USA-
-Cross-Border Dissemination of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/5/727.htm
-ESBL and other MDR in E coli from CA UTI’s. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/5/741.htm
-Retail meat in Canada contains C difficile. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/5/802.htm
-Reduced quinolone susceptibility in Salmonella enterica, Finland. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/5/809.htm
-C difficile in ready-to-eat salads in Scotland. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/5/817.htm
-Outbreak of C difficile 027, in Denmark 2008-2009. http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19183
UK-
-ABR trends, 2004 – 2008. http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1239695826071
* A blog of Indian Initiative for Management of Antibiotic Resistance (IIMAR) managed by Dr. A. J. Tamhankar
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
-Clostridium difficile infections continue to fall. http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1239781746891?p=1231252394302
-Hospitalizations and Deaths Associated with Clostridium difficile Infection. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/5/pdfs/08-1154.pdf
-The emergence of Clostridium difficile link with the increased consumption of fluroquinolones and cephalosporins. http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19176
Friday, April 10, 2009
-Novel Type of Streptococcus pneumoniae Causing Multidrug-Resistance in Children. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/4/547.htm
-Environmental Cleaning Reduces Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms. http://www.shea-online.org/Assets/files/2009%20annual%20meeting/Datta_Release.pdf
-Colonization with Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/598194
-Environmental Cleaning Reduces Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms. http://www.shea-online.org/Assets/files/2009%20annual%20meeting/Datta_Release.pdf
-Colonization with Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/598194
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
-China launches high-tech TB fight.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/china-launches-high-tech-tb-fight-1.html
-New South African research centre to tackle HIV/TB.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/new-south-african-research-centre-to-tackle-hiv-tb.html
-China to spearhead anti-tuberculosis drive. http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090401/full/news.2009.227.html
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/china-launches-high-tech-tb-fight-1.html
-New South African research centre to tackle HIV/TB.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/new-south-african-research-centre-to-tackle-hiv-tb.html
-China to spearhead anti-tuberculosis drive. http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090401/full/news.2009.227.html
Monday, April 6, 2009
Ant colonies could be key to advances in biofuels and antibiotics.
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090329/full/458561a.html
UV lights could curb TB transmission
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/uv-lights-could-curb-tb-transmission.html
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090329/full/458561a.html
UV lights could curb TB transmission
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/uv-lights-could-curb-tb-transmission.html
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Occurrence of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria in hospital associated waters of India
A team of Indian scientists from R.D.Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, and a Swedish Scientist from Karolinska Institute recently presented preliminary findings of their study at the National Conference of IPHA, (Bangalore, 9-11 January 2009) and at the IAPSM Conference, (Aurangabad, 21-23 January 2009), in which they reported occurrence of Metronidazole, sulfamethoxazole, ofloxacin, norfloxacin, levofloxacin, tinidazole and ciprofloxacin in the range of 1.4 to 236.00 µg/L in the waste water of two Indian hospitals. E. coli isolates from the hospital waste water samples showed resistance to third generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones. The impact of such an occurrence on public health and environment of India needs to be evaluated.
The results will soon be communicated to Research Journals.
The results will soon be communicated to Research Journals.
Salmonells outbreak and Cheating bacteria to treat infections
peanut butter Salmonells outbreak in USA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_go_co/salmonella_outbreak
Another story
Cheating bacteria to treat infections
Freeloaders could help their hosts by undermining microbe cooperation.
Infections could be treated by adding more bacteria, say researchers who have shown that cooperation between microbes is undermined outside the bounds of the Petri dish by a few 'cheats'.
Similar to colonies of social creatures such as ants, bacteria can rely on a simple solution to the difficulties of surviving in harsh environments — cooperation.
Published online 21 January 2009 Nature doi:10.1038/news.2009.47
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_go_co/salmonella_outbreak
Another story
Cheating bacteria to treat infections
Freeloaders could help their hosts by undermining microbe cooperation.
Infections could be treated by adding more bacteria, say researchers who have shown that cooperation between microbes is undermined outside the bounds of the Petri dish by a few 'cheats'.
Similar to colonies of social creatures such as ants, bacteria can rely on a simple solution to the difficulties of surviving in harsh environments — cooperation.
Published online 21 January 2009 Nature doi:10.1038/news.2009.47
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
How to fight Cholera: A mathematical model
Published online 9 January 2009 Nature doi:10.1038/news.2009.11
(Borrowed from original article by R. Kwok in Nature News Alerts 13 Jan 2009,
Modified By A.J. Tamhankar)
Fighting cholera by the numbers : New model for best course of Action
A new mathematical model could help to determine the best strategy for controlling outbreaks of cholera, a deadly bacterial disease that has recently taken hold in Zimbabwe.
