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A study suggests that a range of respiratory viral infections—including COVID-19 and influenza—may be preventable or treatable with a generic antibiotic that is delivered to the nasal passageway. A team successfully tested the effectiveness of neomycin, a common antibiotic, to prevent or treat respiratory viral infections in animal models when given to the animals via the nose. The team then found that the same nasal approach—this time applying the over-the-counter ointment Neosporin—also triggers a swift immune response by interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in the noses of healthy humans. "This is an exciting finding, that a cheap over-the-counter antibiotic ointment can stimulate...

Surgery patients on blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy could be at risk of choking to death, a study warns. Researchers in California looked at nearly 1 million Americans who had an endoscopy, which examines the upper digestive tract. They found that patients who underwent the procedure - which involves inserting a tube with a camera on the end down the throat while the patient is sedated- were 33 percent more likely to suffer aspiration pneumonia. This causes food, liquids, or saliva to get sucked into the airway, which could lead to choking and kills nearly 60,000 Americans a...

New research shows that an antibiotic effective for bacterial pneumonia also appears to fight treatment-resistant staph infections. The drug is ceftobiprole. It appeared successful in fighting methicillin-resistant staph infections, sometimes called MRSA. It showed similar benefit when tested against the antibiotic daptomycin to treat complicated Staphylococcus aureus infections. This means it could offer another option against this common and often deadly bacterial infection, according to the research led by Duke Health in Durham, N.C. "This is an area of true need," Dr. Thomas Holland, associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine and chair of the study's data review committee,...

A single oral dose of the antibiotic azithromycin can reduce the risk of postpartum sepsis and death among women who deliver vaginally by one-third, according to a large multi-country clinical trial, called A-PLUS. Only 1.6% of women in the study who received azithromycin during labor developed sepsis or died within six weeks after delivery, compared to 2.4% of those who received placebo. Azithromycin did not reduce the risk of stillbirth, newborn sepsis or newborn death. Sepsis—a life-threatening complication of bacterial and other infections—is a leading cause of maternal and newborn deaths worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Azithromycin, an...

CDC said that increases in Strep A, flu and RSV cases are tied to lockdowns ... Leading US health officials have finally acknowledged that pandemic restrictions they supported may have fueled a boom in respiratory bugs currently overwhelming hospitals. Healthcare systems across the country have been pushed to the brink after an unseasonably high number of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases with some pediatric units forced to erect inflatable tents to treat patients in parking lots. ... In a statement to DailyMail.com, the CDC said it was 'hearing from some doctors and state health departments about an apparent...

As colds, flu and more serious respiratory infections are on the uptick, the FDA is reporting a shortage of amoxicillin Amoxicillin, an antibiotic commonly prescribed to treat bacterial infections such as pneumonia, respiratory infections and strep throat, is in short supply, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has assigned “currently in shortage” status to oral powder for suspension amoxicillin. Most of the products in short supply are the powder form of amoxicillin which is mixed with water at pharmacies to become a liquid formulation of the drug, which is often used to treat young children, the agency...

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a novel method for producing new antibiotics to combat resistant bacteria. Through an approach that would target bacteria with an antibiotic that is masked by a prodrug, which the bacteria would themselves remove, the researchers identified a method that would allow for development of new, effective antibiotics that could overcome issues of resistance. The findings were published today in eLife. "We've created a sort of 'Trojan Horse' that would allow antibiotics to reach desired tissues undisturbed, until the bacteria itself activates the drug, effectively releasing an 'army' of antibiotics," said senior...

In the eternal arms race between bacteria and antibiotics, deadly superbugs with resistance to humanity's most vital life-saving medicines continue to emerge and evolve. It's a growing crisis, but thankfully we are not entirely powerless against the scourge of antibiotic resistance. In medical scenarios where frontline treatments fail to help patients, doctors can turn to so-called drugs of last resort – treatments set aside until the eleventh hour has come, after prioritized therapies haven't worked out. Drugs of last resort may be held back for a number of reasons, including side effects, cost factors, patient considerations, and more. In the...

DENVER (CBS4) – A Denver family physician has been prescribing a controversial medication to his patients, sick with coronavirus, and believes it is yielding positive results. Dr. Constantine Tsamasfyros, who has been a primary care doctor in Denver for nearly 50 years, told CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass he has prescribed a combination of hydroxychloroquine (also known as Plaquenil) and an antibiotic called azithromycin to about a dozen patients over the last few weeks. “They all did well. They seemed to reverse their symptoms in a day or two,” said Tsamasfyros, who said he “absolutely” believed the medication was working. “If...

A New York doctor hopes to help his elderly COVID-19 patients with a treatment plan inspired by the success tentatively being reported with hydroxychloroquine — and which he says shows promising results. Dr. Mohammud Alam, an infectious disease specialist affiliated with Plainview Hospital, said 81 percent of infected covid patients he treated at three Long Island nursing homes recovered from the contagion.

