From the Vancouver Sun:
People who self-medicate with leftover antibiotics are helping to spread drug-resistant superbugs, according to a report based on a survey that found widespread ignorance about antibiotic use among Canadians.
"A large proportion of the general public is uninformed about antibiotics, and are therefore susceptible to misinformation," says a June report by Les Etudes de Marche Createc, which conducted the survey for the Public Health Agency of Canada.
It found almost one in three Canadians either wrongly believed antibiotics are effective against colds or didn't know if they are. Only 44 per cent knew antibiotics kill bacteria but not viruses.
Close to half incorrectly thought recent use of an antibiotic protects against re-infection or didn't know whether it does. In fact, recent antibiotic use increases the risk of infection by resistant bacteria. ...more
Showing posts with label drug resistance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drug resistance. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Flu bugs growing resistance to drugs, studies find
From Reuters:
Seasonal flu viruses are developing the ability to evade influenza drugs globally, but how and why this is happening is not clear, experts told a conference on Monday.
Europe is the worst-affected by strains of influenza that resist the effects of antiviral drugs, but the resistance is growing globally, they told a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
"A significant proportion of resistant viruses were observed in Europe this winter," Dr. Bruno Lina of Claude Bernard University in Lyons, France, told the meeting.
The resistance also varies by strain, with a quarter of H1N1 flu viruses resistant in Europe and about 11 percent of H1N1 in the United States, but far fewer cases of H3N2 and influenza B viruses. ...more
Seasonal flu viruses are developing the ability to evade influenza drugs globally, but how and why this is happening is not clear, experts told a conference on Monday.
Europe is the worst-affected by strains of influenza that resist the effects of antiviral drugs, but the resistance is growing globally, they told a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
"A significant proportion of resistant viruses were observed in Europe this winter," Dr. Bruno Lina of Claude Bernard University in Lyons, France, told the meeting.
The resistance also varies by strain, with a quarter of H1N1 flu viruses resistant in Europe and about 11 percent of H1N1 in the United States, but far fewer cases of H3N2 and influenza B viruses. ...more
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Super ear infection resists approved drugs
From Canada.com:
A new super bug that causes acute ear infections in children has emerged that is immune to all antibiotics currently approved for children.
The strain of highly drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae requires aggressive therapy, either surgery or an antibiotic not approved for children that has caused joint damage in young animals.
So far, the bug appears to be occurring in only a very small proportion of children. But there is concern the multi-drug resistant organism could spread and cause other, more serious problems, including pneumonia, blood stream infections or meningitis. ...more
A new super bug that causes acute ear infections in children has emerged that is immune to all antibiotics currently approved for children.
The strain of highly drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae requires aggressive therapy, either surgery or an antibiotic not approved for children that has caused joint damage in young animals.
So far, the bug appears to be occurring in only a very small proportion of children. But there is concern the multi-drug resistant organism could spread and cause other, more serious problems, including pneumonia, blood stream infections or meningitis. ...more
Monday, May 21, 2007
Rapid spread of disease alarms experts
From the Globe and Mail:
The public-health world has been alarmed since the early 1990s about what's called multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis.
Drug resistance emerges when people are prescribed the wrong drugs or do not complete a course of treatment, which allows for the natural selection of bacteria that are resistant to the drugs.
MDR is found all over the world, with the fastest growth in cases in China and Russia. It is curable in about half of cases, but patients must take highly toxic drugs for as long as two years to get rid of it. (The other half of people die of the disease within a few years.) ...more
The public-health world has been alarmed since the early 1990s about what's called multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis.
Drug resistance emerges when people are prescribed the wrong drugs or do not complete a course of treatment, which allows for the natural selection of bacteria that are resistant to the drugs.
MDR is found all over the world, with the fastest growth in cases in China and Russia. It is curable in about half of cases, but patients must take highly toxic drugs for as long as two years to get rid of it. (The other half of people die of the disease within a few years.) ...more
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Complacency about disease is dangerous
From the Ottawa Citizen:
Paul Thorn has seen the monster that's coming for us. He's been in a hospital bed with it. It attacked his body and nearly drove him out of his mind.
Ten years later, he's cured of the multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis that attacked him in a hospital in London. Seven people died in that outbreak. He's the only survivor. What makes his survival more impressive is that he was already infected with HIV....more
Paul Thorn has seen the monster that's coming for us. He's been in a hospital bed with it. It attacked his body and nearly drove him out of his mind.
Ten years later, he's cured of the multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis that attacked him in a hospital in London. Seven people died in that outbreak. He's the only survivor. What makes his survival more impressive is that he was already infected with HIV....more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
