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NEWS ABOUT: MRSA

Cow Superbug Jumping to Humans

Scary new form of MRSA found in dairy herds

(Newser) - A new strain of the drug-resistant "superbug" MRSA has been found in British cows, and it appears to be spreading to people. The strain, identified in cows' milk by researchers studying udder infections, is genetically very different from the dozens of other strains of superbug identified, reports the BBC... More »

Deadly MRSA Bacteria Found in Supermarket Meats

22.5% of tested meat was contaminated

(Newser) - The potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant MRSA bacteria has been found in supermarket meats. Cooking kills the bacteria, but consumers risk infection when they handle raw meat. MRSA has been found increasingly in hospitals and nursing homes, where it can cause serious illness and death. But it has also been spread among... More »

Scientists Find Bedbugs Carrying Nasty Surprise

Drug-resistant MRSA bacteria found on bedbugs in Vancouver

(AP) - Hate insects? Afraid of germs? Researchers are reporting an alarming combination: bedbugs carrying "superbug" germs. Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant MRSA bacteria in bedbugs from three hospital patients from a downtrodden Vancouver neighborhood. The study is small and very preliminary: Five bedbugs were crushed and analyzed after a simultaneous boom... More »

FDA Cracks Down on False Claims for Hand Sanitizers

Agency warns firms claiming their gels battle MRSA

(Newser) - Warning: Hand sanitizers will not make you invincible. They don’t, for example, protect against germs like MRSA, as the FDA pointed out yesterday in a consumer update. Nor do they kill E. coli, salmonella, or the H1N1 virus. It’s not just consumers who don’t get this: The... More »

Bacteria, Mold Fill BART Seats

Cloth seats harder to clean, allow dangerous bacteria to thrive

(Newser) - If you are fighting for a seat on San Francisco's BART trains, maybe you should think again—the seats are full of nasty bacteria, including a drug-resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus superbug, and several types of mold, says a new report commissioned by The Bay Citizen . “I would love... More »

Scientists Slay Superbugs... With Light

Wavelengths cause chemical reaction, researchers find

(Newser) - Scientists have shed light on a new way to kill hospital superbugs like MRSA: literally shed light on them. A set of wavelengths called HINS-light acts by stimulating molecules in the bacteria, causing them to create chemicals that kill the germs. In trials, the process appears far more effective than... More »

New Way to Fight E. Coli: Cockroach Brains

Pests could be valuable new source of antibiotics

(Newser) - Scientists believe they've finally found a use for cockroaches. The brains and nervous systems of cockroaches and locusts hold molecules that can kill off up to 90% of MRSA and E. Coli bacteria without damaging human tissue, Bloomberg reports. Researchers believe the insects could be key to developing next-generation antibiotics... More »

'Miracle' Era of Antibiotics Is Ending

Modern medicine can't fight off superbugs for long

(Newser) - Good news: The superbug MRSA seems to be under control. Bad news: A new one called NDM-1 is on the loose . Get used to it, warns Sarah Boseley in the Guardian . "The era of antibiotics is coming to a close," she writes. These "miracle medicines" can't fight... More »

UK Sees New Superbug, Blames Medical Tourism in India

It's traced to cheap cosmetic surgeries

(Newser) - A new superbug has emerged in UK hospitals, probably brought back to the country by people who traveled to India or Pakistan for cosmetic surgery, the BBC reports. About 50 cases have been cataloged in the UK, but researchers fear the newly christened NDM-1 (named after New Delhi, notes the... More »

Desperate for New Antibiotics, Docs Turn to Old, Risky Ones

Potentially lethal side effects did them in the first time

(Newser) - In the ongoing battle against MRSA and other deadly drug-resistant bacteria, doctors are trying out antibiotics that were long ago rejected as too dangerous to be used. These drugs, practically as old as antibiotics themselves, were banished because they had lethal side effects. But a lack of new antibiotics in... More »

