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- IOWA CITY, Iowa -
The University of Iowa is reporting both good news and bad news on the
war against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Although one UI Health Care
study shows there may be a potent, new drug to combat bacteria resistant
to existing antibiotics, another investigation reveals that some strains
of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) have become antibiotic-resistant globe
trotters, spreading throughout the world. S. aureus is the most common
bacterial cause of human diseases, including infections of the lung, bloodstream,
heart valves, skin and those infections caused by surgical wounds.
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- According to UI findings, a novel synthetic drug linezolid
was universally active against all tested forms of staphylococci regardless
of resistance patterns to other antibiotics. The new drug also inhibited
all enterococci and was 100 percent effective against streptococci.
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- "Linezolid appears to be a very promising new antimicrobial
agent," said Ronald Jones, M.D., UI professor of pathology. "We
have not found any documented cases where the drug has not been effective."
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- Jones and Michael Pfaller, M.D., UI professor of pathology
and public health, will present their findings at the 37th annual meeting
of the Infectious Diseases Society of America to be held Nov. 18-21 in
Philadelphia. The UI investigative team is the first, besides the manufacturer
Pharmacia & Upjohn, to test the effectiveness of the drug.
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- "One of the most exciting potential uses for this
new agent is the management of resistant Gram-positive infections,"
Pfaller said.
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- That potential may be even more important considering
the findings that UI colleague Daniel Diekema, M.D., a UI pathology fellow
and infectious diseases staff physician, will report at the same meeting.
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- According to the UI study led by Diekema, Pfaller and
Jones, similar and sometimes identical antibiotic-resistant strains of
S. aureus are popping up hundreds and thousands of miles apart, even across
oceans.
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- "We demonstrated that there are numerous instances
where bacterial strains were present at many different hospitals in the
same region and at hospitals on different continents," Diekema explained.
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- The medical community has been using antibiotics to treat
bacterial infections for more than
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- 60 years. However, many bacterial strains have become
immune to most of the available drugs meant to destroy the organisms. Much
of this immunity, or resistance, is due to overuse of the drugs themselves.
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- In the study Diekema will present, the UI investigators
wanted to find out the genetic relatedness of antibiotic resistant S. aureus
strains in various areas of the world. The UI researchers also wanted to
identify places where resistance was the highest. To conduct the probe,
the UI team relied on the global network of 72 medical centers that participate
in the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program sponsored by Bristol-Myers
Squibb. SENTRY is a joint effort between the UI and the Women's and Children's
Hospital, Adelaide, Australia. The program is the first and only worldwide
monitoring system for the spread, over time, of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
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- "We did this particular study because it is very
important to understand how these resistant strains are being spread around
the world," Diekema said.
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- The findings, which showed that many of the resistant
strains cross national borders and that the biggest resistance problem
areas are located in Central and South America and in Asian-Pacific countries,
are important as infectious disease control specialists attempt to combat
the resistance, Diekema stressed.
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- "If resistance emerges within an individual hospital
because of antibiotic use, then the best way to control that resistance
is to crack down on antibiotic use," he said. "However, if very
resistant strains are being spread widely between hospitals, then the best
approach is to emphasize infection control practices. In the case of S.
aureus, it looks like these resistant strains are very easily spread in
hospitals, among hospitals and even across continents. What that means
to us is that even though antibiotic control is important for this bacteria,
even more important probably are good infection control practices."
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- University of Iowa Health Care describes the partnership
between the UI College of Medicine and the UI Hospitals and Clinics and
the patient care, medical education and research programs and services
they provide.
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- Editor's Note: The original news release can be found
here
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