July 26, 2012
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
A cover story in the new issue of The Milken Institute Review written by Ramanan Laxminarayan provides an economic analysis of the antibiotic resistance threat and offers a novel approach to addressing the problem. [CDDEP]
A new Reuters story covers CDDEP research on seasonal antibiotic resistance and prescribing patterns. [Reuters]
A multi-country qualitative interview study in nine European countries finds that almost two-thirds of the patients misunderstood the meaning of antibiotic resistance. [HAI Controversies]
A retrospective study by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi finds an alarming increase in resistance and antibiotics use over the years 2000-2009, with resistance rates increasing as much as 40-97 per cent. [Indian Express]
Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science reports the discovery of the structure and working mechanism of the bacteriophage lysin, which kills bacteria that cause a number of different infections. [Futurity]
MIT engineers have created a model based on network theory that predicts how international airports would influence an infectious disease outbreak, and then ranked the airports based on their potential to spread contagion. Several U.S. airports topped the list – see an animated visualization here. [The Atlantic]
The Telegraph details the issue of antibiotic resistance and argues that new strategies for antibiotic research and development are necessary to combat the growing problem. [The Telegraph]
Reflecting a worrying global growth in drug-resistant infections, the latest figures from New Zealand s Environmental Science and Research show that the number of people infected by superbugs increased by 37% in 2011. [MSN]
New tuberculosis treatment trials in Africa show that a three-drug combination treatment is both effective and faster at treating drug-resistant strains of the disease. [Guardian]
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Image via MIT
