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UrduAntibiotic sales soared during India’s first surge of COVID-19, suggesting that the drugs were inappropriately used to treat mild and moderate COVID-19 infections, according to research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The excessive usage is especially concerning because antibiotic overuse increases the risk for drug-resistant infections — not just in India, but worldwide.
Tag: Antibiotic Resistance
Urbanization drives antibiotic resistance on microplastics in Chinese river
Researchers reporting in Environmental Science & Technology have analyzed antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) on five types of microplastics at different locations along the Beilun River in China, finding much higher abundances in urban than rural regions.
Trained Viruses Prove More Effective at Fighting Antibiotic Resistance
Research reveals that phage viruses that undergo special evolutionary training increase their capacity to subdue bacteria. The results provide hope for the antibiotic resistance crisis, a rising threat as deadly bacteria continue to evolve to render many modern drugs ineffective.
Global travelers pick up numerous genes that promote microbial resistance
Research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that international travelers often return home with new bacterial strains jostling for position among the thousands that normally reside within the gut microbiome. Such travel is contributing to the rapid global increase and spread of antimicrobial resistance.
Researchers find target to fight antibiotic resistance
New research from the University of Georgia suggests a component of bacteria’s cell walls may hold the key to crushing the antibiotic-resistant microbes.
Mount Sinai researchers discover multiple types of DNA methylation from individual bacteria and microbiome using nanopore sequencing
MEDIA ADVISORY – UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL Monday, April 5 at 11:00 AM EST Journal Name: Nature Methods Title of the Article: Discovering multiple types of DNA methylation from individual bacteria and microbiome using nanopore sequencing Corresponding Author: Gang Fang, PhD…
Older adults and antibiotics: Study shows healthy attitudes but unhealthy practices
While most adults over 50 understand that overuse of antibiotics is a problem, and say they’re cautious about taking the drugs, a sizable minority have used antibiotics for something other than their original purpose, and appear to think the drugs could help treat colds, which are caused by viruses not bacteria.
Groups Denounce Misleading “One Health CertifiedTM” Label Scheme
Today, a coalition of animal welfare, consumer, public health, and environmental organizations called on grocery stores, restaurants and meat producers to reject the use of a misleading label scheme known as One Health CertifiedTM (OHC) and the standards behind it. The label was approved for use on chicken and turkey products earlier this year and is now being used by a handful of grocery store chains, including Aldi and BJ’s, and at least one restaurant chain. Consumer Reports recently assigned the OHC label its second poorest rating because the standards behind the label essentially reflect current problematic industry practices related to antibiotic use, animal production, and environmental impact.
Unlocking ‘the shape of water’ in mechanisms of antibiotic resistance
Researchers captured and comparted hi-res images of ribosome structures from sensitive and resistant bacteria and report that a water molecule needed for antibiotic binding was not present in the ribosomes from the drug-resistant bugs.
Antibiotic resistance genes in three Puerto Rican watersheds after Hurricane Maria
Researchers monitored antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in three Puerto Rican watersheds after Hurricane Maria, finding that the abundance and diversity of ARGs were highest downstream of WWTPs. They report their results in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology.
Penn Medicine Scientists Engineer Bacteria-Killing Molecules from Wasp Venom
A team led by Penn Medicine has engineered powerful new antimicrobial molecules from toxic proteins found in wasp venom. The team hopes to develop the molecules into new bacteria-killing drugs, an important advancement considering increasing numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which can cause illness such as sepsis and tuberculosis.
Too many COVID-19 patients get unneeded “just in case” antibiotics
More than half of patients hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 in Michigan during the state’s peak months received antibiotics soon after they arrive, just in case they had a bacterial infection in addition to the virus, a new study shows. But testing soon showed that 96.5% of them only had the coronavirus, which antibiotics don’t affect.
Pollution linked to antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance is an increasing health problem, but new research suggests it is not only caused by the overuse of antibiotics. It’s also caused by pollution.
Test accurately IDs people whose gonorrhea can be cured with simple oral antibiotic
A test designed by UCLA researchers can pinpoint which people with gonorrhea will respond successfully to the inexpensive oral antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which had previously been sidelined over concerns the bacterium that causes the infection was becoming resistant to it.
