Pentamidine, wingman for the antibiotics: A new two-step approach to fight infections

A new dual therapy approach to fight multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacteria has been uncovered – and, interestingly, it involves an existing antifungal and antiprotozoal drug. Dr. Eric Brown, professor of biochemistry at McMaster University, and his team showed that pentamidine, a drug normally used to treat protozoan and fungal infections, is effective against drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria when … Read more

Nursing homes rarely use isolation precautions against multi-drug resistant infections, a recent study shows

Nursing homes may be infrequently applying isolation precautions to prevent the spread of infections caused by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO), a recent study suggests. The study, which was published on the 17th February 2017 in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, was carried out at Columbia University School of Nursing in an attempt to … Read more

WHO produces a list of the 12 most dangerous bacteria

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a list of the 12 bacterial families against which new antibiotics are desperately needed. Unveiling the list on the 27th February 2017, WHO hopes that this list will spur the research and development of new antibiotics at a time when the drugs we’ve come to rely on to … Read more

New study gives vital information about a deadly emerging fungus

New work has shed light on the virulence factors of a dangerous, emerging fungi with multidrug resistance, and has also helped to identify a novel antifungal, SCY-078, which could potentially be used to save the lives of those infected by the organism. Candida auris was first reported in 2008 after being isolated from a patient … Read more

The Minicare HNL wins the Horizon Prize – a device which could help reduce the misuse of antibiotics

A handheld device, which can differentiate between bacterial and viral infections, and could help reduce the number of incorrectly prescribed antibiotics, has won the first ever European Union ‘Horizon Prize – Better Use of Antibiotics’ in Leuven, Belgium. The HNL test, developed by Royal Philips and Diagnostic Development, uses the Philips’ Minicare I-20 handheld diagnostic … Read more

Gene discovered which can prevent the emergence of drug-resistant TB

New research has highlighted a gene, NucS, which can prevent tuberculosis-causing bacteria from mutating into antibiotic resistant strains. The work was carried out by scientists from the University of Sussex, UK, and the Centro Nacional de Biotechnologia, Madrid, and was published on the 27th January 2017 in Nature Communications. NucS is a gene which is … Read more

ClyF – a novel chimeolysin with a grudge against MRSA

Scientists have discovered a novel lysin which could be a valuable new tool in the fight against MRSA. The paper, which was published on January 9th in Nature, highlighted a novel chimeric lysin, called ClyF, which showed promising activity against MRSA both in vitro and in murine infection models, in vivo. From a library of … Read more

Carbon dots – a novel antibacterial that could stop MRSA in its tracks

New research has shown that a nanomaterial composed of carbon ‘dots’ could be effectively used in the fight against MRSA. The work, which was carried out by scientists at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Islamic Azad University, revealed that carbon dots, or c-dots, are capable of killing both wild-type Staphylococcus aureus and their methicillin-resistant … Read more

A major antimicrobial additive could cause antibiotic tolerance in bacteria

A recent study has given evidence to suggest that a popular antimicrobial additive plays a part in inducing bacterial tolerance to some of our most powerful antibiotics. The research, which was carried out by microbiologists at Washington University, Corey Westfall and Petra Levin and is still in the peer-review stage of publication, showed that bacteria … Read more