together to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet. As leaders of two large structural genomics centers, they've experimentally determined 500 three-dimensional protein structures from a number of bacterial and protozoan pathogens, which could potentially lead to new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics to combat deadly infectious diseases.

8 Dec 2010