Antibiotic-destroying genes widespread in bacteria in soil and on people
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that genes that confer the power to destroy tetracycline antibiotics are widespread in bacteria. But the researchers have also created a chemical compound that shields tetracyclines from destruction, restoring the antibiotics lethality. The findings indicate an emerging threat to one of the most widely used classes of antibiotics — but also a promising way to protect against that threat.
Study describes cocktail of pharmaceuticals in waters in Bangladesh
An analysis revealed that water samples held a cocktail of pharmaceuticals and other compounds, including antibiotics, antifungals, anticonvulsants, anesthetics, antihypertensive drugs, pesticides, flame retardants and more. Not all chemicals were found at every test site.
UTEP and EPCC Study Focuses on Antibiotic Resistance in Rio Grande
Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College discovered that the Rio Grande is a “hotspot” for multidrug-resistant bacteria, antibiotic residues and antimicrobial resistant genes.
Urine reuse as fertilizer is not likely to transfer antibiotic resistance
Going “green” with urine carries some potential risks. Now, research published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) shows this risk is likely to be minimal.
Study: How U.S. sewage plants can remove medicines from wastewater
A study of seven wastewater treatment plants points to two treatment methods — granular activated carbon and ozonation — as being particularly promising for reducing the concentration of pharmaceuticals including certain antidepressants and antibiotics.
New CRISPR-based System Targets Amplified Antibiotic-resistant Genes
Researchers have developed a new CRISPR-based gene-drive system that more efficiently inactivates a gene rendering bacteria antibiotic-resistant. The new system leverages technology developed by UC San Diego biologists in insects and mammals that biases genetic inheritance of preferred traits called “active genetics.”
SURVEY: MAJORITY OF VOTERS SURVEYED SUPPORT GREATER OVERSIGHT OF INDUSTRIAL ANIMAL FARMS
A new survey released by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future finds that the majority of registered voters support greater oversight of industrial animal farms. The Center for a Livable Future is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Researchers identify ‘Achilles’ heel’ of drug-resistant superbug
Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have identified a protein that allows vancomycin-resistant enterococci to defy antibiotic treatment and immune system attacks. Their discovery opens the door for future treatment options in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Flu Preparedness Hearing Opens Opportunities for Vaccine, AMR Action
Today’s subcommittee hearing on U.S. preparedness and responses for the 2019-2020 flu season offers an important opportunity to examine and act on gaps and challenges exacerbating the public health threats of seasonal influenza outbreaks.
Stop asking for that antibiotic
“We believe Beaumont has a duty to raise awareness and help change attitudes about antibiotics and behaviors that cause antibiotic resistance,” said Dr. Sam Flanders, senior vice president and chief quality and safety officer of Beaumont Health. “Antibiotics save lives. But when they’re used too much, they can lead to antibiotic resistance.”
The End of Antibiotics?
Less than a century after the discovery of antibiotics, the world is at risk of entering an era in which the life-saving drugs no longer work.
Poll reveals risky use of antibiotics by some older adults, and opportunities for providers to improve
Half of older Americans got help from the infection-fighting power of antibiotics in the past two years, a new poll finds, but a sizable minority didn’t follow the instructions on their pill bottle. And one in five say that in the past, they’ve engaged in a risky practice: taking leftover antibiotics without checking with a medical professional.
First 3D View of Life’s Processes in Liquid
A new liquid-cell technology allows scientists to see biological materials and systems in three dimensions under an electron microscope (EM), according to researchers at Penn State, Virginia Tech and Protochips Inc
Scientists Discover New Antibiotic in Tropical Forest
Scientists from Rutgers University and around the world have discovered an antibiotic produced by a soil bacterium from a Mexican tropical forest that may help lead to a “plant probiotic,” more robust plants and other antibiotics. Probiotics, which provide friendlier bacteria and health benefits for humans, can also be beneficial to plants, keeping them healthy and more robust. The new antibiotic, known as phazolicin, prevents harmful bacteria from getting into the root systems of bean plants, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Nature Communications.
Scientists Find Powerful Potential Weapon to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are a major cause of serious infections that often persist despite antibiotic treatment, but scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have now discovered a way to make these bacteria much more susceptible to some common antibiotics.