Antiseptic baths help fight 'superbug' infections

2010-03-15T15:45:22Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bathing severely injured intensive-care patients with antiseptic-soaked washcloths can cut their risk of developing certain types of infections, and also seems to help keep drug-resistant bacteria at bay, new research shows.</p><p>Trauma patients are particularly vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections, Dr. Heather L. Evans of

U.S. hospital infections killed 48,000: report

2010-02-22T13:15:30Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pneumonia and blood-borne infections caught in hospital killed 48,000 patients and cost $8.1 billion in 2006, according to a report released on Monday.</p><p>The study is one of the first to put a price tag on the widespread problem, which is worsening and which some experts say is adding to the growing cost of healthcare in the Switzerland's

Gene sleuthing tracks variation in MRSA superbug

2010-02-22T16:56:26Z

<div><p>A new kind of genetic sleuthing suggests hospital outbreaks of drug-resistant staph bacteria don't always spread from one patient to another, but that numerous people — patients, visitors or staff — bring in the deadly germ.</p><p>The finding came as British scientists used in-depth gene scanning to track how a dangerous strain of this bacteria, called MRSA, has spread around the world.</p><p>The result, ...

High-resolution gene technique zooms in on superbug

2010-02-22T16:57:02Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have found a way to track minutely-differing strains of the "superbug" MRSA as they spread between people and across the globe, a finding that could aid efforts to control the deadly bacteria.</p><p>An international team lead by researchers from Britain's Reuters) - Polar bear droppings are helping scientists shed light on the spread of deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs.</p><p>Bacteria such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a growing problem in hospitals and researchers are anxious to understand how they evolve.</p><p>Norwegian researchers said they had fo...

Screening could curb hospital superbug

2010-02-22T21:56:53Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Patients who undergo treatment at more than one hospital in Europe should be screened for the drug-resistant "superbug" MRSA to help prevent its spread, scientists said on Tuesday.</p><p>Dutch researchers who studied methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which causes difficult-to-treat infect...

Better antiseptic curbs post-surgery infections

2010-02-23T00:27:18Z

<div id="subtitle">Studies: Switching antiseptic prep, screening patients for bacteria cut post-op infections</div><div><p>Looks like doctors aren't the only ones who should scrub before surgery. Bathing patients with an antiseptic and squirting medicated ointment up their noses dramatically cut the rate of dangerous staph infections afterward, researchers found.</p><p>A second study found the antiseptic did a be...

Solution to killer superbug found in Norway

2010-02-23T07:45:29Z

<div id="subtitle">Norway finds way to control infection that kills thousands elsewhere: Cut antibiotics</div><div><p>Aker University Hospital is a dingy place to heal. The floors are streaked and scratched. A light layer of dust coats the blood pressure monitors. A faint stench of urine and bleach wafts from a pile of soiled bedsheets dropped in a corner.</p><p>Look cl...

One superbug infection costs hospital $60,000: study

2010-02-23T15:36:46Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A single patient infected with the increasingly common "superbug" known as MRSA can cost a hospital $60,000, U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.</p><p>Their study of seven hospitals and health facilities shows that taking action, even expensive action, to fight infections can save money, t...

Drug-resistant staph infections rising in US: study

2010-02-24T01:00:00Z

<div><p>Cases of antibiotic-resistant staph infections usually acquired in the community are growing in the United States and rapidly spreading to hospitals, researchers said Tuesday.</p><p>Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which can penetrate wounds and cause lethal bloodstream and lung infections, kills about 20,000 each year in the United States, according to the...

Drug-resistant bacteria on increase in U.S.: study

2010-02-24T01:27:07Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cases of a drug-resistant bacterial infection known as MRSA have risen by 90 percent since 1999, and they are increasingly being acquired outside hospitals, researchers reported on Tuesday.</p><p>They found two new strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- MRSA for short -- were circulating in patients and they are different from...

Antibiotic overuse threatens modern medicine: experts

2010-02-24T07:29:03Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Overuse of antibiotics in Europe is building widespread resistance and threatening to halt vital medical treatments such as hip replacements, intensive care for premature babies and cancer therapies, health experts say.</p><p>Dominique Monnet of the Novartis to pay up to $485M for rights to US firm's antibiotic for drug-resistant bacteria</div><div><p>Novartis AG said Thursday it has bought worldwide rights to a new antibiotic drug developed by U.S. company Paratek Pharmaceu...

Beaches pose super-bug risk: study

2010-02-25T08:18:22Z

<div><p>The so-called superbug MRSA, a multiresistant strain of staphylococcus usually found in hospitals, has been discovered for the first time on US beaches, a study said.</p><p>The antibiotic-resistant strain, which is increasingly found in prisons, gym locker rooms and homes, can cause skin conditions and organ ailments and serious and sometimes fatal cases of pneumonia.<...

Dangerous staph germs found at West Coast beaches

2010-02-25T08:24:59Z

<div id="subtitle">A day at the beach? Shower afterward. Sand, water can hold dangerous staph germs, study finds</div><div><p>Dangerous staph bacteria have been found in sand and water for the first time at five public beaches along the coast of Washington, and scientists think the state is not the only one with this problem.</p><p>The germ is MRSA, or methicill...

Study exposes how bacteria resist antibiotics

2010-02-25T09:10:59Z

<div><p>CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered how bacteria fend off a wide range of antibiotics, and blocking that defense mechanism could give existing antibiotics more power to fight dangerous infections.</p><p>Researchers at New York University said ...

Report helps quell fear of "superbug" epidemic

2010-02-25T10:44:10Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In doctors' offices in the U.S., skin infections have not become more common since the "superbug" MRSA began showing up in communities.</p><p>This finding contrasts with studies indicating that visits to U.S. emergency rooms and all non-hospital-inpatient medical settings for skin in...

Forest Laboratories, AstraZeneca sign partnership

2010-02-25T21:20:48Z

<div id="subtitle">Forest Laboratories, AstraZeneca sign deal to develop, sell treatment for infections</div><div><p>Forest Laboratories Inc. and AstraZeneca said Wednesday they are collaborating to develop and sell a next-generation treatment for antibiotic-resistant, or Staph, infections and hos...

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