The model, presented at a mathematics conference this week in Washington DC, calculates which combination of vaccination, sanitation and antibiotic treatment levels will most effectively reduce the number of lives lost and the cost of intervention. Although the work has been used only to simulate past epidemics, cholera experts say it could offer a step towards better-informed decisions during an outbreak.
The bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholerae, spreads mainly through water and food and can easily contaminate the water supply in developing countries, where sanitation is poor. The Zimbabwe outbreak, which began in August 2008, has so far caused about 33,000 suspected infections and more than 1,600 deaths.
Rachael Neilan, a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and her colleagues developed a set of equations to describe the likely spread of cholera. The model takes into account the infectiousness of the bacterium, which is more likely to cause disease when it is first shed, as well as the distinction between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.
Past predictions
Although the disease-outbreak model builds on previous work, the team has introduced equations to determine the best, most cost-effective intervention schedule. The model predicts how much of, and for how long, each treatment should be applied. As a test, the researchers simulated a cholera outbreak that swept the Bay of Bengal in the early 1900s, when modern treatments were not available. For one district, the model recommended quickly ramping up antibiotics treatment to 275 people in the first few weeks, then gradually reducing treatment. It also suggested that vaccination and sanitation should be intensively applied at the outset but stopped after 20 days.
"This is the very first optimal-intervention strategy model," says Neilan, who presented the work at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. According to the simulation, the suggested treatments would have reduced the number of deaths from 31 to 9 and cut the peak number of infections by more than half.
Currently, the simulations begin with the first day of infection and rely on knowledge of certain factors, such as the ratio of asymptomatic to symptomatic patients. But Neilan says it should be possible to tweak the model so that it can be used partway through the epidemic instead. Making decisions mid-outbreak could add complications: in Zimbabwe, for example, the World Health Organization is not recommending vaccination because of the logistical difficulty of delivering doses and the time lag before the vaccine takes effect.
The researchers plan to incorporate data on the age of patients so they can give more specific suggestions about whom to vaccinate. O. Colin Stine, a geneticist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, says that the model also assumes that all cholera is the same, but his research in Bangladesh suggests outbreaks are caused by multiple genetic forms of cholera, each of which may each require a different model.
"There is a lot of work that needs to be done to fine-tune the parameters before it's something we're going to want to use as a practical tool," says Glenn Morris, director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who has worked with the Tennessee team. "But it's a start."
(Borrowed from original article by R. Kwok in Nature News Alerts 13 Jan 2009,
Modified By A.J. Tamhankar)
Fighting cholera by the numbers : New model for best course of Action
A new mathematical model could help to determine the best strategy for controlling outbreaks of cholera, a deadly bacterial disease that has recently taken hold in Zimbabwe.
The model, presented at a mathematics conference this week in Washington DC, calculates which combination of vaccination, sanitation and antibiotic treatment levels will most effectively reduce the number of lives lost and the cost of intervention. Although the work has been used only to simulate past epidemics, cholera experts say it could offer a step towards better-informed decisions during an outbreak.
The bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholerae, spreads mainly through water and food and can easily contaminate the water supply in developing countries, where sanitation is poor. The Zimbabwe outbreak, which began in August 2008, has so far caused about 33,000 suspected infections and more than 1,600 deaths.
Rachael Neilan, a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and her colleagues developed a set of equations to describe the likely spread of cholera. The model takes into account the infectiousness of the bacterium, which is more likely to cause disease when it is first shed, as well as the distinction between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.
Past predictions
Although the disease-outbreak model builds on previous work, the team has introduced equations to determine the best, most cost-effective intervention schedule. The model predicts how much of, and for how long, each treatment should be applied. As a test, the researchers simulated a cholera outbreak that swept the Bay of Bengal in the early 1900s, when modern treatments were not available. For one district, the model recommended quickly ramping up antibiotics treatment to 275 people in the first few weeks, then gradually reducing treatment. It also suggested that vaccination and sanitation should be intensively applied at the outset but stopped after 20 days.
"This is the very first optimal-intervention strategy model," says Neilan, who presented the work at the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. According to the simulation, the suggested treatments would have reduced the number of deaths from 31 to 9 and cut the peak number of infections by more than half.
