September 27, 2013
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
Citing dwindling beef supplies, Chipotle Mexican Grill is “taking advice on whether it should allow cattle needing antibiotic treatment for an illness to get the treatment and remain in the herd of animals destined for its restaurants.” [WSJ blogs]
Roll Call covers last week’s briefing on Capitol Hill, where two senators and CDC director Tom Friedan called for lawmakers to address the urgent issue of antibiotic resistance. [Roll Call]
On September 24, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing with top medical officers to discuss efforts to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Time also blogged about the hearing. [C-SPAN, Time]
A CNN op-ed by Tom Friedan, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stresses the need for public vigilance and antibiotic stewardship to protect against drug-resistant bacteria. [CNN]
In a new study published in Science Translational Medicine, two researchers found that when E. coli gains resistance to one antibiotic, it also becomes more sensitive others, creating collateral sensitivity. [Science, Wired]
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) writes a letter to the New York Times announcing his plans to reintroduce the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act, which would strengthen federal programs to prevent and track the spread of resistance, to the senate. [NYT]
A low-cost information campaign that targeted the public in Italy led to significant reductions in antibiotic use and cost savings between $270,000 to $548,000. [Healio]
Triclosan, a broad-spectrum antibiotic compound commonly found in antibacterial soaps and other consumer products, is creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria in rivers and streams, a new study in Environmental Science & Technology finds. [Food Poisoning Bulletin]
The Lancet announces in an editorial that the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases will be publishing its commission on antibiotic resistance to coincide with CDC s Get Smart About Antibiotics Week, which will take place November 18-24 this year.
A pilot study published in The Journal of Hospital Infection compares fist bumps to handshakes in an effort to assess their potential to reduce bacterial transmission in hospital settings. The study finds that fist bumps last about a third the amount of time of a handshake and bring only a fourth of the amount of skin surface area into contact. [CHIP]
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Photo via NDSU Ag Communication/Flickr
