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NEWS ABOUT: antibiotics

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Gonorrhea Becoming 'Incurable'

STD mutating so fast that antibiotics can't keep up

(Newser) - The clap is mutating so quickly that there is a real danger that it will become incurable unless new treatments are developed, British doctors warn. The bacterium that causes gonorrhea—the second most common STD in the US—is remarkably adaptable and has proven resistant to the primary drug used... More »

Agriculture's 'Most Disgraceful' Problem: Antibiotics

Overuse of antibiotics threatens our entire food supply and our health

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda's attacks on 9/11 killed nearly 3,000 people, completely transforming America's approach to national security. And yet food-borne illnesses kill 5,000 Americans each year and hospitalize 325,000, but there is little interest in improving food safety, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . Now,... More »

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 »

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 »

Staph Bacteria Taints About Half of US Meat

It calls attention to use of antibiotics in livestock: Researchers

(Newser) - Here's a happy thought with summer barbecue season just around the corner: A new study suggests that about half the meat sold in the US is contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria, the Los Angeles Times reports. Researchers tested beef, chicken, turkey, and pork from supermarkets around the country and... 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 »

Gut Bacteria Is Making You Fat

But so are all those Big Macs

(Newser) - Your ill-considered Cheetos-and-bacon diet isn’t the only reason you’re fat. Scientists believe that advanced networks of bacteria and other microbes in our intestines and colons have an incredible influence on obesity, the LA Times reports. These 10 to 100 trillion little guys work together almost like an organ,... More »

FDA Probes 'Hormone Disrupter' in Soap, Toothpaste

Studies in animals point to risk

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration is taking a closer look at an antibacterial found in soap and toothpaste. Animal studies of the substance, triclosan, suggest it may alter hormone regulation or help develop resistance to antibiotics, Reuters notes. "There are many troubling questions about triclosan's effectiveness and potentially harmful... More »

Map of Cell's Machinery Wins Chemistry Nobel

Trio of laureates includes first woman to win prize in 45 years

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded today to three scientists who mapped the structure of the ribosome, the part of the cell that reads DNA and uses its information to  create proteins. All three chemists constructed three-dimensional models of the ribosome, using X-ray crystallography to chart hundreds of thousands... More »

Flu Shots Decrease Use of Antibiotics

Doctors prescribe them less when the shots are available

(Newser) - Providing flu shots to the public decreases the prescription of antibiotics, say Canadian researchers. The results of a 10-year study in Ontario will be good news to public health officials who worry that over-prescription of antibiotics is creating more resistant bacteria, reports Miller-McCune. Researchers found that doctors prescribed 64% fewer... More »

Super-Acne Resists Drugs

Resistant bacteria strain increasingly defies antibiotics

(Newser) - As if regular old zits weren't bad enough, awkward teens now have a new worst nightmare: antibiotic-resistant super-acne. Dermatologists say the bacteria that causes pimples is increasingly immune to common treatments, reports MSNBC. And while acne may not be a life-threatening condition, the frequent prescription of antibiotics to treat it... More »

Honey Packers Fail to Report Tainted Imports

Companies often simply send honey back to importer

(Newser) - US honey packers often don’t tell authorities about imports contaminated with banned antibiotics or other chemicals, and instead simply send the products back, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports after a lengthy investigation. Importers can then get the tainted honey into the American market through another packer, as two Chicago businessmen... More »

New Superbug Stalks Hospitals

Thousands killed by drug-resistant pathogen

(Newser) - A deadly new superbug is stalking the world's hospitals, health experts warned today. The pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii is a burgeoning threat and proving extremely difficult to control, with a third of outbreaks resistant to front-line antibiotics, according to a study in the Lancet. Of 24,000 US cases in a... More »

Half of US Docs Prescribe Placebos

Many physicians believe in psychological impact of prescriptions

(Newser) - Half of US doctors admit prescribing drugs to patients just for the placebo effect—to make them think they are taking something beneficial, reports the Chicago Tribune. As many as 56% prescribed antibiotics, painkillers, vitamins, and sedatives in cases where they didn't expect them to have any benefit physically, but... More »

Superbugs May Push Us Into World Without Antibiotics

Return to 'preantibiotic era' may be inevitable

(Newser) - Antibiotic-resistant microbes don’t just open us up to dangerous illnesses—they also cost the American economy well over $5 billion annually, the New Yorker reports. And one expert says around 70% of the antibiotics produced in the US wind up in agriculture: "We've created a petri dish in... More »

Olympians Fearful of Chinese Food Chemicals

Athletes worried about mystery additives plan to pack their own food

(Newser) - In addition to concerns about air quality in Beijing this August, many Olympic athletes are worried about contaminants and chemicals in the food, ABC News reports. With many of China's agricultural products boosted by growth stimulants, or steroids, or amped by antibiotics, athletes are particularly concerned that they might unwittingly... More »

FDA Orders Urgent Warning About Cipro

'Black box' caution on tendon rupture includes similar antibiotics

(Newser) - The FDA today mandated urgent “black box” warning labels on Cipro and other antibiotics of the powerful flouroquinolone family of drugs. The antibiotics carry a risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture, which could leave patients severely disabled, the AP reports. Particularly vulnerable are those over 60 and patients who... More »

New Superbug Highlights Poor Hospital Hygiene

Deadly C. diff., aided by over-prescription of antibiotics, is on the rise

(Newser) - A deadly new superbug—beefed up by the over-prescription of antibiotics and spread by dirty hospitals and nursing homes—is raising concern in the medical community, MSNBC reports. The so-called C. diff is a mutated form of a benign bug typically transmitted in unsanitary medical facilities, especially bathrooms. Cases are... More »

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