News • Resistance building prevention
New test to reduce antibiotics in primary care
Antibiotic prescribing in primary care could be monitored using health insurance data. And reduced with a simple test.
Antibiotics
News • Streptococcus pneumoniae
Technique helps discover whether bacteria are antibiotic resistant
A new study could one day help health workers determine whether bacteria of the species Streptococcus pneumoniae, which cause meningitis, are resistant to antibiotics.
Sponsored • Orthopaedics
The fragile patient in arthroplasty: Sustainably lower risk of infection in hip fractures
Arthroplasty treatment of fragile patients is a major challenge faced by orthopaedic surgeons. The patients, often geriatric, come with a variety of risk factors and comorbidities that can negatively impact the success of an arthroplasty procedure.
News • Extended treatment
New trial doubles down on antibiotics against life threatening infections
Hospital patients who develop infections where 10% of sufferers die will be offered double the traditional course of antibiotics in a new trial.
News • Model to predict efficacy
Phage therapy: a viable alternative to antibiotics?
Bacteriophages – viruses that kill bacteria – could be a solution for fighting antibiotic-resistant pathogens, French researchers have developed a model to better predict their efficacy.
News • Elusive variants
Rare genetic markers of drug-resistant tuberculosis identified
The search for rare mutations in bacterial genome could lead to better diagnostics and treatments – reducing morbidity caused by the deadly disease.
Article • Antimicrobial resistance development
AMR and climate change: a worrying dual threat to global health
Climate change and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are forming an alarming alliance: Global warming creates new breeding grounds for resistant bacteria. A serious and very real threat to public health – but not quite the doomsday scenario some might make it out to be, says Prof Sabiha Essack from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
Article • Drug dose optimisation
Antibiotics: no more ‘dosing in the dark’
Finding the right antibiotic dose is akin to a Goldilocks problem: give too little, and the infection will persist; too much, and side-effects will override the benefits of the therapy. To get it “just right”, Prof Dr Birgit Koch talks about dosing optimisation in the clinical setting.
News • Identifying antimicrobials
Automated CAST-R system helps to fight blood infections
When treating acute infections, health care providers must quickly identify the best antibiotics for fighting the infection. An automated system provides swift, accurate results for determining the best antibiotics at the right dose.
News • Bacterial protection strategy
Protective 'chain mail' of C.difficile revealed
A newly discovered structure of chain-mail may explain the success of C.difficile at defending itself against antibiotics and immune system molecules.
Sponsored • Orthopaedics
Periprosthetic joint infection: a complex issue
Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) can be an enormous challenge for orthopaedists and trauma surgeons. Antibiotic-loaded bone cement is an important element in a prevention strategy.
News • Before clinical use of antibiotics
Superbug MRSA arose in hedgehogs
A type of the antibiotic resistant superbug MRSA arose in nature long before the use of antibiotics in humans and livestock, which has traditionally been blamed for its emergence.
News • Finding solutions
$ 1.8 million to stop AMR
Experts predict that without intervention, the problem of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections could be catastrophic by 2050, killing nearly 10 million people each year.
News • Combined with antibiotics
Bacteria-killing viruses to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Researchers have found a way to defeat the multi-resistant bacterium Mycobacterium abscessus, a relative of the causes of tuberculosis and leprosy.
News • Orthopedy
Antimicrobial coating for implants prevents infections
Customizable to individual patients and requiring less than 10 minutes to prepare and use, new surgical implant coating prevented 100% of infections in mice.
Article • AMR Insights platform
Antibiotic resistance: a global problem in urgent need of solutions
Antibiotics have been at the heart of modern healthcare since the 1950s. They are prescribed prior to an operation to minimise the risk of infection after the operation. Or antibiotics are prescribed to fight an infection. This practice, which might seem straightforward at first glance, has proven to cause a number of problems itself: Over the last twenty years, it has become increasingly clear…
News • Bacteriophage
Trained viruses fight antibiotic resistance
A new project led by University of California San Diego Biological Sciences graduate student Joshua Borin has provided evidence that phages that undergo special evolutionary training increase their capacity to subdue bacteria.
News • Arthroplasty
Patients with risk factors benefit from COPAL G+C
New studies demonstrate benefits of dual antibiotic-loaded bone cement (COPAL G+C) to reduce periprosthetic joint infections in risk for infection patients.
News • Resistence
Higher doses of antibiotic may strenghten certain bacteria
Using higher doses of antibiotics in a bid to tackle the growing problem of drug resistance may end up strengthening certain bacteria, according to research that highlights a previously unthought-of risk.
News • No more antibiotics?
AI identifies proteins causing intestinal disease
Researchers from Tel Aviv University have created an artificial intelligence platform that can identify the specific proteins that allow bacteria to infect the intestines.
News • Spread of drug-resistance
WHO reports global shortage of innovative antibiotics
The world is still failing to develop desperately needed antibacterial treatments, despite growing awareness of the urgent threat of antibiotic resistance, according to a new report by the World Health Organization. WHO reveals that none of the 43 antibiotics that are currently in clinical development sufficiently address the problem of drug resistance in the world’s most dangerous bacteria.…
News • M.O. of Darobactin unveiled
Novel antibiotic deceives bacteria through mimicry
An increasing number of bacterial pathogens are resistant to antibiotics. And the most dangerous pathogens share a common feature: a double membrane that is difficult to penetrate. Even when antibiotic agents are able to break into this shell, the bacteria just pump them right out again. But a recently discovered compound called Darobactin manages to circumvent these protective measures and kill…
Video • Correlative light, electron and ion microscopy in tissue
New imaging method reveals bacteria hiding from antibiotics
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Western Australia have developed a new imaging method to see where antibiotics have reached bacteria within tissues. The method could be used to help develop more effective antibiotic treatments, reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance.
News • Faster testing
Device rapidly detects antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Bacterial infections have become one of the biggest health problems worldwide, and a recent study shows that COVID-19 patients have a much greater chance of acquiring secondary bacterial infections, which significantly increases the mortality rate.
News • Commonly used antibiotic
Methacycline shows promise for combating Zika infections
In a preclinical study, NIH scientists found that the commonly used antibiotic methacycline may be effective at combating the neurological problems caused by Zika virus infections.