Jacko May Have Flesh-Eating Bug

King of Pop said to suffer from MRSA-style infection

(Newser) - Michael Jackson is suffering from a flesh-eating infection similar to MRSA, sources tell the Sun. In the past week Jackson has made two visits to a clinic in Beverly Hills, covering his face with a mask and his hair with a surgical cap. Doctors speculate that he may have contracted... More »

Doctors Fear Flu-Superbug Combo

Mix kills 2 kids in Boston after taking 22 lives last year

(Newser) - Doctors nationwide took notice yesterday when two Boston kids died of a combined flu and fatal superbug—an increasingly common mix, ABC News reports. The blend of influenza and the staph infection MRSA killed 22 people last year, a huge jump from three cases the year before. Now, doctors fear... More »

For Infections, Try Gator-cillin

Scientists probe reptile's impressive immune system

(Newser) - Scientists are trying to harness the power of alligator blood to fight disease, bacterial infections, and even HIV, Cox News reports. Proteins in the reptiles' blood have antibiotic properties thanks to the animals' long evolution and frequent exposure to bacteria; their exceptionally effective immune systems can fight off invaders without... More »

Screening Isn't Slowing Staph: Study

Researchers back more cost-effective, targeted testing to catch superbug

(Newser) - Widespread screening of hospital patients for the drug-resistant staph bacteria MRSA doesn’t appear to reduce the number of infections, a new study finds. Swiss researchers screened more than 10,000 patients for the superbug when they were admitted to the University of Geneva Hospitals. Another 10,000 weren’t... More »

New E. coli Strains Could Spell Epidemic

Drug-resistant bacteria may rival MRSA threat, researchers warn

(Newser) - New drug-resistant strains of E. coli have doctors worried that the mutant bacteria could become a superbug to rival MRSA, the drug-resistant form of staphylococcus that kills hundreds hospital patients each year, the Daily Telegraph reports. The spread of the new E.coli strains must be carefully tracked to avoid... More »

Superbug Strikes Gay Men

Resistant new strain of MRSA spreading fast

(Newser) - A new strain of the "flesh-eating" bacteria MRSA is spreading rapidly among gay men in Boston and San Francisco and there are warnings it could extend to a larger population, the New York Times reports. The drug-resistant strain seems to be spreading largely by sexual contact, but it can... More »

Hospital-Bred Bacteria Kills Brits

Pseudomona are resistant to cleaning products and antibiotics

(Newser) - An untreatable strand of hospital-bred bacteria is killing hundreds of patients each year in the UK, the Observer reports. Pseudomona cases have risen 41% over the past five years, reaching 3,663 in 2006. Like MRSA, the bug is resistant to traditional cleaning agents and antibiotics, and contaminates patients through... More »

Staph Strain Explodes Immune Cells

Part of puzzle explains infection's deadly punch

(Newser) - A key reason why a powerful strain of drug-resistant staph infections known as MRSA has proven so deadly is because it produces a compound that causes immune cells to explode, a new study in Nature concludes. The finding helps explain why MRSA, usually found in hospitals in patients with weakened... More »

Drug-Proof Superbug Turns Deadly

Antibiotic-resistant staph kills more Americans than AIDS

(Newser) - An antibiotic-resistant strain of staph kills more Americans each year than HIV, accounting for almost 19,000 deaths annually, the first national stats on the superbug reveal. The super-staph is treatable but can quickly lead to dangerous "flesh-eating" infections. "We really need to be on guard against these... More »

Health Experts Don't Cotton to Dirty Lab Coats

Traditional MD garb now banned in Britain for spreading infection

(Newser) - British doctors have been ordered to ditch their traditional lab coats because the National Health Service has determined that they're unwittingly spreading the superbug MRSA and other deadly hospital-acquired infections from patient to patient on the coats' cuffs. Doctors will now have to work with bare forearms and are banned... More »

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