Search Tag: antibiotic resistance
2025 18 Feb
Antibiotics are powerful tools against bacterial infections, but their effectiveness is declining as antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to emerge. A new study from the UNC School of Medicine reveals that people with diabetes are particularly vulnerable to developing antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus —a leading cause of...Read more
2024 04 Nov
The rise of antibiotic resistance poses a significant global health challenge, threatening the effectiveness of treatments for common infections. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), has launched a new initiative known as the Transforming Antibiotic R&D with...Read more
2024 04 Nov
The rise of antibiotic resistance poses a significant global health challenge, threatening the effectiveness of treatments for common infections. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), has launched a new initiative known as the Transforming Antibiotic R&D with...Read more
2024 25 Jul
The human oral cavity hosts a diverse array of microorganisms, most of which are symbiotic with the host. However, some microbes, known as colonising opportunistic pathogens (COPs), can pose significant health risks under specific conditions. These pathogens are generally of low abundance and harmless in their natural niche but can become virulent...Read more
2024 28 Jun
A new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control highlights a novel approach to testing for Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) based on the principles of diagnostic stewardship. At Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Fla., revised guidelines for ordering C. diff tests reduced inappropriate testing by 20%, which can help...Read more
2023 05 Jul
A global observational study jointly led by University College London (UCL) has revealed a concerning trend in the effectiveness of antibiotics to treat sepsis in newborn babies. The study, conducted across 19 hospitals in 11 countries and involving over 3,200 infants with sepsis, found a high mortality rate among infants with culture-positive sepsis...Read more
2022 16 Nov
Moderator Jean-Louis Vincent Editor-in-Chief @ ICU Management & Practice Professor Department of Intensive Care Erasme Hospital Université libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium Panellists Jan De Waele Full Professor Ghent University Jordi Rello Full Professor Universitat Internacional de Catalunya...Read more
2022 14 Oct
Infections occur frequently in critically ill patients in the ICU. They may be the reason for admission and could also be due to immunosuppression associated with critical illness. Antibiotics are essential tools for treating both common and complex infections. It is recommended that antibiotics should be administered as soon as possible once an infection...Read more
2022 14 Oct
Antibiotic resistance is one of the most significant public health challenges today. Join our panellists as they discuss the problem of antibiotic resistance, its impact on patient outcomes, the importance of effective antimicrobial stewardship programmes, the role of rapid diagnostic testing, and important strategies to reduce the spread of antimicrobial...Read more
2022 11 Oct
Antibiotic overuse is a growing problem in healthcare. Antimicrobial resistance has a significant impact on global public health, and its effects are similar to that of malaria and HIV. Antimicrobial resistance caused nearly 4.95 million deaths in 2019. In addition, antimicrobial resistance has significant economic consequences on healthcare systems. ...Read more
2021 26 Nov
An overview of antibiotic resistance, causative factors, reasons for the lack of research and drug development in this area and potential solutions. Key Points Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health. The primary culprit of fuelling antibiotic resistance is the misuse and overuse of existing antibiotic...Read more
2021 19 Oct
Severe infections are common among patients in the ICU. According to findings from the Extended Study on Prevalence of Infection in Intensive Care III (EPIC III), 54% of the study patients had at least one suspected or proven infection on the study day, and 24% of these patients had more than one suspected or proven infection. These infections...Read more
2021 03 Sep
In an interesting discussion at the 40th ISICEM International Symposium on Intensive Care & Emergency Medicine, Richard Wunderink, Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Division of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Medical Director, Medical ICU, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, discussed rising levels of...Read more
2020 19 Oct
COVID-19 is a new disease. On initial presentation, clinicians can find it difficult to differentiate between coronavirus disease and bacterial community-acquired pneumonia. COVID-19 patients often develop a hyperinflammatory phase during the disease process, which could again be difficult to distinguish from a secondary bacterial infection. That is...Read more
2019 15 Dec
Ventilator-associated pneumonia carries enormous morbidity and mortality, including prolonging hospital stay and increasing the cost of healthcare. In most cases, ventilator-associated pneumonia occurs without any specific signs or symptoms. Making an accurate diagnosis is often difficult. Unlike the past, the administration of empirical antibiotics...Read more
