Iranian researchers report high MRSA rates in hospital cockroaches
Iranian investigators have discovered a high rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common superbug, in two types of cockroaches found in hospitals, according to a study yesterday in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.
The group collected 533 Periplanets americana and Blattella germanica cockroaches and isolated bacteria from their gut content and exoskeleton.
They found that 52.8% of P americana and 43.3% of B germanica cockroaches harbored MRSA. The prevalence was highest (59.6%) among body-surface samples of P americana. MRSA isolates from the P americana surface samples harbored 100% resistance to penicillin, ceftaroline, and tetracycline, as well as 83.3% resistance to gentamicin and 80.6% resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
The authors conclude, "The present investigation is the first report of the phenotypic and genotypic evaluation of antibiotic resistance in the MRSA strains isolated from P. americana and B. germanica hospital cockroaches. Hospital cockroaches are considered as a potential mechanical vector for MRSA strains."
Mar 13 Antimicrob Resist Infect Control study
US company launches rapid test for antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea
Shield Diagnostics of San Jose, California, yesterday announced it has launched a rapid molecular test, called Target-NG, for diagnosing antibiotic susceptibility in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium that causes gonorrhea.
The company said in a press release that the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV recently recommended treating N gonorrhoeae with ciprofloxacin if susceptibility results are available prior to treatment. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends ceftriaxone in combination with azithromycin to treat uncomplicated gonorrhea.
"Rapid molecular testing for ciprofloxacin resistance allows for smarter medicine," Jeffrey D. Klausner, MD, MPH, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in the news release. "Right now we're treating gonorrhea with a sledgehammer; we're treating everything with the same exact regime. And it's not a surprise that the organism will become resistant to what we're currently using."
Ciprofloxacin can be used to treat 80% of gonorrhea and is 99.8% effective when susceptibility has been determined, Shield Diagnostics said. It is administered as a single oral dose.
"Target-NG can determine if a given gonorrhea infection is susceptible to ciprofloxacin with the same turnaround time as regular gonorrhea screening tests," said Fred Turner, MS, the company's CEO.
Mar 13 Shield Diagnostics news release
CARB-X announces partnership with German government
CARB-X announced today that the German government has committed more than $45 million to the effort to fight drug-resistant superbugs.
Under a partnership agreement, Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will invest €39 million over 4 years in CARB-X (the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator), a private-public partnership that funds pre-clinical development of new antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics for multidrug-resistant infections. BMBF will also commit an additional €1 million to a consortium of the German Center for Infection Research, the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedicines, and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArm).
"The growing number of pathogens being no longer responsive to lifesaving therapies puts the life of millions of people worldwide at risk," German Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek said in a CARB-X news release. "Resistant pathogens spread globally. Thus, combatting them takes joint international collaborative actions, such as CARB-X."
Under the agreement, which went into effect on Jan 1, 2019, BfArM will also join CARB-X's Global Accelerator Network.
Mar 14 CARB-X news release