Penicillin News and Research

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Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN or pen) is a group of antibiotics derived from ''Penicillium'' fungi. Penicillin antibiotics are historically significant because they are the first drugs that were effective against many previously serious diseases such as syphilis and Staphylococcus infections.

Drug counterfeiters are using corona pandemic to make profits in Africa

Drug counterfeiters are using the corona pandemic to make profits in Africa selling completely ineffective or even harmful medicines.

14 May 2020

Syphilis bacterium likely uses a single gene to evade immune attack

The bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum, likely uses a single gene to escape the immune system, research from UW Medicine in Seattle suggests.

24 Apr 2020

Study shows way to safely remove low-risk penicillin allergy labels in ICU patients

Many patients previously diagnosed with a penicillin allergy can have their allergy label removed after testing and safely undergo treatment with penicillin medications, according to a study published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

2 Apr 2020

Cannabidiol helps fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming, antibiotics have saved millions of lives from fatal infections world-wide. However, with time bacteria have developed mechanisms to escape the effects of antibiotics - they have become resistant.

24 Mar 2020

Trusting injection drug users with IV antibiotics at home: It can work

Two mornings a week, Arthur Jackson clears space on half of his cream-colored sofa. He sets out a few rolls of tape and some gauze, then waits for a knock on his front door.

26 Feb 2020

Macrolide, penicillin antibiotics in pregnancy could affect children’s health

A new study published in the journal BMJ in February 2020 reports that macrolide or penicillin antibiotic consumption in pregnancy could be linked to several adverse health outcomes in children. These include major malformations, cerebral palsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder.

20 Feb 2020

Newly discovered antibiotics kill bacteria differently

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health problem across the globe, with many diseases becoming harder to treat. Now, a newly discovered antibiotic group shows promise in the fight against superbugs as it has a unique way of killing bacteria.

13 Feb 2020

Researchers discover antibiotics with unique approach to attacking bacteria

A new group of antibiotics with a unique approach to attacking bacteria has been discovered, making it a promising clinical candidate in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

12 Feb 2020

Combination of two antibiotics found to be no better than one for treating MRSA blood infections

Researchers attempting to improve the treatment for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood infections have discovered the combination of two antibiotics was no better than one, and led to more adverse effects.

11 Feb 2020

Group A streptococcus strains that are less susceptible to commonly used antibiotics identified

Infectious disease scientists identified strains of group A streptococcus that are less susceptible to commonly used antibiotics, a sign that the germ causing strep throat and flesh-eating disease may be moving closer to resistance to penicillin and other related antibiotics known as beta-lactams.

30 Jan 2020

The challenge of new antibiotic discovery

It is important to discover antibiotic drugs and to bring them to clinical use, a task made all the more urgent by the increase in the number of infections that are resistant to existing antibiotics. However, this task is a formidable one.

28 Jan 2020

Chinese people buying antibiotics in pharmacies even without a prescription

People in China can acquire antibiotics from retail pharmacies without a prescription, even though dispensing the medicine without a prescription isn’t allowed by regulations, a new study found.

15 Jan 2020

A controlled phage therapy to target drug-resistant pathogens

The fight against drug-resistant pathogens remains an intense one. While the Centers for Disease Control's 2019 "biggest threats" report reveals an overall decrease in drug-resistant microbe-related deaths as compared to its previous report (2013) the agency also cautions that new forms of drug-resistant pathogens are still emerging.

13 Jan 2020

Patient care could be affected as health research faces a crisis

Health research faces a crisis that could impact on patient care, says a new report led by 10 prominent figures in the NHS and academia.

8 Jan 2020

Scientists modify approved cancer drug to develop new antibiotic

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasingly the source of deadly infections. A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig have now modified an approved cancer drug to develop an active agent against multidrug-resistant pathogens.

16 Dec 2019

Modifying a cancer drug has created a new agent for multi-resistant infections

Researchers have modified a cancer drug to create an agent that is effective at treating multi-drug-resistant infections.

16 Dec 2019

Americans are taking fish antibiotics to save money

Alarming results from a new study show that people in the United States buying fish antibiotics online and consuming them because they’re more affordable than to go visit a doctor. The study sheds light on the high costs of health care in the country and how citizens are struggling to afford basic services.

12 Dec 2019

Perinatal maternal antibiotic exposure may impair lung development in premature infants

New research in mice suggests that exposure to antibiotics before birth may impair lung development in premature infants. The study, the first to explore the gut-lung axis in prematurity, is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology and was chosen as an APSselect article for December.

5 Dec 2019

Antibiotics face an existential crisis

Antibiotics are facing an existential crisis less than a century after their introduction. The bacteria-fighting drugs are becoming less effective as a result of their overuse in both humans and animals.

18 Nov 2019

Study provides new insight into antibiotic synthesis

Researchers at McGill University's Faculty of Medicine have made important strides in understanding the functioning of enzymes that play an integral role in the production of antibiotics and other therapeutics. Their findings are published in Science.

11 Nov 2019