antibiotics – News Stories About antibiotics - Page 4

Apr 6, 2012 10:03 AM CDT

Need Your Appendix Out? Not So Fast

Study shows that antibiotics might be a better alternative

(Newser) - 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

Mar 23, 2012 1:16 PM CDT

Ruling Might End Use of Antibiotics in Animal Feed

Judge tells FDA to put process in motion

(Newser) - 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...

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

Mar 16, 2012 9:30 AM CDT

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

Antibiotic-resistant microbes pose increasing threat, says director

(Newser) - 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...

Antibiotics
Do Zilch for
Sinus Infections

New Study

Feb 15, 2012 2:04 PM CST

Antibiotics Do Zilch for Sinus Infections

Researchers think amoxicillin is over-prescribed

(Newser) - 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...

Gonorrhea
Becoming
'Incurable'

Oct 11, 2011 5:24 AM CDT

Gonorrhea Becoming 'Incurable'

STD mutating so fast that antibiotics can't keep up

(Newser) - 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

NICHOLAS KRISTOF

Jun 12, 2011 8:09 AM CDT

Agriculture's 'Most Disgraceful' Problem: Antibiotics

Overuse of antibiotics threatens our entire food supply and our health

(Newser) - 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,...

Cow Superbug
Jumping to
Humans

Jun 3, 2011 5:31 AM CDT

Cow Superbug Jumping to Humans

Scary new form of MRSA found in dairy herds

(Newser) - 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...

Scientists Find
Bedbugs Carrying
Nasty Surprise

May 11, 2011 2:21 PM CDT

Scientists Find Bedbugs Carrying Nasty Surprise

Drug-resistant MRSA bacteria found on bedbugs in Vancouver

(Newser) - Hate insects? Afraid of germs? Researchers are reporting an alarming combination: bedbugs carrying "superbug" germs. Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant MRSA bacteria in bedbugs from three hospital patients from a downtrodden Vancouver neighborhood. The study is small and very preliminary: Five bedbugs were crushed and analyzed after a simultaneous boom...

Staph Bacteria Taints
About Half of US Meat

Apr 15, 2011 2:16 PM CDT

Staph Bacteria Taints About Half of US Meat

It calls attention to use of antibiotics in livestock: Researchers

(Newser) - Here's a happy thought with summer barbecue season just around the corner: A new study suggests that about half the meat sold in the US is contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria, the Los Angeles Times reports. Researchers tested beef, chicken, turkey, and pork from supermarkets around the country and...

'Miracle' Era
of Antibiotics
Is Ending

opinion

Aug 12, 2010 1:14 PM CDT

'Miracle' Era of Antibiotics Is Ending

Modern medicine can't fight off superbugs for long

(Newser) - 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...

UK Sees
New Superbug, Blames Medical Tourism in India

Aug 11, 2010 6:19 PM CDT

UK Sees New Superbug, Blames Medical Tourism in India

It's traced to cheap cosmetic surgeries

(Newser) - 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...

Desperate for
New Antibiotics,
Docs Turn to
Old, Risky Ones

Jul 19, 2010 9:45 AM CDT

Desperate for New Antibiotics, Docs Turn to Old, Risky Ones

Potentially lethal side effects did them in the first time

(Newser) - In the ongoing battle against MRSA and other deadly drug-resistant bacteria, doctors are trying out antibiotics that were long ago rejected as too dangerous to be used. These drugs, practically as old as antibiotics themselves, were banished because they had lethal side effects. But a lack of new antibiotics in...

Gut Bacteria Is Making You Fat

But so are all those Big Macs

(Newser) - Your ill-considered Cheetos-and-bacon diet isn’t the only reason you’re fat. Scientists believe that advanced networks of bacteria and other microbes in our intestines and colons have an incredible influence on obesity, the LA Times reports. These 10 to 100 trillion little guys work together almost like an organ,...

FDA Probes
'Hormone Disrupter'
in Soap, Toothpaste

Apr 9, 2010 4:49 AM CDT

FDA Probes 'Hormone Disrupter' in Soap, Toothpaste

Studies in animals point to risk

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration is taking a closer look at an antibacterial found in soap and toothpaste. Animal studies of the substance, triclosan, suggest it may alter hormone regulation or help develop resistance to antibiotics, Reuters notes. "There are many troubling questions about triclosan's effectiveness and potentially harmful...

Map of Cell's Machinery Wins Chemistry Nobel

Oct 7, 2009 5:51 AM CDT

Map of Cell's Machinery Wins Chemistry Nobel

Trio of laureates includes first woman to win prize in 45 years

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded today to three scientists who mapped the structure of the ribosome, the part of the cell that reads DNA and uses its information to create proteins. All three chemists constructed three-dimensional models of the ribosome, using X-ray crystallography to chart hundreds of thousands...

Flu Shots Decrease Use
of Antibiotics

Sep 9, 2009 1:32 PM CDT

Flu Shots Decrease Use of Antibiotics

Doctors prescribe them less when the shots are available

(Newser) - Providing flu shots to the public decreases the prescription of antibiotics, say Canadian researchers. The results of a 10-year study in Ontario will be good news to public health officials who worry that over-prescription of antibiotics is creating more resistant bacteria, reports Miller-McCune. Researchers found that doctors prescribed 64% fewer...

Super-Acne Resists Drugs

Apr 14, 2009 2:15 AM CDT

Super-Acne Resists Drugs

Resistant bacteria strain increasingly defies antibiotics

(Newser) - As if regular old zits weren't bad enough, awkward teens now have a new worst nightmare: antibiotic-resistant super-acne. Dermatologists say the bacteria that causes pimples is increasingly immune to common treatments, reports MSNBC. And while acne may not be a life-threatening condition, the frequent prescription of antibiotics to treat it...

Honey Packers Fail to
Report Tainted Imports

INVESTIGATION

Jan 29, 2009 2:25 PM CST

Honey Packers Fail to Report Tainted Imports

Companies often simply send honey back to importer

(Newser) - US honey packers often don’t tell authorities about imports contaminated with banned antibiotics or other chemicals, and instead simply send the products back, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports after a lengthy investigation. Importers can then get the tainted honey into the American market through another packer, as two Chicago businessmen...

New Superbug Stalks Hospitals

Nov 18, 2008 7:53 AM CST

New Superbug Stalks Hospitals

Thousands killed by drug-resistant pathogen

(Newser) - 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...

Half of US Docs
Prescribe Placebos

Oct 24, 2008 5:45 AM CDT

Half of US Docs Prescribe Placebos

Many physicians believe in psychological impact of prescriptions

(Newser) - Half of US doctors admit prescribing drugs to patients just for the placebo effect—to make them think they are taking something beneficial, reports the Chicago Tribune. As many as 56% prescribed antibiotics, painkillers, vitamins, and sedatives in cases where they didn't expect them to have any benefit physically, but...