superbug news stories on Newser

FDA to Require Prescriptions for Livestock Antibiotics

Rob Quinn — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:48:58 CDT

The Food and Drug Administration is trying to slow the rise of drug-resistant super bugs by reducing antibiotic use in livestock. The agency will now require farmers and ranchers to obtain a prescription from a veterinarian before they can give antibiotics to animals, reports the New York Times . Close to...

Cow Superbug Jumping to Humans

Rob Quinn — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 05:31:00 CDT

A new strain of the drug-resistant "superbug" MRSA has been found in British cows, and it appears to be spreading to people. The strain, identified in cows' milk by researchers studying udder infections, is genetically very different from the dozens of other strains of superbug identified, reports the BBC . Pasteurization...

Scientists Slay Superbugs... With Light

Matt Cantor — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:12:01 CST

Scientists have shed light on a new way to kill hospital superbugs like MRSA: literally shed light on them. A set of wavelengths called HINS-light acts by stimulating molecules in the bacteria, causing them to create chemicals that kill the germs. In trials, the process appears far more effective than...

New Drug-Resistant Superbug Hits 3 States

Kevin Spak — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 07:42:58 CDT

People in three states have fallen prey to a new breed of superbugs, bacteria carrying a gene that makes them impervious to virtually any antibiotic. All three patients had recently received medical treatment in India, where the gene was first discovered, and has become widespread, the AP reports. “It’s a...

New Way to Fight E. Coli: Cockroach Brains

Rob Quinn — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:57:36 CDT

Scientists believe they've finally found a use for cockroaches. The brains and nervous systems of cockroaches and locusts hold molecules that can kill off up to 90% of MRSA and E. Coli bacteria without damaging human tissue, Bloomberg reports. Researchers believe the insects could be key to developing next-generation antibiotics...

'Miracle' Era of Antibiotics Is Ending

John Johnson — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:14:00 CDT

Good news: The superbug MRSA seems to be under control. Bad news: A new one called NDM-1 is on the loose . Get used to it, warns Sarah Boseley in the Guardian . "The era of antibiotics is coming to a close," she writes. These "miracle medicines" can't fight off ever-evolving bacteria...

UK Sees New Superbug, Blames Medical Tourism in India

Nick McMaster — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:19:22 CDT

A new superbug has emerged in UK hospitals, probably brought back to the country by people who traveled to India or Pakistan for cosmetic surgery, the BBC reports. About 50 cases have been cataloged in the UK, but researchers fear the newly christened NDM-1 (named after New Delhi, notes the...

New Superbug Stalks Hospitals

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:53:00 CST

A deadly new superbug is stalking the world's hospitals, health experts warned today. The pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii is a burgeoning threat and proving extremely difficult to control, with a third of outbreaks resistant to front-line antibiotics, according to a study in the Lancet . Of 24,000 US cases in a...

New Superbug Highlights Poor Hospital Hygiene

Nick McMaster — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:25:45 CDT

A deadly new superbug—beefed up by the over-prescription of antibiotics and spread by dirty hospitals and nursing homes—is raising concern in the medical community, MSNBC reports. The so-called C. diff is a mutated form of a benign bug typically transmitted in unsanitary medical facilities, especially bathrooms. Cases are...