A new study into antibiotic resistance in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy points the finger of blame squarely at the oral ingestion of antibiotics. Using intravenous or transdermal methods of delivery, say the researchers, could significantly slow the spread of antibiotic resistance. “For more than 40 years, a few doses of penicillin were enough […]
In the first study of its kind, University of Michigan researchers have established that wastewater treatment plants are providing a perfect environment for the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs that eventually end up in neighboring streams and lakes. Chuanwu Xi and co-researchers, of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, sampled water containing the bacteriaAcinetobacter […]
The journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reports the worrying discovery that birds captured in the Arctic tundra are carrying antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Swedish researchers behind the finding were surprised that antibiotic resistance had spread into what were thought to be relatively pristine ecosystems. Taking samples from 97 birds in northeastern Siberia, northern Alaska, and northern Greenland, […]
It’s widely accepted in the medical community that a high level of antibiotic use is related to antibiotic resistance, but only recently has the risk to the individual been assessed. The study, published in theJournal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy this month, and funded by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, has shown that patients who have […]
Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of Wisconsin, writing in the journalPloS Biology, describe how E. coli evolution could be halted in its tracks by subjecting the bacteria to compounds that block a protein called LexA. LexA promotes mutations and helps the pathogen evolve resistance to antibiotics. Interfering with this protein renders […]
