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.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered an enzyme that regulates production of the toxins that contribute to potentially life-threatening Staphylococcus aureus infections. The study recently appeared in the scientific journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In the battle against stubborn skin infections, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a new single-dose antibiotic is as effective as a twice-daily infusion given for up to 10 days, according to a large study led by Duke Medicine researchers.
Healthcare-associated vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Clostridium difficile (CD), and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) were decreased among patients after adding ultraviolet environmental disinfection (UVD) to the cleaning regimen, according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).
Despite being touted by their manufacturers as a healthy alternative to cigarettes, e-cigarettes appear in a laboratory study to increase the virulence of drug- resistant and potentially life-threatening bacteria, while decreasing the ability of human cells to kill these bacteria
New expert guidance highlights strategies for implementing and prioritizing efforts to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) in hospitals.
As a group, jail-involved individuals, which we define here as people with a history of arrest and jail admission in the recent past, carry a heavy illness burden, with high rates of infectious and chronic disease as well as mental illness and substance use.
OhioHealth and IBM today announced a collaboration to aid in the prevention of infections using a first-of-a-kind network of wireless sensors and real-time Big Data analytics that measure hand-washing practices.
MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation antibiotics, today announced the initiation of a global clinical development program for its lead compound MRX-I, a novel oxazolidinone antibiotic for treatment of Gram-positive infections including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
Researchers at Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) and California’s IBM Research – Almaden (IBM) have discovered a new, potentially life-saving application for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is widely used to make plastic bottles.
Patients affected by a bacterial infection can usually be treated with an antibiotic. But sometimes a resistant bacterial strain is causing the infection. In a hospital setting, doctors ideally want to know if they are dealing with such bacteria and which drugs they should choose. But if the doctor runs a test it can take days to get a result. Now, a European project is paving the way for much more rapid tests using DNA biochips. The aim is to rapidly screen disease-causing bacteria using a microarray to spot which resistant genes are present in bacteria.
Neutra Corp., a growing provider of all-natural wellness solutions, announced today that its joint venture partner Surface to Air Solutions is finalizing the acquisition of a sanitation technology innovator dedicated to greatly reducing the risk of staph infection in sports.
With football season now in full swing, a dangerous, highly resistant strain of staph infections is plaguing locker rooms across the country, potentially costing organizations such as the NFL and NCAA millions of dollars. Neutra Corp., a growing provider of all-natural wellness solutions, is working to help end the costly epidemic.
According to a recent report issued by the Centers for Disease Control, every year more than two million people develop infections that are resistant to antibiotics. Specific healthcare-associated infections are classified as urgent threats and affect approximately 1.7 million people annually across the United States, leading to death in nearly 99,000 patients.
The wearing of gloves and gowns by health care workers for all intensive care unit (ICU) patient contact did not reduce the rate of acquisition of a combination of the bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), although there was a lower risk of MRSA acquisition alone, according to a study published online by JAMA.
An estimated 30,800 fewer invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections occurred in the United States in 2011 compared to 2005, according to a study by Raymund Dantes, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues.
High exposure to swine manure spread in crop fields and proximity to high-density swine livestock operations appear to be associated with increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and skin and soft-tissue infection in humans, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
Chronic granulomatous disease, or CGD, is a diverse group of inherited diseases in which certain cells of the immune system have difficulty forming reactive oxygen compounds, most importantly superoxide radicals. These are used by these white blood cells to kill certain bacteria.
MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation antibiotics, today announced it raised $25 million in Series B financing. Led by BVCF, a private equity and growth fund specializing in the life sciences industry, the round also includes existing investors Morningside Group and Devon Park Bioventures.
Scientists at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine have discovered a mechanism that is used to protect the body from harmful bacteria. Platelets, a component of blood typically associated with clotting, were discovered to actively search for specific bacteria, and upon detection, seal it off from the rest of the body. The findings, which were published in Nature Immunology this week, provide the science community with a greater understanding of immunity.
Staph infections in hospitals are a serious concern, so much so that the term Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is as commonly known as MRI. Far less known is that in many of these cases, patients are infecting themselves.