Posted on 12/28/2009 5:19:14 AM PST by decimon
A sudden worldwide increase in an antibiotic-resistant bacterium is cause for concern, according to a review in f1000 Medicine Reports.
Faculty of 1000 member Dr Johann Pitout, of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, urges the medical community to monitor the spread of a multi-drug resistant bacterium before it becomes necessary to use more powerful antibiotics as a first response.
Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) are bacterially-produced enzymes that confer resistance to penicillin-type antibiotics. ESBLs have been commonly linked to nosocomial infections, which are generally treated with intravenously-administered antibiotics such as the carbapenems.
However, in recent years there has been a drastic increase in community-acquired infections, caused by a single strain of ESBL-producing E. coli. Dr Pitout suggests that the rapid spread of this particular strain is due, at least in part, to international travel through high-risk areas such as the Indian subcontinent.
Using carbapenems as the first response to such infections increases the risk of inducing resistance to them in the community, nullifying some of our most powerful anti-bacterial strategies. Dr Pitout recommends that the medical community should use existing methods to identify infections caused by ESBL-producing bacteria, and empirically test the efficacy of other antibiotics in treating community-acquired infections.
Dr Pitout concludes, "If this emerging public health threat is ignored … the medical community may be forced to use the carbapenems as the first choice for the empirical treatment of serious [community-acquired UTIs]."
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Notes to Editors
1. Dr Johann Pitout is a Faculty Member for f1000 Medicine, Infectious Diseases Section, and works at the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada http://f1000medicine.com/member/5309018475971825
2. The full text of this article is available for subscribers at http://f1000medicine.com/reports/10.3410/M1-84/
3. Faculty of 1000, which comprises http://f1000medicine.com and http://f1000biology.com, is a unique online service that helps you stay informed of high impact articles and access the opinions of global leaders in medicine and biology. Our distinguished international faculty select and evaluate key articles across the sciences, providing a rapidly updated, authoritative guide to the literature.
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5. The F1000 Medicine Reports journal (ISSN 1757-5931), publishes short commentaries by expert clinicians focussing on the most important studies identified by Faculty of 1000 Medicine that are likely to change clinical practice. The commentaries summarise the implications of important new research findings for clinicians http:// f1000medicine.com/reports
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Carpe diem or carbapenems ping.
Anything other than antibiotics to help with such bacteria? Oil of oregano or some potions, amulets or spells to help?
Carpe diem or carbapenems ping.
Anything other than antibiotics to help with such bacteria? Oil of oregano or some potions, amulets or spells to help?
I guess it helps to ping someone when pinging.
However, the use of cranberry juice for UTI, specifically for two types of e. coli, is well documented:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721152005.htm
Amulets. I need amulets. ;-)
Those probably do help some, in general, but I don’t know about against a particularly vicious bacterium.
I’ve never used antibiotics. I take cranberry capsules. Each one is 420mg of cranberry. I’m not a doctor but it seems to me that a natural cure would be better than filling people with antibiotics that they become resistant to.
Yeah, that sounds like what we get from the Press Secretary.
...fimbriae...
Therein lies the rub.
If they try to give your wife Bactrim DS, sue!
I have Lupus and chronic UTI’s I am allergic to penicillin and sulfa and all related meds. Cipro is no longer effective for treating me. As it stands now there are only 2 oral meds that I can take for treatment.
I'm lucky in that regard. Several years ago I had an infected tooth and ten bucks worth of penicillin worked just fine.
Count your blessings! An infection is a major event for me, as treatment may or may not work and I may develop an allergy while taking it.
Manuka honey.
Works topically but I don't know if it makes it to the urinary tract.
It does if you eat/drink it. Its supposedly good for IBS and other disorders. Anything natural that helps with these superbugs is worth a try. 2009 was the year for MRSA to try to kill me twice. I’m still freeping thank god :o).
You should find a physician who practices orthomolecular medicine. Start @ www.acam.org. I’ve read that vitamins c & d are helpful. There are also some mushroom extracts available that are really beneficial to the immune system. Conventional medicine scoffs, alternative medicine cures.
Cranberry and acidophilus.
I'm glad it didn't. Was that a skin condition? Was Manuka honey used as treatment? Inquiring minds...
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