Almost 1/3 of all prescriptions doled out each year in the US—about 47 million—are unnecessary, according to a major study in JAMA. The research from the CDC and the Pew Charitable Trust provides numbers, said David Hyun, a senior officer with Pew's antibiotic resistance…
May 1, 2016
Read the full report: TACKLING DRUG-RESISTANT INFECTIONS GLOBALLY: FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
April 15, 2016
Canada’s caves and sewage lagoons are fuelling Naowarat Cheeptham’s search for treatments to kill superbugs. "We find microbes in that (subterranean) soil," says the Kamloops' Thomson Rivers University microbiologist. "Pristine organisms that haven't contacted surface life…
April 9, 2016
Turning to the Internet to treat sexually transmitted infections may spare embarrassment, but online treatments are often sub-optimal or incorrect and contribute to antibiotic resistance. For example, effective treatment for gonorrhea—which affects 30,000 people in the UK—…
April 6, 2016
While pets often suffer blame for spreading germs to humans, keeping furry friends around could actually boost the human immune system against threats like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). “While pets can be MRSA vectors, they often get it from people…
March 31, 2016
The effort against antibiotic resistance is underfunded and needs a Cabinet-post level advocate in the US government, a US presidential advisory council concluded. The panel issued a 126-page report and launched a meeting today to hash out the practicalities.
March 30, 2016
The rampant use of antibiotics for animal food production in India —including the last one available to treat deadly bloodstream infections—reflects the escalating global crisis that is transforming animals into “reservoirs of hard-to-kill bacteria.” Animals now consume…
March 15, 2016
At the World Economic Forum back in January, a coalition of 85 biotech firms embarked on a landmark agreement to fight antibiotic resistance, urging governments to help fund research and build a “sustainable and predictable” market for new drugs. But is it too little, too…
March 9, 2016
While Lebanon moves into month 8 of a trash collection crisis, doctors are reporting a spike in severe respiratory diseases and gastroenteritis traced to the trash. Authorities sparked the crisis last July by closing Beirut’s main landfill, setting off protests. The…
February 8, 2016
The routine use of antibiotics in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition has minimal impact on the likelihood of recovery, according to a major study of more than 2,000 children by MSF and its research arm Epicentre. The results, published in The New England Journal of…