superbugs

See the following -

Turning Tea Into Medical Breakthroughs

Press Release | Seton Hall University | January 4, 2016

Recently, the World Health Organization warned that we are entering a “post-antibiotic era” in which “common infections and minor injuries can kill,” due to the widespread resistance of bacteria to antibiotics and the emergence of “superbugs.” Maybe the answer is tea. Seton Hall professor Tin-Chun Chu...has shown in her research that processed tea extracts (polyphenols) can fight bacteria — including Staphylococcus epidermis, a widely resistant bacteria and a major concern for the medical community and hospitals in particular, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and S. marcescens, an opportunistic human pathogen which is very resistant to most antibiotics...

Read More »

Up To Half Of Antibiotics 'Fail Due To Superbugs' Study Finds

Rebecca Smith | The Telegraph | September 26, 2014

GPs are increasingly handing out antibiotics that turn out to be useless, as up to half of courses of the drugs 'fail' and result in further treatment, a study has found.
Groundbreaking research has analysed 11m courses of antibiotics prescribed to British patients over the last 22 years covering the most common diseases areas including tonsilitis, pneumonia and ear infections...

Read More »

Via Farmworkers, Superbugs Find A Route Away From Drug-Using Farms

Maryn McKenna | WIRED | September 21, 2014

...Some studies have shown that bacteria can move off farms in groundwater, on the feet of flies, and via dust on the wind. What is insufficiently explored—because it is difficult to get large meat-production facilities to cooperate—is whether farm workers themselves are serving as a transport vehicle...

Read More »

Waste from Pharmaceutical Plants in India and China Promotes Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs

Henry A. Waxman and Bill Corr | STAT | October 14, 2016

Superbugs, disease-causing microbes that have mutated to become resistant to antibiotics, are a threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people today and many millions tomorrow. These organisms turn curable illnesses such as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and pneumococcal pneumonia into deadly ones. This looming public health disaster has many causes. Overuse of antibiotics by humans and the routine use of antibiotics to help farm animals grow faster are key causes in the United States. One worrisome cause that has received virtually no attention until now is wastewater from drug manufacturing facilities in India and China, where a large portion of the world’s antibiotic supply is produced...

Read More »

We May Have Reached The 'Apocalyptic Scenario' With Antibiotics

Erin Brodwin | Business Insider | December 5, 2014

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Tom Frieden made headlines last year when he proclaimed that the United States would "soon be in a post-antibiotic era," meaning we'd be plagued by everyday infections that our drugs could no longer handle...

Read More »

White House Actions On Antibiotic Resistance: Big Steps, Plus Disappointments

Maryn McKenna | WIRED | September 22, 2014

The United States government proposed several important steps last week that, if accomplished, will significantly change how this country attempts to counter the advance of antibiotic resistance, bringing us within reach of the more complete programs which exist in Europe. But as significant as it is, the new program has some perplexing gaps that left experts attending to the issue disappointed...

Read More »

WHO Sounds Alarm On Widespread 'Superbug' Infections

Kim Painter | USA Today | April 30, 2014

Disease-causing bacteria that resist antibiotic treatment are now widespread in every part of the world and have reached "alarming levels" in many areas, says the first global report on the issue from the World Health Organization. Read More »

‘Superbugs’ Kill India’s Babies And Pose An Overseas Threat

Gardiner Harris | The New York Times | December 3, 2014

A deadly epidemic that could have global implications is quietly sweeping India, and among its many victims are tens of thousands of newborns dying because once-miraculous cures no longer work.  These infants are born with bacterial infections that are resistant to most known antibiotics, and more than 58,000 died last year as a result, a recent study found...

Read More »

‘Superbug’ Scourge Spreads as U.S. Fails to Track Rising Human Toll

Ryan McNeill, Deborah J. Nelson and Yasmeen Abutaleb | Reuters | September 7, 2016

Fifteen years after the U.S. declared drug-resistant infections to be a grave threat, the crisis is only worsening, a Reuters investigation finds, as government agencies remain unwilling or unable to impose reporting requirements on a healthcare industry that often hides the problem...

Read More »

“Indian superbug” NDM: "A Great Challenge For The Future Of Healthcare"

Maryn McKenna | Wired | April 29, 2014

A paper published this week reminded me to take a fresh look at NDM, the “Indian superbug” — actually a gene and enzyme — that got so much attention, including from me, in 2011. (Most of the posts are here.) Read More »