2019 01 May
Antibiotics are often prescribed in the emergency department (ED) to patients with suspected infection before any definitive diagnosis can be made. However, amidst increasing antibiotic resistance, their use should be limited to those at high risk of infection or further clinical deterioration. Current tools to aid clinical decision-making include...Read more
2019 14 Mar
According to results of the ABATE infection trial, daily bathing with an antiseptic soap, plus nasal ointment for patients with prior antibiotic-resistant bacteria reduced hospital-acquired infections among patients with central venous catheters and other devices. The ABATE infection trial included 340,000 patients from 53 hospitals. The study...Read more
2018 01 Jun
Our clinical experiences of using the Accelerate Pheno™ system have greatly benefited patient care, providing earlier diagnostic certainty. Two complex sepsis cases are discussed, where the impact of rapid identification, with antibiotic sensitivities, of the causative organism from blood cultures is described. At Hampshire Hospitals NHS...Read more
2018 26 Mar
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommends starting empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics in the initial management of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock (Rhodes et al. 2017). As a consequence, many patients receive unnecessary antibiotics, exposing them to adverse events, while others might be undertreated in spite of broad-spectrum therapy...Read more
2017 10 Oct
Previous research has shown the effectiveness of care bundles in the diagnosis and treatment of septic patients. However, a new study suggests such care protocols could lead to increased use of certain broad-spectrum antibiotics and healthcare facility-onset (HCFO) C. difficile infection (CDI) rates. The study, published in the American Journal of...Read more
2016 16 Feb
A new study shows that behavioural interventions that target the competitive spirits and desire of doctors to strengthen their reputations can motivate them to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. The study is published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Principal investigator and senior author Jason Doctor, Director of Health...Read more
2015 07 Dec
The European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases , the annual meeting of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) is the most attended infectious disease conference worldwide. This year, more than 10,000 clinicians and scientists attended the congress to present and share the latest research...Read more
2015 24 Nov
New guidelines on the prevention and control of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in hospitals have been published by the Journal of Hospital Infection . These guidelines are accredited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the UK. Gram-negative bacteria (MDRGNB) include common types such as E. coli that are present...Read more
2015 15 Sep
Virginia Tech researchers say a new group of antibiotics shows potential in fighting the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph) and the antibiotic-resistant strains commonly known as MRSA. The discovery, published in Medicinal Chemistry Communications , shows that the new antibiotics are unlike contemporary antibiotics because they contain iridium,...Read more
2015 12 Jun
According to researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and 22 other institutions, the duration of antibiotic treatment for complicated abdominal infections can be cut by half and still remain effective. This could play an important role in preventing the development of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. The research team looked at...Read more
2015 04 Jun
A new University of Michigan and VA study shows that older adults are three times more likely to develop sepsis — a body-wide catastrophic response to infection — in the first three months after leaving a hospital than at any other time. Notably, the risk of sepsis is 70 percent higher for those who received care that is likely to alter the balance...Read more
2015 31 May
Researchers at the University of Toronto have designed a diagnostic chip that can help reduce testing time for antibiotic resistance from days to one hour. This can enable doctors to select the right antibiotic from the very beginning. The work has been published in the journal Lab on a Chip. Antibiotic resistance is a serious issue. According to...Read more
2015 29 Apr
According to a survey of a national random sample of hospitals, nearly half of American hospitals aren't taking the steps required to prevent a gut infection that kills nearly 30,000 people annually and sickens hundreds of thousands more. The survey was conducted by a team from the University of Michigan Medical School and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare...Read more
2015 14 Apr
A study by researchers from D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) in Brazil has analysed the factors associated with severe pneumonia in hospitalised cancer patients and suggests that more personalised treatment protocols can reduce mortality in these patients. The findings are published online in PLoS ONE . It is widely believed that the...Read more