Currently, the simulations begin with the first day of infection and rely on knowledge of certain factors, such as the ratio of asymptomatic to symptomatic patients. But Neilan says it should be possible to tweak the model so that it can be used partway through the epidemic instead. Making decisions mid-outbreak could add complications: in Zimbabwe, for example, the World Health Organization is not recommending vaccination because of the logistical difficulty of delivering doses and the time lag before the vaccine takes effect.
The researchers plan to incorporate data on the age of patients so they can give more specific suggestions about whom to vaccinate. O. Colin Stine, a geneticist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, says that the model also assumes that all cholera is the same, but his research in Bangladesh suggests outbreaks are caused by multiple genetic forms of cholera, each of which may each require a different model.
"There is a lot of work that needs to be done to fine-tune the parameters before it's something we're going to want to use as a practical tool," says Glenn Morris, director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who has worked with the Tennessee team. "But it's a start."
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Antibiotic resistance gene in genetically enginnered Brinjal
Dear friends
Dr. Mira Shiva informs that
A company in India is developing genetically engineered Brinjal incorporating the Bacillus thuringiesis gene.
The Antibiotic Resistant Marker being used for Bt Brinjal is NEOMYCIN . Horizontal transfer of genes & Genetic pollution & other Public Health Concerns need to be addressed as Biosafety studies done by the Company are inadequate. The GEAC Meets on 14th Jan 09.
All of you need to comment on this proposal in this space so that Dr. Mira Shiva takes it up at the appropriate forum.
Dr. Mira Shiva informs that
A company in India is developing genetically engineered Brinjal incorporating the Bacillus thuringiesis gene.
The Antibiotic Resistant Marker being used for Bt Brinjal is NEOMYCIN . Horizontal transfer of genes & Genetic pollution & other Public Health Concerns need to be addressed as Biosafety studies done by the Company are inadequate. The GEAC Meets on 14th Jan 09.
All of you need to comment on this proposal in this space so that Dr. Mira Shiva takes it up at the appropriate forum.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
“ESKAPE” pathogens, Trditional medicine, Truck transporting Broilers
“ESKAPE” pathogens dangerous
Infectious Diseases Society of America has produced a new report (a follow-up to the one published in 2004, “Bad Bugs – No Drugs”), pre-publishing in CID now available on-line, with focuses on the “ESKAPE” pathogens, which according to latest data from CDC are responsible for two thirds of HAIs in the US: Ent. Species, Staph. aureus, Klebsiella sp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter species; and the lack of effective antibiotics against them – IDSA News
WHO congress backs traditional medicine
Published online 19 November 2008 Nature 456, 287-288 (2008) doi:10.1038/456287a
Web data predict flu
Search engines provide information about epidemics. Published online November 2008 Nature 456,
Two new studies hint at the public-health and research potential of mining the data created as people search the web. Both teams have successfully detected the onset of US seasonal flu epidemics, by extracting patterns of flu-related search terms from the billions of queries stored by Google and Yahoo.
New product
A new cleaning product “Byotrol” is said to be showed in a study to significantly reduce levels especially of C difficile, Compared to bleach it is also said to have some practical advantages, and not expensive also Channel 4 News:
Don’t Drive behind a truck transporting broilers
Driving behind a truck transporting broilers could be a risk of acquiring AMR bacteria, according to a study at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in JIPH, here cited by ScienceDaily
Infectious Diseases Society of America has produced a new report (a follow-up to the one published in 2004, “Bad Bugs – No Drugs”), pre-publishing in CID now available on-line, with focuses on the “ESKAPE” pathogens, which according to latest data from CDC are responsible for two thirds of HAIs in the US: Ent. Species, Staph. aureus, Klebsiella sp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter species; and the lack of effective antibiotics against them – IDSA News
WHO congress backs traditional medicine
Published online 19 November 2008 Nature 456, 287-288 (2008) doi:10.1038/456287a
Web data predict flu
Search engines provide information about epidemics. Published online November 2008 Nature 456,
Two new studies hint at the public-health and research potential of mining the data created as people search the web. Both teams have successfully detected the onset of US seasonal flu epidemics, by extracting patterns of flu-related search terms from the billions of queries stored by Google and Yahoo.
New product
A new cleaning product “Byotrol” is said to be showed in a study to significantly reduce levels especially of C difficile, Compared to bleach it is also said to have some practical advantages, and not expensive also Channel 4 News:
Don’t Drive behind a truck transporting broilers
Driving behind a truck transporting broilers could be a risk of acquiring AMR bacteria, according to a study at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in JIPH, here cited by ScienceDaily
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