MRSA, Staph, Staff, Mersa, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Symptoms & Treatment

Hospital Superbugs Now In Nursing Homes And The Community, Ireland

Link: Hospital Superbugs Now In Nursing Homes And The Community, Ireland.

Doctors collected 732 samples from 22 Irish hospitals over the last ten years and found that 61% of them, 448 samples, tested positive for bacteria that can produce an enzyme that destroys a whole family of common antibiotics including penicillins and cephalosporins. "The ability to make these enzymes - called extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) - spreads very easily between different types of bacteria", says Dr Dearbhaile Morris from the National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland. "It lets them break down many different penicillins and cephalosporins. So the genetic ability to resist very important antibiotics often spreads with the ability to make ESBLs, and that means that doctors increasingly have to use antibiotics which in the past were held back for exceptional cases". During the years 2003 and 2004 a severe outbreak of cystitis, an infection of the bladder, was caused in the UK by E. coli bacteria that could produce a particular type of extended spectrum beta-lactamase enzyme. The Irish research team were trying to find out how common similar strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria are in Ireland.

New protein discovery may have implications for treating deadly E. coli infection

Link: New protein

A discovery by Queen's researchers of a previously unknown protein may open the door to more effective treatment of a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria. A team led by biochemistry researcher Zongchao Jia and graduate student Michael Suits has identified a protein that allows the bacterial strain known as E. coli 0157:H7 to obtain the iron it needs for survival in the body. Iron is a catalyst for bacterial growth, so when a human body detects bacterial invasion, it naturally produces proteins that bind tightly to and restrict iron to limit bacterial growth. In response, bacteria have evolved other methods to acquire iron including detecting and using human heme within proteins such as hemoglobin that transports oxygen from our lungs. The newly discovered protein breaks down heme, releasing the iron atom stored there for use by the deadly bacteria.

Half of chickens 'infected'

Link: The Sun Online - News

Half of chickens 'infected' FULL NEWS INDEX By PETE BELL Sun Online MORE than half of shop-sold chickens are contaminated with the superbug E.coli, a survey revealed today. Food campaigners called for Government monitoring after a BBC investigation revealed the scale of the problem. The survey was carried out for the broadcasters by the Health Protection Agency. Soil Association policy adviser Richard Young said: "Everyone knows about superbugs like MRSA but the growing problem of drug-resistant E.coli poses a potentially bigger problem because the infection is so much more common." Mr Young said the Government had already carried out studies of antibiotic resistance in pigs, cattle and sheep. He called for similar surveys of chicken, saying: "It is appalling that no similar detailed surveillance has been undertaken for chicken, despite the fact that chicken is the biggest source of foodborne infections in the UK".

Chicken superbug warning

Link: EDP24 - Chicken superbug warning.

Consumers were warned last night that chicken sold in UK stores could be contaminated with drug-resistant superbugs. Of the British-grown chickens analysed for a BBC1 programme The Real Story, more than half were contaminated with E.coli - which can cause large outbreaks of food poisoning - resistant to three or more antibiotics. More than a third of the 147 samples, which did not include organic chickens, had E.coli germs resistant to the important antibiotic Trimethaprim, which is used to treat bladder infections. Scientists also found 12 of the chickens had antibiotic-resistant campylobacter, the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK. And Vancomycin-resistant enteroccci was found in one in 25 of the samples, although more tests would be needed to confirm the exact type of the bug found, the BBC said.

New Superbug Outbreak Sweeps Southern England

Link: RedNova

An outbreak of a superbug resistant to antibiotics has infected more than 1,000 people and caused dozens of deaths. The bug, which can lead to blood poisoning, is spreading in southern England and is more serious than Clostridium difficile, which hit the headlines last month after a virulent strain infected 15 hospitals. The new superbug, an antibiotic-resistant strain of E.coli, put 357 people in hospital in the Southampton area in 2004, half of all those infected, and caused 29 deaths. It is still spreading and attempts to control it have failed. Details of the outbreak were contained in the annual report of Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer (CMO), published yesterday. The disclosure comes after growing concern about the hospital-acquired infections MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and C.difficile, which have led to many deaths throughout the NHS. Last month, Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, ordered an inquiry into an outbreak of C.difficile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, which has infected 300 patients and caused 12 deaths since 2003. Unlike MRSA and C.difficile, the E.coli bug is concentrated in people living in the community. Difficulties in containing the outbreak have been compounded by laboratories which have used inadequate methods to identify the infection.

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