Staphylococcus aureus News and Research

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Staphylococcus aureus is a spherical bacterium (coccus) which on microscopic examination appears in pairs, short chains, or bunched, grape-like clusters. These organisms are Gram-positive. Some strains are capable of producing a highly heat-stable protein toxin that causes illness in humans.

Community-associated antibiotic-resistant staph infections increase

The incidence of antibiotic-resistant staph infections associated with being acquired in the community and not in health care institutions increased almost seven-fold in Chicago's Cook County Hospital system between 2000 and 2005, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

30 May 2007

Superbugs out and about in the community

Researchers in the U.S. say that it is not just in hospitals that the so-called "superbugs" present a problem.

29 May 2007

Could the food we eat be contributing to the continuing rise of antibiotic-resistant infections?

Harmless and even beneficial bacteria that exist in our food supply may also be carrying genes that code for antibiotic resistance.Once in our bodies, could they transmit the resistance genes to disease-causing bacteria?

24 May 2007

New treatment for toxic shock syndrome

Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a new therapeutic that neutralizes Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) more effectively than other treatments.

23 May 2007

Treatment for enterotoxin B exposure

A research team led by the University of Illinois has developed a treatment for exposure to enterotoxin B, a noxious substance produced by the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium.

22 May 2007

Disposable tourniquet could reduce spread of MRSA

A product designed by two entrepreneurial medical graduates could soon be helping to reduce the spread of hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA.

17 May 2007

Honey for diabetic ulcers

The sore on Catrina Hurlburt's leg simply wouldn't heal. Complications from a 2002 car accident left Hurlburt, a borderline diabetic, with recurring cellulitis and staph infections.

4 May 2007

3M and Gen-Probe collaborate to combat healthcare-associated infections

3M and Gen-Probe have announced that the companies have formed an exclusive worldwide collaboration to develop and commercialize rapid, easy-to-use nucleic acid tests to detect certain dangerous healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

1 May 2007

Small-molecule macroarray helps tackle MRSA

In 1928, Alexander Fleming opened the door to treating bacterial infections when he stumbled upon the first known antibiotic in a Penicillium mold growing in a discarded experiment.

30 Apr 2007

New approach to cystic fibrosis treatment

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that an enzyme produced by lung-infecting bacteria further shuts down a protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis patients.

19 Apr 2007

Staph infections among hospitalized patients are on the rise

The study, conducted by Gary Noskin, MD, infectious disease specialist and associate chief medical officer at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, also revealed that the increase in staph infections is resulting in millions of dollars of excess healthcare costs due to longer hospitalizations.

17 Apr 2007

Study identifies high-risk patient populations for MRSA carriage

A Rhode Island Hospital study presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) annual meeting found that patients in long-term elder care and HIV-infected outpatients appear to be high-risk groups for carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common cause for health care associated infections.

17 Apr 2007

Most-at-risk nursing home residents to be tested for superbugs

A Johns Hopkins study of adult patients admitted to The Johns Hopkins Hospital showed that patients who resided in nursing homes or other kinds of long-term care facilities at any time within the last six months were far more likely than other adult patients to carry or be infected with a drug-resistant superbug.

17 Apr 2007

Johns Hopkins to test all children for 'superbugs'

Infection control and critical care experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital have ordered testing for the two most common hospital superbugs for every child admitted to its pediatric intensive care unit.

17 Apr 2007

FDA approves GlaxoSmithKline's antibacterial Altabax

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its antibacterial Altabax for the topical treatment of impetigo due to susceptible strains of Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes, the two most common types of bacteria in this kind of infection.

14 Apr 2007

MRSA can be a serious post-operative complication

Drug-resistant bacteria can complicate treatment after many surgical procedures.

11 Apr 2007

New method for identifying viruses and bacteria that cause common infections in children

Infectious disease specialists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found a new method for identifying suspect viruses and bacteria that cause some of the most common acute infections in children.

13 Mar 2007

Antibiotic doses could be reduced by up to 50 times using new approach

Steven Hagens, previously at the University of Vienna, told Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI, that certain bacteriophages, a type of virus that infects bacteria, can boost the effectiveness of antibiotics gentamicin, gramacidin or tetracycline.

29 Jan 2007

Killing resistant germs - total synthesis successful: Platensimycin, a new antibiotic

Although a number of new antibiotics have been discovered in recent decades, our armory against infection is continually being depleted, as our microscopically small enemies are crafty warriors that develop resistance to current antibiotics. Multiresistant bacteria are a big problem, especially in hospitals.

11 Oct 2006

New understanding of how cells defend themselves

Biologists at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) have unveiled a new twist in a metabolic pathway that cells use to defend themselves against toxins made by disease-causing bacteria.

21 Sep 2006