In April 2005, a virulent strain of influenza hit a maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital for men that’s midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. John J. Cannell, a psychiatrist there, observed with increasing curiosity as one infected ward after another was quarantined to limit the outbreak. Although 10 percent of the facility’s 1,200 patients ultimately developed the flu’s fever and debilitating muscle aches, none did in the ward that he supervised. WINTER WOES. Cold-weather wear and the sun’s angle in the winter sky limit how much ultraviolet light reaches the skin. This can add up to a deficiency in production...

An ancient folk remedy from County Fermanagh could help scientists in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria. According to local belief, the soil from a churchyard in Boho can cure infections. A microbiologist who took samples to see if there was any scientific basis for the cure has made an astonishing discovery. Dr Gerry Quinn found a unique strain of streptomyces, a microorganism used to produce antibiotics. It was found to kill the top three pathogens (organisms that cause disease) identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a major threat to human health. "When we brought the soil back to...

Staphylococcus aureus - Antibiotics Test plate. Credit: CDC _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ An antibiotic overlooked since its discovery 40 years ago could help develop new drugs against life-threatening infections caused by some of the world's most dangerous superbugs. University of Queensland Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) researchers synthesised the antibiotic, and increased its effectiveness against extensively drug-resistant bacteria, then collaborated with Monash University to evaluate the drug using animal models of infection. Professor Matt Cooper, Director of IMB's Centre for Superbug Solutions, said the study was prompted by the urgent need for new drugs to counter widespread resistance to last-resort treatments. "Octapeptins...

Each year, more than 2 million people in the United States get antibiotic-resistant infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 23,000 of them die. Unless breakthroughs are achieved, that toll will keep rising. If a new version of an antibiotic of last resort lives up to its promise, that date with doom may be averted. A study on this bolstered form of vancomycin by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla was released Monday. Researchers led by Dale Boger, co-chair of TSRI's Department of Chemistry, introduced three modifications to vancomycin, all lethal to...

Most studies have focused on triclosan, and as far as human health is concerned the research into its toxic effects has produced mixed results. For nearly every study that shows triclosan has some particular effect, another shows it does not. Yet one thing is clear: Several clinical studies, following several hundred households, have shown that triclosan-based soap does not prevent illness any better than regular soap and water alone. ...[P]lain soap and water simply dislodge bacteria from skin, triclosan weakens and kills the microorganisms. Until recently it was thought that triclosan acted indiscriminately—killing all bacteria in a number of ways—but...

An ancient concoction for eye infections seems to really work. The potion, which contains cattle bile, kills the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, researchers at Britain's University of Nottingham report. In fact, it worked better than the current gold standard for MRSA infections of the flesh, the antibiotic vancomycin, an expert at Texas Tech University found. Now researchers are working to see just what's in the salve that kills germs so effectively. It started with a joint project by two wildly different departments at the University of Nottingham. Dr. Christina Lee, an Anglo-Saxon expert in the School of English,...

Scientists at Northeastern University have discovered an antibiotic in the soil that looks to be effective at killing deadly pathogens like MRSA and tuberculosis. Even more promising, lead researcher Kim Lewis says those pathogens weren't able to develop a resistance to the antibiotic.

The first new antibiotic to be discovered in nearly 30 years has been hailed as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the fight against the growing resistance to drugs. Teixobactin has been found to treat many common bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, septicaemia and C. diff, and could be available within five years. But more importantly it could pave the way for a new generation of antibiotics because of the way it was discovered. Scientists have always believed that the soil was teeming with new and potent antibiotics because bacteria have developed novel ways to fight off other microbes. But 99 per...

Lauren F Friedman and Reuters January 7, 2015Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic, teixobactin, that can kill serious infections in mice without encountering any detectable resistance, offering a potential new way to get ahead of dangerous evolving superbugs. The new antibiotic was discovered in a sample of soil. The research is "ingenious," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, told The New York Times. Researchers said the antibiotic, which has yet to be tested in humans, could one day be used to treat drug-resistant infections caused by the superbug MSRA, as well as tuberculosis, which normally requires...

Some harmful bacteria are increasingly resistant to treatment with antibiotics. A discovery might be able to help the antibiotics treat the disease. A soil sample from a national park in eastern Canada has produced a compound that appears to reverse antibiotic resistance in dangerous bacteria. Scientists at McMaster University in Ontario discovered that the compound almost instantly turned off a gene in several harmful bacteria that makes them highly resistant to treatment with a class of antibiotics used to fight so-called superbug infections. The compound, called aspergillomarasmine A, or AMA, was extracted from a common fungus found in soil and...