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A new study demonstrates the use of a simple pre-surgical infection prevention protocol to prevent dangerous post-surgical infections. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a type of health care-associated infection with deadly consequences for some patients. These infections lead to a high rate of morbidity and mortality, with a patient's estimated risk of death as much as 11 times higher than normal. Researchers aimed to evaluate the results of a protocol designed to reduce SSIs through a particular focus on the Staphylococcus aureus pathogen. The approach involved a pre-surgical intranasal application of povidone-iodine and skin antisepsis using chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). The...

A study shows efficacy and safety of oral antibiotic therapy, in the form of pills, for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. Currently, infusions are the standard treatment. An international clinical trial led by Professor Dr. Achim Kaasch was able to gain decisive new insights into the treatment of bloodstream infections with the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus (SAB). The research shows that in patients with a low risk of developing infectious complications, an early switch to oral antibiotic therapy is as effective and safe as continuing the intravenous standard treatment. This therapy approach enables easier treatment and faster discharge from hospital for patients....

A microscopic close-up of the copper surface. (Smith et al., Biomaterials, 2021) ========================================================================= Copper is well known for being able to kill off bacteria that it comes into contact with – the metal releases ions that are toxic to bacterial cells, punching through their outer membranes. However, this process usually takes several hours. A newly developed copper surface does the job in just a couple of minutes, though, some 120 times faster than normal copper. The less time the bacteria hang around, of course, the safer that surfaces like door handles and worktops are going to be. The scientists behind...

The microbes make a compound that disrupts DNA formation in tumor cellsCertain skin-dwelling microbes may be anticancer superheroes, reining in uncontrolled cell growth. This surprise discovery could one day lead to drugs that treat or maybe even prevent skin cancer. The bacteria’s secret weapon is a chemical compound that stops DNA formation in its tracks. Mice slathered with one strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis that makes the compound developed fewer tumors after exposure to damaging ultraviolet radiation compared with those treated with a strain lacking the compound, researchers report online February 28 in Science Advances. The findings highlight “the potential of...

Scientists have discovered a new way to attack Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The team, from Imperial College London, have revealed how the bacteria regulates its salt levels. The bacteria are a common source of food poisoning and are resistant to heat and high salt concentrations, which are used for food preparation and storage. The team hope to use this knowledge to develop a treatment that prevents food poisoning by ensuring all bacteria in food are killed. They are also investigating whether these findings could aid the development of a treatment for patients that would work alongside conventional antibiotics. Staphylococcus aureus bacterium...

Leaves of the European chestnut (Castanea sativa) contain ingredients with the power to block the virulence and pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus without detectable resistance, a new study has found. Rather than killing Staphylococcus aureus, the chestnut leaf extract — rich in oleanene and ursene derivatives (pentacyclic triterpenes) — works by taking away bacteria's weapons, essentially shutting off the ability of the bacteria to create toxins that cause tissue damage. "We have demonstrated in the lab that our extract disarms even the hyper-virulent MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) strains capable of causing serious infections in healthy athletes," said Dr Cassandra Quave of...

Around 20 percent of all humans are persistently colonized with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, a leading cause of skin infections and one of the major sources of hospital-acquired infections, including the antibiotic-resistant strain MRSA. University of Chicago scientists have recently discovered one of the keys to the immense success of S. aureus—the ability to hijack a primary human immune defense mechanism and use it to destroy white blood cells. The study was published Nov 15 in Science. "These bacteria have endowed themselves with weapons to not only anticipate every immune defense, but turn these immune defenses against the host as well,"...

<p>On Monday, a team of researchers led by doctors from the University of California at San Francisco announced that gay men were “many times more likely than others” to acquire a new strain of drug-resistant staphylococcus, a nasty, fast-spreading and potential lethal bacteria known as MRSA USA300. And sure enough, the study, published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was quickly picked up by reporters round the world and across the Internet, including a London tabloid which dubbed the disease “the new H.I.V.”</p>

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- Reuters has reported that, "A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday. "They said methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is beginning to appear outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles." "'Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable,' said Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study." According to the study, at this point, homosexual men are 13 times more...

SAN FRANCISCO, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new medical study appearing in the Annals of American Medicine shows that homosexuals are spreading a new, highly-infectious flesh-eating bacteria amongst themselves, most probably through anal intercourse. The bacterium, called MRSA USA300, is impervious to front-line antibiotics and can only be treated with rarer drugs, primarily Vancomycin. Researchers say that the bug, which is a type of staphylococcus, is primed to develop immunity to that drug as well. Infected patients may have inflammation, abscesses, and tissue loss in the affected areas. Although the bacterium does not literally "eat" the body, it manufactures...

