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Researchers discover bed bugs with MRSA in lower-income area residents

As if the recent resurgence of bed bugs wasn't bad enough, Canadian researchers have found some of the little blood-sucking critters carrying methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the potentially deadly superbug known as MRSA.

17 May 2011

MRSA superbug detected in bed bugs and supermarket meats: Report

Scientists have made an alarming discovery. They have found that bedbugs can carry the staph “superbug” MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

15 May 2011

Tips for fighting drug-resistant superbugs

Superbug CRKP is just the latest in emerging strains of drug-resistant bacteria. While new drugs to combat these stealthy microbes like MRSA and CRKP remain in development what can we do to prevent catching and spreading these dangerous bugs?.

13 May 2011

CrystalGenomics receives draft CSR for CG400549 Phase I MAD study in Staph infections

CrystalGenomics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company with 3 clinical stage candidates, has announced today that the draft Clinical Study Report from CG400549's Phase I Multiple Ascending Dose Study has just been received.

12 May 2011

Spotlight on the NDM-1 “superbug” highlights the long-standing but increasingly alarming situation of antibiotic resistance globally

At the world’s largest conference on infectious diseases – the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) which opens today – a special Symposium on NMD-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase) will focus on the implications of the increasing detection of this gene, which makes bacteria highly resistant to almost all known antibiotics. This is part of an alarming trend of antibiotic resistance that threatens to turn back the clock on years of progress following the discovery of antimicrobials, which revolutionised human health globally.

6 May 2011

SBS explores ‘superbugs’ on Insight Tuesday 10th May

Since the discovery of penicillin in the early twentieth century, antibiotics have fought infections and diseases that were once life threatening. But over time, many bacteria have become resistant to these drugs and patients are increasingly at risk.

3 May 2011

Germ Genie is also effective against C.difficile infection

Scientists at the University of Hertfordshire, who proved the effectiveness of Germ Genie, a tool to prevent infections from keyboards, have now found that it can kill C.difficile.

3 May 2011

Leeds hospitals fined over levels of superbug related cases

According to latest figures the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) superbug cases are again above allowed levels at Leeds hospitals and the hospitals are now facing a fine of £500,000 over failure to tackle the bug. As reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post earlier this year, every month that the number of MRSA cases exceeds a target agreed by health bosses, a fine of £100,000 is levied. Between April last year and the end of January, the target was breached four times.

3 May 2011

New research shows honey fights drug-resistant germs

Herbal ingredients and natural nutrients are often capable of supporting different functions within the body, and current research is showing that a certain kind of honey may be useful in fighting drug-resistant germs.

2 May 2011

Drug resistant bug plaguing the meat industry: Study

It has been found that nearly half of the meat and poultry (47 percent) sold in U.S. grocery stores is contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (“Staph”), a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, and this bacteria is resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics in more than half (52 percent) of contaminated samples. This comes from a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

17 Apr 2011

WHO will assist Indian officials in exploring threat of NDM-1 in water supply

The WHO has said it will assist government officials evaluating whether the presence of bacteria containing the NDM-1 gene in the water supply in New Delhi poses health risks, Agence France-Presse reports. The announcement comes after the Lancet last week published a report that bacteria carrying NDM-1, a gene that enables resistance to a variety of antibiotics, "was found in 51 out of 171 New Delhi samples taken from water pools and two out of 50 tap water samples," the news service writes.

16 Apr 2011

IDSA, U.S. health officials describe ways to respond to global threat of antimicrobial resistance

To coincide with World Health Day on Thursday, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) released a policy paper with nine recommendations for how to control the "ever-growing threat of antimicrobial resistance," CIDRAP News reports.

11 Apr 2011

Marking World Health Day, WHO warns misuse of antibiotics undermining global fight against infectious diseases

U.N. officials on Thursday marked World Health Day with a warning that "the misuse and irrational use of antibiotics has undermined the global fight against tuberculosis and malaria, warning of a possible return to the days before the drugs were developed," and called for urgent action to control the spread of drug resistance, Reuters reports.

8 Apr 2011

Superbugs and antibiotic resistance

Health experts come together today (Thursday) to warn that a new form of superbug that gives bacteria the power to resist virtually all known antibiotics is spreading quickly, posing a global health disaster. It is called New Delhi metallobeta-lactamase, or NDM-1 for short. This enzyme destroys carbapenems, an important group of antibiotics used for difficult infections in hospitals, and has been found in a wide variety of bacterial types. British researchers last August reported that infections involving NDM-1 had been found in patients in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Britain.

6 Apr 2011

New ‘nanotech’ weapon against drug-resistant superbugs

Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) and IBM Research – Almaden have developed the first biodegradable polymer nanoparticles to combat drug-resistant superbugs, such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These nanoparticles can selectively kill the bacteria without destroying healthy red blood cells, and being biodegradable, have great potential to treat infectious diseases in the body. This was reported today in the leading scientific journal, Nature Chemistry [(2011) DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1012].

3 Apr 2011

Honey for wound healing: Study

Researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) and the Queensland Government have found honey from an Australian native myrtle to be effective as an anti-bacterial agent that can be used to treat wounds and viruses.

3 Mar 2011

Accelr8 to present new BACcel test study results against hVISA in Europe

Accelr8 Technology Corporation announced that one of its outside principal investigators received acceptance to present results of a new study in Europe.

2 Mar 2011

New DNA technology to study cystic fibrosis 'superbug' during infection

The bacterium, called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is the most common cause of persistent and fatal lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Scientists at Liverpool identified a particularly virulent strain of the bacteria that is transmissible between patients. The Liverpool Epidemic Strain (LES), referred to as a cystic fibrosis 'superbug', can cause aggressive infection and results in progressive lung decline.

23 Feb 2011

Researcher finds antibiotic in Eastern Red Cedar tree effective against MRSA

Most people would never suspect that a "trash tree," one with little economic value and often removed by farmers due to its ability to destroy farmland, could be the key to fighting a deadly bacterium. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found an antibiotic in the Eastern Red Cedar tree that is effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a "superbug" that is resistant to most medications.

22 Feb 2011

Vaccine to prevent MRSA infections after bone and joint surgery

University of Rochester Medical Center orthopaedic scientists are a step closer to developing a vaccine to prevent life-threatening methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections following bone and joint surgery.

18 Jan 2011