| Multi Drug Resistant Superbugs in the News Acinetobacter baumannii, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pnuemoniae, C. difficile, Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus Antibiotic Resistance Necrotizing fasciitis |
| Superbug kills dozens in hospitals across country (Israel) A deadly bacterium known as Klebsiella pneumoniae is believed to have killed some 120-200 patients in hospitals across the country. "Between 400 to 500 people have been infected by the bug, and 30 to 40 percent of them have already died. Health Minister Yacov Ben Yizri on Wednesday rejected accusations that his ministry had underestimated the scope of the outbreak, saying the case was kept a secret to prevent mass panic Klebsiella pneumoniae update March15, 2007 3. Emergency rooms in Israeli hospitals, over the past few days, have been nearly empty. People needing treatment are avoiding medical centers due to fear of the deadly bacteria, klebsiella pneumoniae, that is sweeping through Israeli hospitals. The bacterium has infected more than 500 people and taken the lives of nearly a third of those who have become ill. Presently intensive care units are packed with patients who have been infected and more than 3000 beds are urgently needed. Strict quarantine and sanitation measures are being taken in the nation’s hospitals as the infection is resistant to antibiotics. The Health Ministry met recently with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to request millions of dollars of emergency funds to control the outbreak and invest in new hospitals. The public has reacted to the news reports by avoiding hospitals altogether. The implications become even more menacing as threats of war increase daily. (Sources: INN/IHC) Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Outbreak in an Israeli Hospital Dr. Hussein told Medscape, "At the start of 2006, we discovered that we were at the beginning of an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae," and the outbreak has now spread to "all of the hospitals in Israel now," he said. |
| Better hygiene only way to ward off superbugs Friday, July 27, 2007 The closure of Belfast City Hospital's intensive care unit has again heightened concern over superbugs . Health correspondent Claire Regan looks at the implications of the little known bug behind the closure Need for new drugs to tackle 'Superbugs' Antibacterials used to treat hospital-acquired infections, mostly targeting gram-positive organisms such as MRSA, generate revenues of approximately $1.5 billion annually in the US alone. Although MRSA has grabbed the headlines, more worrying is the emergence of MDR gram-negative organisms, resistant to almost all currently available drugs - highlighting a crucial unmet need in the market. Worryingly, some strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii have become resistant to all currently available antimicrobials. Since gram-negative organisms exhibit intrinsic resistance to several antibiotics, additionally acquired resistances leave very few options for treatment. Superbugs Driving Blockbusters The community market is pretty much exhausted for big pharma, so companies are focusing on the hospital market because they can achieve higher prices there," One reason pharmaceutical companies have not been interested in this area, Eash said, is that the affected patient population is relatively small. However, it could be a lucrative opportunity. "Drugs that enter that space would be able to command very high price premiums," |
| US Scientists discover new, potentially deadly bacteria Named Bartonella rochalimae, the new species is a close relative of a microbe that sickened thousands of soldiers during the First World War with what became known as trench fever, spread through body lice. Antibiotic resistant bugs found in the mouth 6 months after antibiotic use: study Last Updated: Friday, February 9, 2007 | 10:03 AM ET The Canadian Press Taking a single course of a certain type of antibiotic gives rise to high levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the mouth, an effect that lasts for at least half a year, a new study has found. The extraordinary persistence of the effect startled the scientists who discovered it and others in the field as well, and underscores the need for judicious use of these precious drugs, experts said. — Senior author Dr. Herman GoossensSenior author Dr. Herman Goossens said he and his co-authors assumed that if they followed the subjects in their study for six months they would see the rates of resistant bacteria in their mouths return to normal levels. But that didn't happen. "We were pretty staggered by these data," said Goossens, a microbiologist at the University of Antwerp, in Belgium. "We never expected this." Goossens said the findings suggest that even after a single — and short — course of antibiotics, a person could spread resistant strains of bacteria to close contacts within a household or a hospital for months. The findings, reported Thursday in the journal The Lancet, are a sharp reminder of the power of antibiotics, suggested Eric Brown, a biochemist at McMaster University in Hamilton. " So a quick course of antibiotics and a half a year later, you're still carrying resistant organisms. That's a little bit terrifying," said Brown, whose laboratory is working on alternative ways to kill bacteria, because of the rising problem of antibiotic resistance. Treatment decisions It also suggests doctors treating patients for bacterial infections should carefully consider which antibiotics they prescribe if those patients have taken antibiotics within the past year — the period Goossens