A new variety of staph bacteria, highly resistant to antibiotics and possibly transmitted by sexual contact, is spreading among gay men in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, researchers reported Monday. The study released online by the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found the highest concentrations of infection by the drug-resistant bug in and around San Francisco's Castro district and among patients who visit health clinics that treat HIV infections in gay men in San Francisco and Boston. he study estimated that 1 in 588 residents living within the Castro neighborhood 94114 ZIP code area is infected with...

(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY Its' something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the outside? Shauna Lake put purses to the test – for bacteria – with surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your purse. Women carry purses everywhere from the office to public restrooms to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their purses, but did you ever stop to think about where your purse goes during the day? “I drive a school bus, so my...

A trailer found by the U.S. in Northern Iraq last year was likely used by Saddam Hussein's regime as a mobile biological weapons laboratory, and not to fill hydrogen balloons as some in Britain and the U.S. have charged, a view supported by exclusive photos obtained by WorldNetDaily that for the first time offer inside views of the trailer components. Kurdish forces seized the trailer in April 2003 at a checkpoint near Mosul in northern Iraq. At the time, the unit was hailed as the closest U.S. forces may had come to finding a "smoking gun" in their search for...

Filed at 3:01 p.m. ET LONDON (AP) -- It's immune to most antibiotics and has killed hundreds of patients in hospitals across Britain. Now, a superbug has found its way into the British election campaign, with Tony Blair's government promising to slash infection rates. For the leader of the opposition Conservatives, Michael Howard, the debate is particularly personal: His mother-in-law died of the infection. ''I mean, how hard is it to keep a hospital clean?'' reads a Conservative billboard. Britain has the second-worst record in Europe for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, a bacteria that can kill through blood...

...Medical experts are observing the emergence of a relatively new strain [of Staph infections], known as community-acquired MRSA, among gay and bisexual men, athletes, prisoners and Native Americans. Since a staph outbreak among gay men in Los Angeles in early 2003, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention identified five major factors that facilitate the transmission of the infection: close contact, crowding, cleanliness, contaminated items and surfaces, and compromised skin integrity, said Nicole Coffin, a CDC spokesperson. The compromised skin integrity category includes tiny abrasions that may occur during "manscaping" -- the cosmetic shaving of body parts popular with some...

LONDON - When James Wollacott badly wrenched his knee while jumping on a trampoline in the back garden of his house, the healthy, athletic 20-year-old imagined a quick operation and a swift recuperation. Instead, he spent three months in the hospital last year, bedridden and gravely ill, battling high fevers and a merciless staph infection. The infection was M.R.S.A., short for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, known as the "superbug,'' and Mr. Wollacott picked it up when doctors inserted in his kneecap four titanium pins. More than a year after his accident, Mr. Wollacott, who lives in Essex, still has trouble walking,...

Reuters A drug-resistant "superbug" found in hospitals has a close cousin that is affecting athletes, prisoners and small children in growing numbers across the United States, disease experts said yesterday. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA can become fatal if not treated with the right antibiotics, said Daniel B. Jernigan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "MRSA is showing up in places it had never been seen before -- as a predominant cause of skin disease among children in some regions of the country, as clusters of abscesses among sports participants, as the most common cause of skin infections...

Health Department works to educate on antibiotic misuse People see antibiotics as a cure-all, but inappropriate use can diminish the benefits, doctors say. By Allison Fashek rep8@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE - When people get sick, they tend to want antibiotics. Jodee Tschirhart, nurse manager at the Cheyenne Children's Clinic, sees it on a daily basis. "They think antibiotics are a cure-all," she said. But as doctors have been saying for many years, taking antibiotics when you don't need them can cause the drugs not to work when you do need them. And the issue of drug resistance...

Warning: The water on airplanes that you use to wash you hands, brush your teeth and drink can be extremely hazardous to your health_even kill you, an ENQUIRER investigation reveals.In a recent study, tap water from 14 flights was analyzed and found to contain everything from salmonella and staphylococcus, to insect eggs and fecal matter! "I have been testing potable water for 26 years, and I have never seen bacterial levels so high," Dr Donald Hendrickson, the microbiologist who tested the samples, told the Enquirer."In the past, I'd sometimes see contamination levels at 6,000 and 7,000 (units per milliliter) and...