Article from Medical News Today, excerpt :
" Staphylococcus aureus infections can be resistant to methicillin - an antibiotic - or susceptible to it. MRSA is resistant to methicillin while MSSA is susceptible. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the first test - the KeyPath MRSA/MSSA Blood Culture Test - that can tell one from the other rapidly.
Methicillin, also known as Staphcillin, is a semisynthetic penicillin-related antibiotic. It used to be effective against staphylococci resistant penicillin. Methicillin has been largely taken over by Vancomycin and is rarely used today. Over the last five decades, staphylococci (staph) bacteria have become increasingly resistant to several antibiotics, including methicillin and many other commonly used penicillin-related medications. These bacteria are known as MRSA, which stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
Staph bacteria can cause skin infections, blood poisoning, pneumonia and other infections.
Within five hours of detecting any bacterial growth in a blood sample, the KeyPath MRSA/MSSA Blood Culture Test can tell whether the bacteria are MRSA or MSSA - one, two, or more days faster than standard AST testing. All the test requires is blood culture equipment, making it ideal for laboratory use."
Showing posts with label Medical News Today. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medical News Today. Show all posts
Monday, May 9, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
UK : Huge Rise In Swine Flu Feared As Children Go Back To School
Via Medical News Today :
" As the holiday period ends with the highest flu numbers in Europe, United Kingdom authorities are bracing for a considerable rise in H1N1 flu (swine flu) cases when children go back to school this week. The National Health Service (NHS) and the HPA (Health Protection Agency) are urging parents to be especially vigilant to the threat of flu.
At risk groups can still be vaccinated, health experts reiterated today - it is not too late to receive the jab.
According to Professor John Oxford, St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital, history has shown that a rise in flu case numbers nearly always coincides with a return to school. The big question this time, with flu rates already extremely high for this time of year, is not whether there will be a surge, but how long it will last."
" As the holiday period ends with the highest flu numbers in Europe, United Kingdom authorities are bracing for a considerable rise in H1N1 flu (swine flu) cases when children go back to school this week. The National Health Service (NHS) and the HPA (Health Protection Agency) are urging parents to be especially vigilant to the threat of flu.
At risk groups can still be vaccinated, health experts reiterated today - it is not too late to receive the jab.
According to Professor John Oxford, St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital, history has shown that a rise in flu case numbers nearly always coincides with a return to school. The big question this time, with flu rates already extremely high for this time of year, is not whether there will be a surge, but how long it will last."
Thursday, May 20, 2010
US : Fighting Dengue: SLU Studies Investigational Vaccine
Via Medical News Today :
" Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development is conducting research of an investigational vaccine designed to prevent people from contracting dengue, a potentially lethal virus that has rapidly spread around the world.
"Finding a safe and effective vaccination for dengue is a global health priority," said Sarah George, M.D., assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Saint Louis University and principal investigator of the study.
"About 3.6 billion people worldwide - more than half of the world's population - now are at risk for dengue, and it is estimated that 100 million people get sick from dengue fever every year. Annually, more than 20,000 people die worldwide from severe dengue diseases, such as dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. While dengue is most common in tropical and subtropical areas, outbreaks have occurred in the United States - specifically in Texas, Florida and Hawaii though no deaths from dengue have been reported in the United States in these outbreaks."
" Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development is conducting research of an investigational vaccine designed to prevent people from contracting dengue, a potentially lethal virus that has rapidly spread around the world.
"Finding a safe and effective vaccination for dengue is a global health priority," said Sarah George, M.D., assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Saint Louis University and principal investigator of the study.
"About 3.6 billion people worldwide - more than half of the world's population - now are at risk for dengue, and it is estimated that 100 million people get sick from dengue fever every year. Annually, more than 20,000 people die worldwide from severe dengue diseases, such as dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. While dengue is most common in tropical and subtropical areas, outbreaks have occurred in the United States - specifically in Texas, Florida and Hawaii though no deaths from dengue have been reported in the United States in these outbreaks."
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