Exeter awarded £14 million to fight “next global pandemic”

antimicrobial

Exeter awarded £14 million for antimicrobial resistance research to fight “next global pandemic” The University of Exeter and collaborators have recently been awarded £14 million for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research – widely acknowledged as the “next global pandemic” AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites evolve to become resistant to commonly used antimicrobial drugs […]

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Genome sequencing could curb hospital infection outbreaks

Boss

Genome sequencing could curb hospital infection outbreaks: The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in hospitals could be greatly reduced thanks to research by The University of Queensland and Queensland Health. A team including Dr Patrick Harris and Dr Brian Forde from UQ’s Centre for Clinical Research used whole genomic sequencing as a surveillance tool to rapidly […]

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New bid to ‘outflank’ antimicrobial resistance

resistance

New bid to ‘outflank’ antimicrobial resistance: A major new project will investigate the defence mechanisms of bacterial cells, to help stop the spread of drug-resistant genes. Resistance to antibiotics (known as antimicrobial resistance) is a growing problem, identified by the World Health Organisation as a top ten threat facing humanity. The new project, led by […]

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The protective armour of superbug C.difficile revealed

C.difficile

The spectacular structure of the protective armour of superbug C.difficile has been revealed for the first time showing the close-knit yet flexible outer layer – like chain mail. This assembly prevents molecules getting in and provides a new target for future treatments, according to the scientists who have uncovered it. Publishing in Nature Communications, the […]

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Bacterial co-infections & antimicrobial resistance

bacteria

Researchers identify the impact of bacterial co-infections and antimicrobial resistance in COVID-19 A team of researchers from Queen’s University Belfast have identified new problems linked to the disease and warn of a sharp rise in antimicrobial resistance associated to COVID-19 treatments in the aftermath of the pandemic. In their paper, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, […]

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Financial incentives to reduce antibiotic use

Financial incentives help to drive down unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions from GPs and could reduce the amount of antibiotics in the community, according to a paper published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. This, in turn, could help to curb drug-resistant infections. The findings show the number of patients prescribed antibiotics by their GP for a common […]

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Making antibiotics work better

Antibiotics are increasingly ineffective due to the increase of multidrug-resistant bacteria and scientists are struggling to find alternative ways to fight deadly infections. But what if we could simply make existing antibiotics work better? Scientists at the University of Surrey in collaboration with research partners at the University of Sheffield and University of Würzburg, Germany, […]

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AMR and the importance of finding new ways to prevent and treat infections

The Hippocratic Post - antimicrobial resistance

Jim O’Neill, chair of the UK Government’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, has today called for vaccines and alternative approaches to be used more widely in healthcare and agriculture as an alternative to antibiotics in the fight against drug-resistant “superbugs”. There has been much in the media recently about our currently available antibiotics becoming less effective, […]

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