News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Scientists report that they found the common pathogen Staphylococus aureus on close to half of 136 raw meat and poultry samples from five US cities and that more than half of the isolates were resistant to several antibiotics, but they say the public health significance of the findings is not clear.

Apr 14, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – Warning that medical procedures such as surgery and chemotherapy will become impossible if current trends continue, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) today called for a many-pronged campaign to counter the ever-growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday reported on a cluster of four cases of vaccinia virus infection in 2008 that were linked to a martial arts gym in Maryland.

The investigation included lab and public health officials from Michigan and Maryland and was detailed in the CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) journal.

(CIDRAP News) – Saying current treatment practices vary widely, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) today released lengthy guidelines for treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, which the group said now account for most of the skin infections that send people to emergency rooms.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials announced yesterday that $1 billion worth of grants and tax credits will be awarded to thousands of small biotechnology companies to support the development of new medical therapies, including a number of products for infectious diseases.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded a contract to a San Francisco company to further the development of a new broad-spectrum antibiotic for treating plague, tularemia, and various resistant infections.