Latest Drug resistance Stories
Researchers are 1 step closer to understanding why antibiotics are ineffective against certain types of bacteria Antibiotic resistance is a global problem. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that for tuberculosis alone multi-drug resistance accounts for more than 150,000 deaths each year. WHO warns of "a doomsday scenario of a world without antibiotics," in which antibiotic resistance will turn common infections into incurable killers and make routine surgeries a high-risk...
Bacteria evolve resistance more quickly when stronger antibiotics are used New scientific research published today in the journal PLoS Biology shows that bacteria can evolve resistance more quickly when stronger antibiotics are used. Researchers from the University of Exeter and Kiel University in Germany treated E. coli with different combinations of antibiotics in laboratory experiments. Unexpectedly they found that the rate of evolution of antibiotic resistance speeds up when...
Not enough is being done to educate those living in border communities about the long-term effects of antibiotic overuse and misuse, South Texas scientist says When thousands of experimental biology researchers gather in Boston this weekend, many of them undoubtedly will be presenting work related to the hunt for the next generation of antibiotics and how to battle back existing and emerging superbugs. But for one scientist from Texas Rio Grande Valley, it's not about what the research of...
A new study concludes that problems with antibiotic resistance faced by outpatients may be as bad as those in hospitalized patients, and that more studies of outpatients are needed – both to protect their health and to avoid inappropriate or unnecessary drug use. Antibiotic resistance is a huge and growing problem in both hospital and outpatient settings. Failure to select an effective antibiotic, without appropriate consideration for this resistance, can increase the risk of continued...
What do cancer cells, weeds, and pathogens have in common? They all evolve resistance to the treatments that are supposed to eliminate them. However, researchers developing the next generation of antibiotics, herbicides, and anti-cancer therapeutics rarely come together to explore the common evolutionary principles at work across their different biological systems. The new American Academy of Microbiology report "Moving Targets: Fighting Resistance in Infections, Pests, and Cancer" concludes...
Screening method created to expedite the development of new drugs in the fight against tropical diseases such as malaria and African sleeping sickness A novel tool exploits baker's yeast to expedite the development of new drugs to fight multiple tropical diseases, including malaria, schistosomiasis, and African sleeping sickness. The unique screening method uses yeasts which have been genetically engineered to express parasite and human proteins to identify chemical compounds that target...
New research has revealed that immature malaria parasites are more resistant to treatment with key antimalarial drugs than older parasites, a finding that could lead to more effective treatments for a disease that kills one person every minute and is developing resistance to drugs at an alarming rate. University of Melbourne researchers have shown for the first time that malaria parasites (Plasmodium falciparum)in the early stages of development are more than 100 times less sensitive to...
Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online A new study by researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) may be able to help develop treatments that work against all MRSA strains, according to an article recently published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. According to the Mayo Clinic, methicillin-resistant Staphyloccoccus aureus (MRSA) infections can be found in people who stay in hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers or other healthcare settings. MRSA...
Oregon State University The $15 billion ornamental fish industry faces a global problem with antibiotic resistance, a new study concludes, raising concern that treatments for fish diseases may not work when needed – and creating yet another mechanism for exposing humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The risk to humans is probably minor unless they frequently work with fish or have compromised immune systems, researchers said, although transmission of disease from tropical fish has...
A new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control reports of a phenomenon that could help control the spread of hospital-acquired infections: a surface-coating of metalloacids kills off microbial strains, even in multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Hospital infections are a major public health concern, causing an estimated 99,000 deaths a year in the USA alone. Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces greatly helps reduce these...
