No ESKAPE! New drugs against MRSA, other superbugs sti...(gram-negative cousin E. coli together ...),Health

Date:12/1/2008

gram-negative cousin E. coli together accounted for 18 percent of all HAIs in 2006-2007, and a growing proportion of these two bad bugs carry resistance to a remarkable spectrum of antibiotics. Of the very few drugs in late-stage development, none works by a novel mechanism.

Acinetobacter baumannii: Drug resistance is a major problem in Acinetobacter infections, which are responsible for about 3 percent of all HAIs,. Soldiers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with cases of highly resistant Acinetobacter wound infections. Strains have emerged that are resistant to all but the most toxic drugs. Physicians have been forced to resort to an old drug that is known to cause organ damage, and resistance is even developing to this drug. Yet there is nothing in development against Acinetobacter.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Pseudomonas is a particular problem for patients on respirators and those with cystic fibrosis. Eight percent of all HAIs are caused by P. aeruginosa, and one quarter of these are resistant to carbapenems, a class of antibiotics commonly used for these infections. There are no new drugs in development for these highly resistant infections.

Enterobacter species: One in 20 HAIs is caused by this group of bacteria. Like Klebsiella, E. coli, and the other gram-negatives, Enterobacter species have developed broad-spectrum resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics. One drug, tigecycline, might work against these infections. There is nothing else in the pipeline.

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Contact: Steve Baragona sbaragona@idsociety.org 703-299-0412 Infectious Diseases Society of America Source:Eurekalert

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