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Articles sur Superbugs

Affichage de 61 à 80 de 89 articles

Doctors are focused almost exclusively on treating the potential infection in the patient in front of them. Shutterstock

Infection control: why doctors over-prescribe antibiotics

Health authorities have long warned that antibiotics should only be used when they’re genuinely needed, to restrain antibiotic-resistant superbugs and avoid potentially serious side-effects. But many doctors…
Antibacterial products cost more and might contribute to bacterial resistance. Image from shutterstock.com

Health Check: should I use antibacterial hand sanitisers?

I should start by saying that an important part of my job is encouraging hospital staff to clean their hands. The World Health Organisation has a global patient safety campaign reminding us that Clean…
Research looked at whether applying medical grade honey to wound sites showed advantages over antibiotics. Rachel/Flickr

Honey not a contender in the fight against superbugs

If you haven’t heard about the threat “superbugs” (bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics) pose to our health, it’s likely you haven’t been conscious or on the planet for a couple of years. There are…
Not so super now, eh? Graham Beards

Bacteria-eating viruses return, this time to fight superbugs

Bacteria-eating viruses that kill the hospital superbug C. difficile have been isolated by scientists. The use of these kinds of viruses, known as phages, to tackle bacterial infection was employed before…
Bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, communicate via chemical signals – and can now be studied in three dimensions. NIAID

3D printed structures reveal bacterial ‘chit-chat

In an article published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Texas developed a microscopic 3D printing strategy to study communication between…
Time to shelve our overuse of antibiotics. Elsamu

Superbugs move faster than governments can act

Infections and deaths caused by superbugs are increasing every year. So the government’s five-year strategy to tackle the problem, if a little tardy, is a welcome step. In January, Chief Medical Officer…
It’s a big world out there. Ronaldhole

Marine compound first new natural antibiotic in decades

A new antibiotic that is effective at killing anthrax and superbug MRSA bacteria could be a weapon in the fight against antibiotic resistance - and terrorism. Anthracimycin, a chemical compound derived…
Not so super now. The end may be nigh for Staphylococcus aureus. Wikipedia

Gold, silver and lasers: new weapons for the superbug war

Antibiotics have probably saved more lives than any other form of medication. Prior to their development, things that we now consider trivial, such as a prick from a rose bush or a sore throat, could easily…

Using copper against ‘superbugs’

Using copper objects in hospitals reduces infection rates, a US study has found. Patients were randomly assigned to rooms…
Hospitals around the world are battling new drug-resistant bacteria that often grow on medical devices like valves or joint implants. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathanreading

Our new gel can kill superbugs: IBM

Researchers from computer firm IBM say they have invented a new non-toxic gel that can kill deadly drug-resistant bacteria by cutting through the sludge that shelters them and attacking the germ’s cell…
Australia’s food chain has among the lowest rates of antibiotic resistance, but new threats call for stronger monitoring. Eli Duke

The hunt is on for superbugs in Australian animals

Australia has some of the world’s most conservative restrictions on using antimicrobial drugs in livestock. Possibly as a consequence, we have some of the lowest rates in the world of antibiotic resistance…
Only by prescribing antibiotics smarter instead of broader will we keep superbugs at bay. lamentables/Flickr

We can beat superbugs with better stewardship of antibiotics

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are becoming a major problem. Calls to action on increasing rates of resistance have been made by the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC…
Bacteria can quickly adapt and overcome the antibiotics that used to kill them. Image from shutterstock.com

Superbugs, human ecology and the threat from within

At the beginning of the 20th century, around one in three children in countries such as Australia and the United States died of infection before the age of five. But since Howard Florey first described…
Around 180,000 hospital-acquired infections occur in Australia each year. Hospital image from shutterstock.com

Washing our hands of responsibility for hospital infections

Infections, like taxes, are inevitable (to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin). Most are acquired in the community and the dangerous ones are, in the main, very difficult to prevent. But many infections are…
Ask whether you really need to take antibiotics and be vigilant with food and water when traveling. duncan

We can beat superbugs – here’s how

Bacteria resistant to antibiotics are reaching epidemic proportions around the world, particularly in developing countries. In Australia, we’re also seeing increasing numbers of serious infections which…
Not taking the whole course of antibiotics leads to the survival of a small number of bacteria that can tolerate the drug. Dave Rutt

Explainer: what are antibiotics?

You’ve got a high fever, severe cough and find it hard to breathe – all symptoms of severe pneumonia. Before antibiotics, you’d likely be dead within ten days. In fact, before we had these amazing drugs…

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