Antibiotic resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming more prevalent around the world, constituting a serious threat to public health. When bacteria acquire resistance against antibiotics, common medical procedures – for example, in surgery – become impossible due to the high infection risk. Keep reading to find out about AMR research, development of new antibiotics and antibiotic alternatives.

News • Tracking the spread and evolution of superbugs

Mapping the movement of people (and their pathogen travel companions)

Integrating bacterial genomic data with detailed human mobility data makes it possible to see how pathogens causing pneumonia and meningitis, move between regions and evolve over time.

News • Heteroresistance

Researchers discover new mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance

A new study explores the phenomenon of heteroresistance in bacteria, which is a key driver of antibiotic resistance. Two new discoveries could impact the development of future AMR strategies.

News • “Defanging” dangerous bacteria

Pathoblockers: a future alternative to antibiotics?

Researchers have succeeded in developing “pathoblockers” that provide protection against the most common pneumonia-inducing pathogens, even if they are resistant to antibiotics.

News • Gene-snipping bacterial defenses

CRISPR: a promising tool to fight antibiotic resistance, but...

Could the 'gene scissors' CRISPR be used to make resistant bacteria susceptible to first-line antibiotics again? According to new reseach, yes – but the experts also point out serious caveats.

News • MRSA and other infections

Researchers develop vaccine to fight antibiotic resistance

Antimicrobial-resistant infections have become a global threat, with an annual death toll of over 1 million. Now, reseachers created a promising vaccine candidate for antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

News • Infection control

Study highlights transmission risk of resistant bacteria in hospital sinks

A new study identifies hospital sinks as a source of bacterial outbreaks, highlighting the vulnerability for contamination. The researchers also point out the difficulties in stopping such outbreaks.

News • Proof of Concept funding

New research to starve resistant bacteria

Researchers are developing novel active substances designed to cut off the nutrient supply of resistant bacteria, effectively starving them to death.

News • Trends for different bloodstream infections

AMR: age and sex identified as risk factors

A person’s age, sex and location are correlated with the chance that they have a bloodstream infection that is resistant to antibiotics, according to a new study.

News • Persistence of K. pneumoniae and E. coli

Exploring long-time colonization with resistant enterobacteria

Once a patient’s body has been colonized by resistant bacteria, they can persist for a long time, a new study by the University and University Hospital of Basel shows.

News • Research on resistant bacteria

Emergence of 'superbugs' is not just because of antibiotics

Researchers have analysed the rise of antibiotic resistance over the last 20 years in the UK and Norway, highlighting that antibiotic use is not the only factor in the increase.

News • Potency against multidrug-resistant bacteria

Synthetic antibiotic shows promise against serious chronic infections

A new synthetic antibiotic developed by University of Liverpool researchers is shown to be more effective than established drugs against ‘superbugs’ such as MRSA, a new study shows.

News • Susceptibility detection in Escherichia coli

How AI can detect antibiotic resistance in 30 minutes

A new deep-learning approach to AMR testing has been shown to detect antimicrobial susceptibility within as little as 30 minutes - significantly faster than current gold-standard approaches.

News • Health communication on AMR

How to improve public understanding of “antimicrobial resistance”? Rename it

A new study on public health communication shows that the term commonly used to describe bacteria resistant to current medicines or antibiotics fails to stick in people’s memories.

News • Infection treatment

Chemotherapy drugs to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria

A new class of antibiotics, based on proven drugs used in cancer treatment, is now being developed by researchers at Linköping University. They could be used against resistant bacteria.

News • Planetary health

Global analysis links antibiotic resistance increase to rising air pollution

Curbing levels of harmful air pollution could help reduce antibiotic resistance, according to the first in-depth global analysis of possible links between the two.

News • Molecular test for bacteria response

New method rapidly reveals antibiotic resistance

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a molecular method able to detect whether or not bacteria respond to antibiotics within minutes.

News • Seniors’ use of antibiotics halved

Study shows benefits of antibiotic stewardship in UTI management

An international study has shown how a decision tool for health professionals has proved capable of halving the use of antibiotics against urinary tract infections while maintaining patient safety.

News • MTX in the mix

Researchers develop novel therapy for vancomycin-resistant infections

Researchers from the US, Singapore and Geneva have developed a novel combination therapy using an anticancer agent for treating vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE).

News • Infectious disease research

Hidden bacteria increases risk of antimicrobial resistant infection in hospital patients

Carriers of a specific bacteria have a 14% chance of developing an antibiotic resistant infection with 30 days of hospitalisation, according to new research from Amsterdam.

News • Antibacterial compound research

Developing antibiotics that target multiple-drug-resistant bacteria

Researchers have designed and synthesized analogs of a new antibiotic that is effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria, opening a new front in the fight against these infections.

News • Driving genes of AMR in focus

Tracking the global spread of antimicrobial resistance

An international research team has provided valuable new information about what drives the global spread of genes responsible for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria.

News • Increased infection risk

AMR: drug resistant bacteria can travel from gut to lung

A new Oxford University study provides the first direct evidence of antibiotic resistant bacteria migrating from a patient’s gut microbiome to the lungs, increasing the risk of deadly infections.

Bone cements containing antibiotics for infection prophylaxis – quo vadis?

Periprosthetic infections and revisions are on the rise in Germany and worldwide, with significant consequences for affected patients as well as for the healthcare systems. Precisely because the number of patients at higher risk of infection in arthroplasty continues to rise, attention is increasingly focused on how this dreaded complication can be avoided.

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.

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.

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