August 10, 2012
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
In response to recent reports of the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea (see a CDDEP visualization of the trend here), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released updated guidelines for treating the disease. NPR also produced an radio segment on the topic. [USA Today, NPR]
A Scottish biotech firm called Aquapharm has developed a new compound derived from marine organisms that could be used to treat multidrug resistant infections. [BBC Scotland]
NPR s All Things Considered interviews Arjun Srinivasan, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC, about the growing number of drug-resistant infections, and potential solutions to combat resistance. [NPR]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering revisions to the reporting requirements of antimicrobial drug sales and distribution, and is seeking comments on its proposal. [Food Safety News]
New research published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society provides the first extensive evaluation of an antimicrobial stewardship program that was implemented in a children s hospital. [EurekaAlert]
A study published in the journal Vaccine finds that a new commercial vaccine for cattle reduced levels of E. coli by more than 50 percent. [HuffPo]
A year after the initiation of the Multidrug-Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network (MRSN), an article highlighting the project s accomplishments is published. [The Lancet]
At the first Global Health Policy Summit organized in the UK, the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College and the Qatar Foundation launch a joint initiative to create a global community of health innovators to deliver high quality, accessible and affordable healthcare. [SciDev]
A federal court in New York rules that the FDA cannot delay regulatory proceedings for penicillin and tetracyclines use in livestock. [SwitchBoard]
While sequencing the genomes of different species of malaria, scientists find that there is significant genetic variation in Plasmodium vivax, which is the most prevalent human malaria parasite outside Africa. [Futurity]
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Image: Neisseria gonorrhoe via Microbe World/Flickr
