February 15, 2013
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
An article titled Antimalarial drug resistance: A review of the biology and strategies to delay emergence and spread and authored by CDDEP senior fellow Eili Klein was published in The International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. [CDDEP]
A documentary on antibiotic resistance is raising funds on Kickstarter. Among the project interviewees are CDDEP director Ramanan Laxminarayan and journalist Maryn McKenna, who wrote about the film for her blog Superbug. Check out the Kickstarter campaign here. [Wired]
An article in Nature examines challenges in the production and distribution of artemisinin in light of the recent discontinuation of the Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm).
A new vaccination technique that uses silicone molds to create microneedle arrays as described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences could reduce costs and improve safety. [Futurity]
Citing two new reports from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an article in Wired s Superbug blog discusses the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in meat and poultry products. [Wired]
A study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases suggests the emergence of totally drug-resistant tuberculosis, with the first cases reported in South Africa. [US News]
A new annual report on healthcare-associated infections by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) shows reductions in central line-associated bloodstream infections and some surgical site infections in US hospitals. [CDC]
Manure from pig farms in China contain high concentrations of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with 149 unique antibiotic-resistant genes and some at levels ranging from 192 to 28,000 times higher than control samples, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [NPR, Time]
A paper published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology finds high levels of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) in US nursing homes. [Red Orbit]
A new study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases used socioeconomic data to model the frequency of global infectious disease outbreaks in the years 1996-2010.
Image via jwen83/Flickr
