Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) News and Research

RSS

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics. These antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Staph infections, including MRSA, occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems.

MRSA infections that occur in otherwise healthy people who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis, surgery, catheters) are known as community-associated (CA)-MRSA infections. These infections are usually skin infections, such as abscesses, boils, and other pus-filled lesions.

FDA files complaint against company marketing unapproved hand sanitizers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today filed a complaint against Innovative BioDefense, Inc. of Lake Forest, California, and Colette Cozean, the company's president and chief executive officer, to prohibit them from selling Zylast topical antiseptics with claims that they are effective against infection by pathogens such as norovirus, rotavirus, flu virus, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, and Ebola.

7 Jun 2018

Germ-fighting robot gives boost to hospital's infection control program

A germ-fighting robot that uses pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) light to sanitize rooms at Trinity Hospital is giving a boost to the hospital's infection control program.

5 Jun 2018

Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance Through Industry

Antimicrobial resistance is currently one of the biggest health threats in the world. Gary Cohen and Steve Conly discuss the role of Becton, Dickinson & Co and other organizations in the private sector in combating the spread of resistance.

11 May 2018

Discovery opens new doors to developing vaccines for preventing staph skin infections

After years of investigation, researchers at Johns Hopkins, the University of California, Davis, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have discovered how the immune system might protect a person from recurrent bacterial skin infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus (staph).

6 Feb 2018

Supercharged old drugs could destroy world's most dangerous superbugs

An old drug supercharged by University of Queensland researchers has emerged as a new antibiotic that could destroy some of the world's most dangerous superbugs.

5 Jan 2018

New study shows how staph cells evade the body's immune system

For years, medical investigators have tried and failed to develop vaccines for a type of staph bacteria associated with the deadly superbug MRSA. But a new study by Cedars-Sinai investigators shows how staph cells evade the body's immune system, offering a clearer picture of how a successful vaccine would work.

21 Sep 2017

Methicillin use not to blame for MRSA, say researchers

The introduction of methicillin into clinical practice is not what caused the emergence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), report researchers. According to a collaborative study by the University of St Andrews, University of Dundee and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, MRSA existed long before clinicians started using the antibiotic.

20 Jul 2017

Large-scale genetic study of E. coli illustrates complexity of drug resistant 'superbugs'

The first large-scale genetic study of Escherichia coli (E. coli) cultured from patients with bloodstream infections in England showed that drug resistant 'superbugs' are not always out-competing other strains.

18 Jul 2017

Salford scientists may have found simple way for designing new antibiotics

CANCER researchers in the UK may have stumbled across a solution to reverse antibiotic drug resistance and stop infections like MRSA.

12 Jul 2017

Even perfect hand hygiene practice can spread MRSA in NICU babies

Even if hospital workers practice perfect hand hygiene, MRSA can still spread among babies in the NICU, according to new research led by a Drexel University researcher.

29 Jun 2017

Foster launches Combat antimicrobial master batches for blending with medical device polymers

Foster Corporation, a leader in polymer solutions for healthcare markets, introduces Combat™ antimicrobial master batches for blending with medical device polymers.

2 Jun 2017

Children with bloodstream infections less likely to die than adults, study shows

Children with bloodstream infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a common antibiotic-resistant bacteria, are less likely to die than adults with this condition and have different risk factors for treatment failure, a new study led by a Children's National Health System clinician indicates.

5 May 2017

Case Western Reserve and Q2 Pharma partner to develop antivirulence agents that disarm superbugs

Case Western Reserve University and Q2 Pharma Ltd., an Israeli biopharmaceutical company, have signed a two-year option to license small molecule, antivirulence technology to potentially treat bacterial infections such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the first known scientific effort of its kind.

31 Mar 2017

Hospital room floors could be overlooked source for dissemination of pathogens, study suggests

Hospital room floors may be an overlooked source of infection, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official journal of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

28 Feb 2017

Natural antibiotic produced by bacteria found on African ant could help fight against MRSA

A new antibiotic, produced by bacteria found on a species of African ant, is very potent against antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' like MRSA according to scientists.

15 Feb 2017

UVC machines can cut transmission of four drug-resistant superbugs by 30%, study finds

A new tool -- a type of ultraviolet light called UVC -- could aid hospitals in the ongoing battle to keep drug-resistant bacteria from lingering in patient rooms and causing new infections.

17 Jan 2017

Study yields insights into shifts in epidemiology of multi-drug resistant organisms

A first-of-its-kind study of 900,000 hospital admissions from an integrated health system has yielded insights into shifts in the epidemiology of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) in the community.

27 Oct 2016

Penn Medicine awarded CDC grant to develop new approaches to combat antibiotic resistance

The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has been awarded more than $1 million by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop new approaches to combat antibiotic resistance.

6 Oct 2016

UV disinfection device effectively reduces risk of C. difficile infections

Ultraviolet C light disinfection to clean unoccupied patient rooms significantly reduced C. difficile infections (CDI) in high-risk patients who later occupied those rooms, according to a study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.