thinks it might take for resistance levels to subside to normal after antibiotic use. "If you're a doc who's about to treat a patient who has been treated before, it should have an impact on the decisions you make about what to give that patient," Brown said. The study, which was partially funded by drug maker Abbott Laboratories, is the first to definitively show that antibiotic use is the major factor in the emergence of antibiotic resistance, Goossens said. It seems a bit like proving the known. Plenty of research has shown that as antibiotic use rises in a population, the rate of antibiotic-resistant infections rises as well. Based on those findings, infection control experts have been campaigning for years to get doctors to cut back on antibiotic use out of a fear that resistance is threatening the continued efficacy of these important drugs. But because those studies looked across populations, researchers couldn't rule out other factors that might have been involved and therefore could only draw a link between antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. Resistance in the mouth Proving antibiotic use causes antibiotic resistance requires studying individuals, and that's what Goossens and his colleagues did. A group of 224 healthy volunteers were randomly selected to receive either azithromycin or clarithromycin — both drugs from the macrolides class of antibiotics — or a fake treatment. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which. The back of the mouth of each participant was swabbed at the start of the study and then at regular intervals after the subject had completed the course of antibiotics. The swabs were tested to determine whether the streptococci in the mouth were susceptible or resistant to the antibiotics. Surprisingly, the researchers found that roughly 28 per cent of the streptococci in the mouths of all subjects were resistant from the start. But whereas that level didn't change for participants who received a placebo, the proportion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the mouths of treated participants spiked to about 90 per cent shortly after treatment. At six weeks out, the resistant bugs still made up about 60 per cent of streptococci and at six months, 50 per cent. Should people in this position become infected with streptococci, which cause respiratory and other ailments, those infections might not respond to antibiotics. Furthermore it's known that bacteria can pass along resistance to other types of bacteria, again making affected people more vulnerable to resistant infections. "It … should serve as a wake-up call for individual prescribing physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, dentists and others that inappropriate use of antibiotics does have consequences," said Dr. John Conly, former chair of the Canadian Committee on Antibiotic Resistance and head of the department of medicine at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary. © The Canadian Press, 2007 |
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| Superbugs Just Out There on the Streets Sometime in January, 2006, Ms. Weil contracted drug-resistant staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that's a major cause of hospital-acquired infections. Except she hadn't been hospitalized. Marine Killed by Rare Superbug Eighteen-year-old Richard Campbell-Smith contracted the rare Panton Valentine Leukocidin (PVL), which has been linked to MRSA, last October. |
| Preferred First-Line Treatment for C difficile Diarrhea Has Worse Outcome, Higher Costs April 5, 2007 (Munich, Germany) — A database comparison of demographics, risk factors, and hospital outcomes for patients with Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD) shows that the preferred first-line use of metronidazole (MET) is associated with worse discharge outcomes and higher total costs than the alternative use of vancomycin (VANC). |
| 23 Babies Die in a SAT Hospital This Month `Deaths caused by hospital-acquired infection' There were 35 deaths at the unit in April. But 23 deaths were microbiologically confirmed as due to infections caused by the presence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains of bacteria. There could be more cases of infection or deaths as last week's blood-culture results were awaited. Hospital sources said on Tuesday that the organisms that were isolated in the blood-sample cultures of babies — MDR Klebsiella, Methicillin- Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Acinetobacter and Enterococci — could hardly come from the community and that these were cases of hospital infections. Over-crowded and unhygienic conditions in the labour rooms, gynaecology wards and lack of cleanliness inside the neonatal intensive care units could be responsible for the outbreak. |
| Bad Bugs Drug-resistant microbes are evolving into a public health problem too widespread to ignore. The War — and the War on Disease Wounded soldiers returning from tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan are importing stronger strains of certain bacteria — pathogens that can survive treatments that traditionally have been effective at eradicating them. Some health officials are calling it the next drug-resistant infection epidemic. |
| Parental Smoking Increases Children's Infections, Antibiotic Use by Bryant Furlow EPI NEWS April 24, 2007—Over-prescription of antibiotics is creating drug-resistant pathogens around the world, so the race is on to identify ways to reduce antibiotic use. Now, Swiss researchers investigating the causes of antibiotic use in children have identified one important culprit: parental smoking. The team found that children whose parents smoke are up to 24 percent more likely to have been prescribed antibiotics. |
