Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed color-changing bandages that can sense drug-resistant and drug-sensitive bacteria in wounds and treat them accordingly.
New research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that 1 in 4 of the children given antibiotics in U.S. children's hospitals are prescribed the drugs inappropriately. The overuse of antibiotics poses an increasing threat to children who develop — or already have — drug-resistant infections.
“Under-representation of Asian populations in genetic studies has meant that medical relevance for more than half of the human population is reduced,” one researcher said.
Infectious diseases could be detected, prevented and controlled thanks to a new £4m grant from the NIHR to the University of Warwick. Researchers will work with partners to develop the use of cutting edge genomics to protect public health.
Imagine a device that could swiftly analyze microbes in oceans and other aquatic environments, revealing the health of these organisms – too tiny to be seen by the naked eye – and their response to threats to their ecosystems. Rutgers researchers have created just such a tool, a portable device that could be used to assess microbes, screen for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and analyze algae that live in coral reefs. Their work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Millions of people are treated with antibiotics each year for infections or as a preventative measure. Two teams of NIBIB-funded scientists have been working to find alternative solutions for treating bacterial infections, especially antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Going “green” with urine carries some potential risks. Now, research published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) shows this risk is likely to be minimal.
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers have discovered how a new immune system works to protect bacteria from phages, viruses that infect bacteria — new information that could be leveraged to improve treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections by refining phage therapy.
Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. A major cause is their overuse in both humans and animals. At the same time, a lack of financial incentives is setting back efforts to discover new classes of antibiotics. The problem is both global and local, and without new initiatives, many common medical conditions could become deadly once again.
Earlier today, a release was issued stating that antibiotic maker Melinta is closing. This information was incorrect. Melinta has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but intends to remain open and is in the process of restructuring. The bankruptcy filing announced today by antibiotic maker Melinta once again highlights the daunting challenges facing research and development of new infection-fighting drugs.
The Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs at Hackensack Meridian Health southern region hospitals were recognized by the New Jersey Department of Health for their dedication to antimicrobial stewardship at the New Jersey Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative Annual Conference Thursday, December 5.
A Wistar study demonstrated that NAMPT, an enzyme critical for NAD+ biosynthesis, mediates selection of stem-like chemoresistant cells following cisplatin treatment.
Researchers have developed a new CRISPR-based gene-drive system that more efficiently inactivates a gene rendering bacteria antibiotic-resistant. The new system leverages technology developed by UC San Diego biologists in insects and mammals that biases genetic inheritance of preferred traits called “active genetics.”
A new survey released by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future finds that the majority of registered voters support greater oversight of industrial animal farms. The Center for a Livable Future is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have identified a protein that allows vancomycin-resistant enterococci to defy antibiotic treatment and immune system attacks. Their discovery opens the door for future treatment options in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
A common first-line treatment approach for cryptococcal meningitis in low-income countries is being compromised by the emergence of drug resistance, new University of Liverpool research warns.
Gene expression profiling and other analyses conducted by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey researchers and colleagues examining drug resistance to a common antibody therapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma have identified calcium signaling as a novel and exploitable target in overcoming this treatment obstacle. Results are being presented at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.
Once rare, the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infects hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. each year and kills about 20,000. New research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis sheds light on how MRSA is introduced into households and, once there, how it can spread among family members, including the furry ones. Understanding MRSA’s transmission dynamics is critical to devising effective preventive tactics.
Genes often mutate and lose their function over long-term evolution, which could be good if that stops drug resistance or cancer. A study by Stony Brook University researchers, published online in PNAS, shows that evolution can exploit positive feedback (PF) within cells to restore gene function.
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers examined the effects of baloxavir treatment on influenza virus samples collected from patients before and after treatment.
After screening thousands of small molecules, the research team discovered a potent new antimicrobial they are calling MAC-545496 that is active against MRSA. Unlike conventional antibiotics, this new antimicrobial neither kills the staph infection nor halts its growth on its own, so the potential for antimicrobial resistance may be considerably lessened.
“We believe Beaumont has a duty to raise awareness and help change attitudes about antibiotics and behaviors that cause antibiotic resistance,” said Dr. Sam Flanders, senior vice president and chief quality and safety officer of Beaumont Health. “Antibiotics save lives. But when they’re used too much, they can lead to antibiotic resistance.”
A team of researchers at Notre Dame put out a call to the masses, enlisting researchers, data scientists and health professionals to analyze genomic data from emerging drug-resistant malaria parasites and gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of resistance.
