antibiotics news stories on Newser

India Could Foster Drug-Resistant Bubonic Plague

Kevin Spak — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:08:05 CDT

Could the world soon witness an encore performance from a new, drug-resistant Black Death? It's increasingly possible, because thanks to a combination of rampant antibiotic use and poor hygiene and sanitation, India has become a hotbed of "superbugs" that don't respond to antibiotics—not even high-powered remedies of last resort,...

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...

Need Your Appendix Out? Not So Fast

John Johnson — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:03:05 CDT

Having your appendix taken out may be a common, ho-hum procedure as far as surgeries go, but a new study suggests it may be too common. British researchers say antibiotics could be a better alternative, reports the BBC . Their study found that two-thirds of patients treated with the drugs for...

Ruling Might End Use of Antibiotics in Animal Feed

John Johnson — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:16:37 CDT

A decision yesterday by a federal judge could mean that farmers have to stop mixing antibiotics into animal feed, reports the OnEarth blog. The judge ordered the FDA to warn drug-makers of the coming change and give them a chance to prove that the antibiotics are safe and won't raise...

WHO: Prepare for 'End of Medicine as We Know It'

Matt Cantor — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:30:29 CDT

More and more microbes are evolving to resist antibiotics—and that means that all we thought we knew about medicine may soon change, says the head of the World Health Organization. "A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as...

Antibiotics Do Zilch for Sinus Infections

Kevin Spak — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:04:05 CST

The next time you get a sinus infection, maybe you should skip the antibiotics—because they don't actually do anything for you, a new study has found. Researchers discovered that patients who received the commonly-prescribed amoxicillin didn't see any significant benefit in terms of symptom reduction compared to those who...

Gonorrhea Becoming 'Incurable'

Rob Quinn — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:24:44 CDT

The clap is mutating so quickly that there is a real danger that it will become incurable unless new treatments are developed, British doctors warn. The bacterium that causes gonorrhea—the second most common STD in the US—is remarkably adaptable and has proven resistant to the primary drug used...

Agriculture's 'Most Disgraceful' Problem: Antibiotics

Mark Russell — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:09:46 CDT

Al-Qaeda's attacks on 9/11 killed nearly 3,000 people, completely transforming America's approach to national security. And yet food-borne illnesses kill 5,000 Americans each year and hospitalize 325,000, but there is little interest in improving food safety, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . Now, however, the...

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...