| Wastewater treatment plants and Antibiotic Resistance Hospitals Ditching Patients to Nursing Homes Hospitals all across the US are ditching infected patients to nursing homes This enables allows to keep from having to report Outbreaks at their facility and from having people die on their watch from drug resistant infections that they most likely gave the patients in the first place. !!!!!Don't them ditch your loved ones to the nursing home to die!!!!! Federal agencies urged to check for MRSA in meat The CDC's Deadly Mistake Sometimes connecting the dots reveals a grim picture. Several new reports about hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) show that the danger is increasing rapidly, and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) isn’t leveling with the public about it. The Incorrigable Bugs With current antibiotics losing (or having already lost) their effectiveness against common and serious pathogens, and problems like lack of awareness and over the counter availability of antibiotics looming over our heads, alarm bells have started shrieking. Aashruti Kak discusses how this disturbing development is resisting the industry's resolve to treat and eradicate the 'superbugs' How Many Superbugs does it take? Nick Narron went into Jewish Hospital in Louisville Kentucky in June for heart surgery, which was successful. But Nick didn't get to go home and enjoy his new lease on life Instead he spent the next two months fighting not one, not two, but three hospital acquired drug resistant Superbugs. Nick had tested positive for MRSA, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pnuemonia. Why is Nick dead? Another patient in the same hospital at the same time, a transplant patient that never got as far as the transplant due to getting hospital acquired Acinetobacter baumannii and Vancomycin resistant enterococcus , asked his family to please just let him die. The Superbug problem has grown beyond the singular that is deadly enough. Our military and civilian hospitals are giving patients two and three and maybe more superbugs at the same time. Treating one Superbug with toxic antibiotics only enables another superbug. Necrotizing fasciitis Necrotizing fasciitis or fasciitis necroticans, commonly known as "flesh-eating bacteria", is a rare infection of the deeper layers of skin and subcutaneous tissues, easily spreading across the fascial plane within the subcutaneous tissue. Many types of bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis (eg. Group A streptococcus, Vibrio vulnificus, Clostridium perfringens, Bacteroides fragilis), of which Group A streptococcus is the most common cause. |
| 1 in 10 Patients will get Disease in EU Hospitals One in 10 patients entering a European hospital can expect to catch an infection there and drug-resistant microbes caught through healthcare are a rapidly growing threat, EU health officials said on Thursday. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a report that every year some 3 million people in European Union countries catch a disease associated with healthcare and that around 50,000 die as a result. |
| Vibrio We're talking about a flesh eating bacteria called Vibrio. It's the same dangerous bacteria that prompted health warnings about eating Gulf Coast oysters. |
| Coxiella burnetii. Still another Lab accident at the same bioweapons facility It is also being seen in US soldiers in Iraq, where some 30 cases have been diagnosed. |
| Bacterial infection claims life of soldier in Germany January 16, 2002 Pinto said doctors concluded that Vasquez died from epiglotitis hemorrhagic pneumonia due to bacterial infection. The type of bacteria that caused the death and the manner in which Vasquez came in contact with the bacteria remain unknown. She said additional tests are being run in an effort to get those answers. Pinto gave the following account of her son’s final hours. She said that on Dec. 23 he participated in regular activities, including taking care of his newborn son. At about 4:30 p.m., she said, he complained of a sore throat. By 10:30 p.m. he was telling family members that he could not breathe. He was taken to a hospital by 11 p.m. where he was attended to by doctors, but died at 12:30 a.m. Dec. 24, according to Pinto. Dr. Sadeq A. Razvi, an ear, nose and throat specialist with offices in Freehold Township, explained that epiglotitis is an infection of the epiglottis, a structure at the top of the windpipe. Bacteria such as airborne bacteria can cause epiglotitis, and the disease can be fast moving and fatal if not treated, Razvi explained. A sore throat and trouble breathing due to swelling of the epiglottis could be symptoms of epiglotitis, he said. Razvi said he sees about six cases of epiglotitis a year. |
| Armed with copper, researchers attacking hospital infections Tuesday, August 28, 2007 With efforts underway in New Jersey to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections, some experts are suggesting a makeover of ordinary fixtures -- everything from soap dispensers to the light switches in patient rooms -- may provide part of the solution. Studies being funded by the U.S. Department of Defense are testing the ability of copper-based metals to kill disease-causing microorganisms, thereby decreasing the kind of cross-contamination that can end up transmitting harmful infections to patients. |
Honey is a remedy for MRSA
HONEY and seaweed is being used by a hospital to stop
the MRSA bug.
Doctors clean wounds with the honey and then put on a
dressing containing a seaweed extract.
