May 18, 2012
A round-up of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) releases a new report on the unrestricted use of antibiotics in ethanol production in the United States. The report documents how ethanol producers routinely add antibiotics, including penicillin, erythromycin, virginiamycin, and tylosin to fermentation tanks in order to prevent bacterial outbreaks in their facilities. Food Safety News reports on the Congressional response to the IATP publication.
Missed the launch of the WHO book, The evolving threat of antimicrobial resistance – Options for action? Video and presentations from the event are now available on the WHO website.
The media is widely reporting a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that links the popular antibiotic azithromycin to a higher risk of sudden cardiac death.
The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming holds a Supermoms against Superbugs event in Washington, DC.
A study of neonatal sepsis caused by E. coli finds that levels of resistance to gentamicin, piperacillin, and tobramycin increased significantly between 2000 and 2008.
Research presented at a Society for Investigative Dermatology meeting suggests that some MRSA skin and soft tissue infections may revert to being susceptible to methicillin.
A PLoS ONE study of antibiotic prescribing at VA medical centers shows increasing use of last resort antibiotics, suggesting that gram-negative multi drug resistant infections are also on the rise.
Could a technology originally developed to reduce the size of computer chips also hold a key to creating novel broad-spectrum antimicrobials?
An essay in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy describes the ticking time bomb of drug resistant gonorrhea.
A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine compares the effectiveness of Lactobacilli and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in preventing recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in post-menopausal women. Although prophylactic Lactobacilli is an appealing option because it does not contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance, it was found to be less effective in preventing recurrent UTIs.
An examination of surgical site infection reporting in New York suggests that audits are necessary to ensure that quality data is reported to NHSN.
The FDA is often criticized for its slow drug approval process, but research published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that the agency clears new drugs more quickly than its counterparts in Europe and Canada.
A study in PNAS affirms the link between the spread of MRSA and patient transfer among medical facilities.
Image credit: Flickr: KOMUnews
