Welcome to the second week of research round up, where I look back on some of the interesting research papers I happened to read this week. Notice a pattern yet? Yeah… I am working on a lot of antimicrobial resistance related stuff! 1. Series on Antimicrobial Resistance in The Lancet: The series on the rising… Keep Reading
The prescient words of Alexander Fleming, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1945 for his seredipitous discovery of the antibiotic, Penicillin, are worth a mention when it comes to discussing the wise aphorisms around antimicrobial resistance. In an interview given to The New York Times in 1945, he notes that:… Keep Reading
I am working on a document outlining strategies for monitoring and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (hence the recent plethora of posts on the topic!) and sometimes, these documents spout some beautifully poetic paragraphs amidst pages and pages of policy jargon! So I thought of blogging them as and when I come across them! From Shaban… Keep Reading
I wrote about the disaster-in-the-making discovery of transmissible resistance to colistin, a last resort antibiotic, when the Lancet Infectious Diseases published a paper based on data coming out from surveillance in China. At that point of time, the isolation of the transmissible gene providing resistance (mcr1 gene) gained a lot of attention. Maryn McKenna’s blog post went… Keep Reading
Polymyxins are a group of bacterial origin cyclic polypeptides with antibacterial properties. It was isolated by a Japanese researcher in 1949 from a jar of fermenting bacteria. Colistin, also known as Polymyxin E, which is produced by the bacteria Paenibacillus polymyxa var. colistinus, is a polypeptide antibiotic, which is effective against almost all gram-negative bacilli. Owing to its nephrotoxocity and… Keep Reading
The Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance has published an interesting review article discussing the impact of scale up of drug donations to control neglected helminthiasis in the developing countries through aid-assisted preventive chemotherapy of vulnerable populations. The highlights of the article include: Scale-up in drug donations for control of Neglected Tropical Diseases subject to Preventive… Keep Reading
According to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the dangerous, artemisinin-resistant malaria is clawing at the borders of India and Myanmar. Go to article From the article abstract: Summary Background Emergence of artemisinin resistance in southeast Asia poses a serious threat to the global control of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Discovery of the K13 marker has… Keep Reading
Acinetobacter baumanii is a typical critical care “pest” in that it causes infections with high degrees of morbidity and mortality in severely ill patients, especially those who are immunosuppressed. However, a recent publication has brought to view the fact that a clade B strain of Acinetobacter baumanii was associated with six deaths in a hospital setting. This… Keep Reading
This e-pub ahead of print has sent the media into a tizzy, and why would it not! Consider the power of this headline in your morning newspaper: Bed Bug: Cimex lectularius Image via Wikimedia. “FLESH EATING BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM BED BUGS” Now that the zombie apocalypse has failed, there must be some new fad to… Keep Reading
The NOW @ NEJM blog has an awesome summary on the recent findings regarding the reduction in transmission of multi drug resistant bacteria in the ICU. Having worked the past year in the field, I realize the importance of this and hence say that this is a MUST READ! Go check it out asap! Keep Reading