The sterile honey seals the injury and stops bugs entering
it, while the seaweed draws and absorbs the harmful
bacteria.
Doctors at the James Cook University Hospital in
Middlesbrough began treating patients after discovering
Aborigines use the method.
HONEY and seaweed is being used by a hospital to stop
the MRSA bug.
Doctors clean wounds with the honey and then put on a
dressing containing a seaweed extract.
The sterile honey seals the injury and stops bugs entering
it, while the seaweed draws and absorbs the harmful
bacteria.
Doctors at the James Cook University Hospital in
Middlesbrough began treating patients after discovering
Aborigines use the method.
| Staph Germ undermines body's defenses WASHINGTON (AP) — The aggressive antibiotic- resistant staph infection responsible for thousands of recent illnesses undermines the body's defenses by causing germ-fighting cells to explode, researchers reported Sunday. Experts say the findings may help lead to better treatments. An estimated 90,000 people in the United States fall ill each year from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. It is not clear how many die from the infection; one estimate put it at more than 18,000, which would be slightly higher than U.S. deaths from AIDS. The infection long has been associated with health care facilities, where it attacks people with reduced immune systems. But many recent cases involve an aggressive strain, community-associated MRSA, or CA- MRSA. It can cause severe infections and even death in otherwise healthy people outside of health care settings. The CA-MRSA strain secretes a kind of peptide — a compound formed by amino acids — that causes immune cells called neutrophils to burst, eliminating a main defense against infection, according to researchers |
Meet the hospital staph
MDR A. baumannii may often
contaminate protective equipment of
health care workers
Almost 40% of protective gowns and gloves worn by
health care workers who were exposed to patients
with multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii
became contaminated during contact, according to
findings presented at the 2009 meeting of the
Society of Healthcare Epidemiologists of America,
held in San Diego.
Daniel Morgan, MD, of the University of Maryland
Medical Center in Baltimore, presented the results.
“A prior study using similar methods demonstrated
that health care workers were contaminated by
MRSA at a rate of about 18.5%, which is about half
of the rate we observed for A. baumannii,” he said.
“In our own study, we found that MDR A. baumannii
was about four times as likely as Pseudomonas
aeruginosa to contaminate health care workers.”
The study involved 202 health care workers who
entered the rooms of patients with MDR A.
baumannii and/or P. aeruginosa. A 39.5% (95% CI;
32.1-47.4%) transfer rate to the gloves and/or
gown of health care workers occurred, and a 4.2%
(95% CI; 1.7-8.5%) transfer rate to the hands of the
workers after the removal of gloves and before
hand washing occurred.
The rates for health care workers who had contact
with P. aeruginosa patients were 8.3% (95% CI; 4.2-
14.3%) for transfer to gloves or gowns and 0.8%
(95% CI; 0.02-4.12%) for transfer to hands before
washing.
“We also observed that contact with wounds, time
of exposure and working with an endotracheal tube
were independent risk factors for increased A.
baumannii contamination,” Morgan said
contaminate protective equipment of
health care workers
Almost 40% of protective gowns and gloves worn by
health care workers who were exposed to patients
with multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii
became contaminated during contact, according to
findings presented at the 2009 meeting of the
Society of Healthcare Epidemiologists of America,
held in San Diego.
Daniel Morgan, MD, of the University of Maryland
Medical Center in Baltimore, presented the results.
“A prior study using similar methods demonstrated
that health care workers were contaminated by
MRSA at a rate of about 18.5%, which is about half
of the rate we observed for A. baumannii,” he said.
“In our own study, we found that MDR A. baumannii
was about four times as likely as Pseudomonas
aeruginosa to contaminate health care workers.”
The study involved 202 health care workers who
entered the rooms of patients with MDR A.
baumannii and/or P. aeruginosa. A 39.5% (95% CI;
32.1-47.4%) transfer rate to the gloves and/or
gown of health care workers occurred, and a 4.2%
(95% CI; 1.7-8.5%) transfer rate to the hands of the
workers after the removal of gloves and before
hand washing occurred.
The rates for health care workers who had contact
with P. aeruginosa patients were 8.3% (95% CI; 4.2-
14.3%) for transfer to gloves or gowns and 0.8%
(95% CI; 0.02-4.12%) for transfer to hands before
washing.
“We also observed that contact with wounds, time
of exposure and working with an endotracheal tube
were independent risk factors for increased A.
baumannii contamination,” Morgan said