Tag Archives: staphylococcus aureus

Tübinger Forscher decken Tarnkappenstrategie multiresistenter Keime auf

Durchbruch in der Erforschung gefürchteter Krankheitserreger – Bislang unbekanntes Protein in einer Schlüsselrolle

Forscherinnen und Forschern der Universität Tübingen und des Deutschen Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (DZIF) ist ein Durchbruch bei der Entschlüsselung multiresistenter Krankheitskeime gelungen. Das Team um Professor Andreas Peschel und Professor Thilo Stehle konnte Struktur und Funktion eines bislang unbekannten Proteins aufklären, mit dessen Hilfe sich gefürchtete Erreger wie Staphylococcus aureus gegenüber dem menschlichen Immunsystem wie mit einer Tarnkappe schützen. Die Studie wurde am Mittwoch im Fachmagazin Nature veröffentlicht.  (more…)

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Forscher entschlüsseln einen Mechanismus bei schweren Hautinfektionen

Zuckerpolymere der äußeren Zellhülle von Staphylococcus aureus führen zu besonders aggressivem Krankheitsverlauf – Ansatzpunkt für mögliche Therapie

Staphylococcus aureus gehört zu den am meisten gefürchteten multiresistenten Erregern. Vor allem bei Menschen mit geschwächtem Immunsystem verursacht das Bakterium oft lebensbedrohliche Infektionen. In den letzten Jahren sind weltweit besonders aggressive Stämme von S. aureus aufgetaucht, sogenannte „Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus“ oder CA-MRSA, die selbst bei gesunden Menschen schwerwiegende Infektionen von Haut und Gewebe auslösen können. (more…)

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Testing Water for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an important concern for disease prevention in the future. UA doctoral candidate Victoria Obergh is testing Tucson-area wastewater systems to find out where these bacteria can be found.

In the lab, Victoria Obergh transfers bacterial DNA samples into a tray. A graduate student in the University of Arizona’s Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Obergh works with the samples under a sterile hood sporting an ultraviolet light to kill any unwanted DNA. (more…)

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OhioHealth and IBM Scientists Join Forces to Prevent Infections in Hospitals

Wireless technology and real-time Big Data analytics boost hand hygiene 20%

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. & COLUMBUS, OH. – 10 Jan 2014: OhioHealth andIBM today announced a collaboration to aid in the prevention of  infections using a first-of-a-kind network of wireless sensors and real-time Big Data analytics that measure hand-washing practices.  OhioHealth will use the technology to provide hospital administrators with real-time data that can be used to reduce healthcare associated infections (HAIs) like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile, which affect 1 in every 20 patients in U.S. healthcare facilities.

Already, the pilot project in Columbus has achieved more than 90 percent compliance with hand-washing standards – a 20 percent jump over its previous practices and well above the 50 percent national compliance level. (more…)

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Selenium Controls Staph on Implant Material

A coating of selenium nanoparticles significantly reduces the growth of Staphylococcus aureus on polycarbonate, a material common in implanted devices such as catheters and endotracheal tubes, engineers at Brown University report in a new study.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Selenium is an inexpensive element that naturally belongs in the body. It is also known to combat bacteria. Still, it had not been tried as an antibiotic coating on a medical device material. In a new study, Brown University engineers report that when they used selenium nanoparticles to coat polycarbonate, the material of catheters and endotracheal tubes, the results were significant reductions in cultured populations of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, sometimes by as much as 90 percent.

“We want to keep the bacteria from generating a biofilm,” said Thomas Webster, professor of engineering and orthopaedics, who studies how nanotechnology can improve medical implants. He is the senior author of the paper, published online this week in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research A. (more…)

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Geoscientists Find Key to Why Some Patients Get Infections from Cardiac Implants

*Bacterial cells have gene mutations that allow them to ‘stick’ to the devices*

New research suggests that some patients develop a potentially deadly blood infection from their implanted cardiac devices because bacterial cells in their bodies have gene mutations that allow them to stick to the devices.

Geoscientists were the major contributors to the finding.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the study results online this week. (more…)

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‘Chemical Compounds in Trees Can Fight Deadly Staph Infections in Humans’

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Most people would never suspect that a “trash tree,” one with little economic value and often removed by farmers due to its ability to destroy farmland, could be the key to fighting a deadly bacterium. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found an antibiotic in the Eastern Red Cedar tree that is effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a “superbug” that is resistant to most medications.

“I wanted to find a use for a tree species that is considered a nuisance,” said Chung-Ho Lin, research assistant professor in the MU Center for Agroforestry at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “This discovery could help people fight the bacteria as well as give farmers another cash crop.” (more…)

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