Advice that you have to finish the whole course of antibiotics reflects long-standing convention or the drug manufacturer’s decision during an initial trial, rather than scientific evidence.
Antibiotics from both human and animal use end up in our waterways.
Alex/Flickr
The fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria – so-called “superbugs” – is a huge challenge, one that the World Health Organization has described as a grave global problem. When superbugs hit the headlines…
We’re in a protracted war against superbugs because we’ve overused existing antibiotics: a key weapon against disease.
Nomadic Lass/Flickr
We’ve heard a lot lately about superbugs – bacteria that are resistant to current antibiotics. But as the threat of superbugs continues to rise, the number of new treatments available has flatlined. This…
The rise of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics is a growing worry and threatens to put healthcare back to the early 20th century. Such resistance to drugs was inevitable, because bacteria evolve…
People know that antibiotics won’t help viruses. So why ask doctors for antibiotics?
Subbotina Anna/Shuttstock
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health. Resistance makes it harder for physicians to treat infections and can increase the chance patients will die from an infection. What is more, the…
Better antimicrobial stewardship could curb infection rates.
Global Panorama/Flickr
Going to the hospital can save your life, but it is not without risks. Patients can be exposed to dangerous infections while receiving treatment. In the United States, health care-associated infections…
Australia’s reputation for strict farming standards helped its beef industry weather the BSE crisis.
Malcolm Paterson/CSIRO/Wikimedia Commons
Ten years on from the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, Australia is entering another round of negotiations towards the new and controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership. In this Free Trade Scorecard series…
Bacteria under attack by a flock of bacteriophages.
Graham Beards/Wikimedia Commons
Luc Henry, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Bacterial infections remain a major threat to human and animal health. Worse still, the catalogue of useful antibiotics is shrinking as pathogens build up resistance to these drugs. There are few promising…
Allergic reactions to food have dramatically increased over the past 10 to 20 years.
Dan Peled/AAP
Reema Rattan, The Conversation e Alexandra Miller, The Conversation
Changing the bacteria in the gut could treat and prevent life-threatening allergies, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal today. “These…
For years humans have searched for medicines in nature. While some seek “natural cures” in order to avoid chemicals, in truth everything is made up of chemistry. But as humans, we’re very good at manipulating…
About 6,000 years ago, a bacterium underwent a few genetic changes. These allowed it to expand its habitat from the guts of mice to that of fleas. Such changes happen all the time, but in this particular…
Scientists have discovered that the natural environment is a major reservoir of antibiotic resistant genes.
Flickr: bizjournal
Resistance to commonly used antibiotics are in the genes of bacteria everywhere, researchers at the University of Lyon in France have discovered. A worldwide study of the gene sequences of bacteria, published…
Engineer on the prowl between the big black boxes.
University of Edinburgh
A new supercomputer, called ARCHER, has recently been launched. ARCHER is a Cray XC30, funded by EPSRC and NERC. It is more than three times more powerful than its predecessor, HECToR, and is hosted by…
Doctors are focused almost exclusively on treating the potential infection in the patient in front of them.
Shutterstock
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…