MRSA Notes

Strange stuff coming down the pipeline in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. I am not quite sure if this is a truly amazing discovery, or if times are getting desperate. LOL
Artificial peptides are being produced by scientists, using basic grammar rules to manipulate the genetic code, and improve and change their ability to [...]

If you seek a basic understanding of how the overuse of antibiotics have cause this havoc, and how what was once the miracle of science has cause a scourge of virulence, don’t miss this easy to understand editorial by Michael D. Shaw - The Superbugs are Here, Don’t Help Them Along.
Of interest:

Bear in [...]

This month, our channel-wide theme is the mission statement for our sites . We have a good many different sites in the Science & Health Channel - and I bet you will find as you read through them, most of our missions are pretty different. I could simply say that my mission here is to [...]

If you are the scientist type and love to read about double blind studies, you can read this study from the British Medical Journal - Effectiveness of discontinuing antibiotic treatment after three days versus eight days in mild to moderate-severe community acquired pneumonia: randomised, double blind study. What they did, and what scares me, [...]

This is a video about MDR-TB, which is Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis, and is absolutely frightening when you watch it and keep MRSA in mind. The video is filmed in Peru (and is narrated by Brad Pitt, which is how I came across it in the first place), where there were documented cases in [...]

Infection Control Today recognizes something different about the MRSA that is showing up in our communities and is encouraging medical staff to pay attention, to culture all wounds and test for drug sensitivities before choosing a treatment.
“The other thing that’s interesting about this organism is that we don’t understand the role of the [...]

From FOXNews.com
Doctors specializing in infectious diseases are calling for the creation of new antibiotics to target infections caused by six bad “bugs.”
The “bugs” are the following bacteria, fungus, and germs:
—MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a type of “staph” bacteria that resist many antibiotics.
—Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella bacteria species, which are major causes of infections [...]

To infect, bacteria must first stick. Several proteins on their cell
wall surface are there simply to attach themselves to the surrounding
tissues of their hosts, such as the warm, moist, inviting ones at the
back of your throat.
Now new research from Sung Lee and Vincent Fischetti in
Rockefeller’s Fischetti Lab has identified an enzyme essential to
these proteins’ stickiness, [...]

You know, I am all for spreading the word about MRSA, but this article just screams PANIC. I don’t think that is the way to do it. But kudos for at least trying to get some attention to this horrible, horrible problem…
Superbug that eats flesh is on the loose
Potentially lethal bacteria infects hundreds [...]

TB Alliance and Bayer Launch Historic Global Drug Trials for Tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects one-third of the world’s population, resulting in nine million new cases of active TB and two million deaths each year. Public health experts note that a shorter TB regimen would help ease the economic burden, estimated at $16 billion a year, and [...]