Cornell researchers have uncovered the structure of a regulatory mechanism unique to bacteria, opening the door for designing new antibiotics targeted to pathogens.
The American Thoracic Society, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, European Respiratory Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America have published an official clinical guideline on the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) in the Nov. 15 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control today shows that while recent federal investments to combat antibiotic resistance have had meaningful impacts, the continued spread of infections that are not effectively treated by existing medicines pose deadly threats to patients and public health. As physicians and scientists on the front lines of a growing public health crisis, the Infectious Diseases Society of America urges federal policy makers to respond to the report’s warning with investments and commitment to turning the tide of antibiotic resistance.
Half of older Americans got help from the infection-fighting power of antibiotics in the past two years, a new poll finds, but a sizable minority didn’t follow the instructions on their pill bottle. And one in five say that in the past, they’ve engaged in a risky practice: taking leftover antibiotics without checking with a medical professional.
With the increasing rate of multi-drug resistance, it is fundamental to identify new antibiotics. In this study, researchers found the synthesis of the vitamin biotin is integral for the growth of drug-resistant bacteria in human plasma. They were able to treat drug-resistant infections by inhibiting biotin synthesis in an infection mimicking human conditions. By inhibiting biotin synthesis, they have the potential to produce a novel class of antibiotics.
The American Dental Association (ADA) announced today a new guideline indicating that in most cases, antibiotics are not recommended for toothaches. This guidance, published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association
How bacteria live – whether as independent cells or in a communal biofilm – determines the course of their evolution, with implications for drug-resistant infections.
Swapping a single amino acid in a simple bacterial protein changes its structure and function, revealing the effects of complex gene evolution, finds a new study published in the journal eLife. The study—conducted using E. coli bacteria—can help researchers to better understand the evolution of transporter proteins and their role in drug resistance.
Adapting features of the electronic medical record system used by doctors in caring for their patients may improve efforts to prevent antibiotic drug resistance, according to Penn State research.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers antibiotic resistance one of the most urgent public health threats, one that affects communities worldwide. The ramifications of bacteria’s ability to become resistant to antibiotics can be seen in hospitals, public places, our food supply, and our water.
A new liquid-cell technology allows scientists to see biological materials and systems in three dimensions under an electron microscope (EM), according to researchers at Penn State, Virginia Tech and Protochips Inc
The health care market is failing to support new antibiotics used to treat some of the world’s most dangerous, drug-resistant “superbugs,” according to a new analysis by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine infectious disease scientists.
A study published online on Friday, October 4, in The American Journal of Psychiatry found that deep brain stimulation (DBS) of an area in the brain called the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) provides a robust antidepressant effect that is sustained over a long period of time in patients with treatment-resistant depression—the most severely depressed patients who have not responded to other treatments
A new test to determine whether antibiotics will be effective against certain bacterial infections is helping physicians make faster and better prescription treatment choices.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new rule requiring hospitals participating in its programs to establish antibiotic stewardship programs will enable critical advances toward control of a major public health threat.
A metabolic imbalance in some cancer patients following treatment with a checkpoint inhibitor drug, nivolumab, is associated with resistance to the immunotherapy agent and shorter survival, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Using a new technique that can identify genetic profiles of individual cells, University of Notre Dame researchers modeled a breast cancer tumor’s potential resistance to a drug, and then identified a drug combination that reversed that resistance.
One of the WHO’s three critical priority pathogens, Acinetobacter baumannii, for which new antibiotics are urgently needed is one step closer to being tackled, as researchers from the Department of Chemistry - University of Warwick have made a breakthrough in understanding the enzymes that assemble the antibiotic enacyloxin.
Scientists at the University of Surrey have discovered that a natural antioxidant commonly found in green tea can help eliminate antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Studying natural defenses in maize, a staple of diets around the world, UC San Diego biologists describe how they combined an array of scientific approaches to clearly define six genes that encode enzymes responsible for the production of key maize antibiotics known to control disease resistance.
Scientists obtained a total of 733 pathogen isolates from 171 individual wild Bottlenose dolphins in Florida and found that the overall prevalence of resistance to at least one antibiotic for the 733 isolates was 88.2 percent. Resistance was highest to erythromycin, followed by ampicillin. It is likely that these isolates from dolphins originated from a source where antibiotics are regularly used, potentially entering the marine environment through human activities or discharges from terrestrial sources.