Global Antibiotic Resistance Scenario-By Dr. A.J. Tamhankar

-Prof. Meital Zilberman of Tel Aviv Universitiy`s Department of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new wound dressing based on fibers she engineered - fibers that can be loaded with drugs like antibiotics to speed up the healing process, and then dissolve when they've done their job. A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Applied Biomaterials demonstrates that, after only two days, this dressing can eradicate infection-causing bacteria. The new dressing protects the wound until it is no longer needed, after which it melts away.

-A new study suggests that naturally occurring bacteria on the skin of salamanders could help protect other amphibians, including some species of endangered frogs, from a lethal skin disease. The researchers from James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia and Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee report their findings in the November 2009 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

-Viruses are well known for attacking humans and animals, but some viruses instead attack bacteria. Texas A&M University researchers are exploring how hungry viruses, armed with transformer-like weapons, attack bacteria, which may aid in the treatment of bacterial infections. The Texas A&M researchers' work is published in the renowned journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. The attackers are called phages, or bacteriophages, meaning eaters of bacteria.

-18th November 2009 marked the second annual European Antibiotic Awareness Day, established to highlight the problem of increasing antibiotic resistance and the need for prudent use of antibiotics. Figures from the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption project, which monitors antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in countries across Europe, suggest that antibiotic use in many countries remains too high. However, prescribing habits across Europe differ from country to country, with the UK among those countries prescribing the lowest number of antibiotics per 1000 inhabitants per day.

-Anacor Pharmaceuticals announced that it has dosed the first patient in a Phase I clinical study for AN3365, a novel boron-based, small-molecule drug candidate in development for the treatment of hospital infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. The study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of AN3365 in healthy volunteers. AN3365 targets the bacterial enzyme leucyl tRNA synthetase.

-First broad spectrum anti-microbial paint to kill "superbugs". Scientists in South Dakota are reporting development of the first broad-spectrum antimicrobial paint, a material that can simultaneously kill not just disease-causing bacteria but mold, fungi, and viruses. Designed to both decorate and disinfect homes, businesses, and health-care settings, the paint is the most powerful to date, according to the new study. It appeared in the monthly ACS' Applied Materials & Interfaces. The paint shows special promise for fighting so-called "superbugs," antibiotic-resistant microbes that infect hospital surfaces and cause an estimated 88,000 deaths annually in the United States, the researchers say.

-The resistance of infectious organisms to antibiotics is particularly serious in drugs against fungi. Fungal cells are similar to human cells, which means that it is difficult to develop effective drugs that can destroy them without also damaging human cells, i.e. without causing side effects. We must therefore safeguard the effectiveness of the few antifungal drugs that are available today. Resistance to these would leave many diseases without effective treatment.