http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new study published today in PLoS Medicine re-evaluates the role of public reporting of hospital-acquired infection data. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hospital-infection-burden-difficile.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:00:06 EST news261757682 Collagenase extracted from Clostridium histolyticum (trade name: Xiapex) was approved in the beginning of 2011 for the treatment of people with Dupuytren's contracture. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether collagenase offers an added benefit in comparison with conventional regimens. However, such an added benefit cannot be inferred from the dossier, as the drug manufacturer presented either no data or unsuitable data. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-collagenase-dupuytren-contracture-added-benefit.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 12 Jul 2012 10:15:36 EST news261306915 Researchers have unveiled a novel strategy for neutralizing unwanted molecules and clearing them from the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-antitoxin-strategy-pathogens.html Medical research Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:03:53 EST news259232620 University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found that an imbalance in the regulation of certain T cells—the cells in the body that fight off infection or attack the system in certain autoimmune diseases—may put certain people at a higher risk of having recurrent cases of Clostridium difficile, or C. Diff, infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-cell-imbalance-gastrointestinal-infection-recurrence.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 21 May 2012 11:00:55 EST news256816413 A live biological preparation developed by University of Minnesota researchers could put a stop to an increasingly prevalent, and sometimes deadly, infection caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile. CIPAC Limited, based in Australia with subsidiaries in California, will continue to work with the university to advance the technology to treat patients by using frozen and, eventually, encapsulated preparations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-university-minnesota-startup-bacterial-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 16 May 2012 11:29:34 EST news256386563 Consumption of probiotics (live microorganisms, which may occur naturally in foods such as yogurt, intended to confer a health benefit when consumed) is associated with a reduced risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, a common adverse effect of antibiotic use, according to a review and meta-analysis of previous studies published in the May 9 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-probiotics-diarrhea-antibiotic.html Medications Tue, 08 May 2012 16:00:07 EST news255710407 New research finds a strong link between healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and patient readmission after an initial hospital stay. The findings, published in the June 2012 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), suggest that reducing such infections could help reduce readmissions, considered to be a major driver of unnecessary healthcare spending and increased patient morbidity and mortality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-expensive-hospital-readmissions-linked-health-care-associated.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 04 May 2012 14:10:07 EST news255357422 An evaluation of the national cleanyourhands campaign shows for the first time that an effective hand-hygiene campaign, undertaken in the context of a high profile political drive, can successfully reduce some healthcare associated infections, according to a new study published in tomorrow's BMJ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-national-handwashing-campaign-hygiene-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 04 May 2012 01:50:02 EST news255312735 A synthetic mixture of intestinal bacteria could one day replace stool transplants as a treatment for Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). C. difficile is a toxin-producing bacteria that can overpopulate the colon when antibiotics eradicate other, naturally protective bacteria living there. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-synthetic-stool-prospective-treatment-difficile.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:50:01 EST news255017092 Several clinical trials at the University of Cincinnati (UC) are focused on potential treatments for two serious gastroenterological illnesses—Crohn’s disease and Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-clinical-trials-focus-treatments-crohn.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:04:25 EST news251456546 (HealthDay) -- Most California hospitals implement some policies to improve infection control for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), primarily methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), but few policies are associated with lower MDRO rates, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-california-hospitals-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 17 Mar 2012 06:10:14 EST news251183404 (HealthDay) -- Recurrent Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection (CDI) can successfully be treated in the vast majority of patients through a fecal transplantation procedure via colonoscopy, according to research published in the March issue of Gastroenterology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-fecal-transplant-feasible-recurrent-ic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 03 Mar 2012 04:40:04 EST news249970988 Researchers have combined bioactive peptides to successfully stimulate wound healing. The in vitro and in vivo study, published today in PLoS ONE, demonstrates that the combination of two peptides stimulates the growth of blood vessels and promotes re-growth of tissue. Further development of these peptides could lead to a new treatment for chronic and acute wounds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-bioactive-peptides-wound-vivo.html Medical research Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:55:53 EST news249299746 Contrary to current convention by which infection with the organism Clostridium difficile is regarded as an infection that is acquired by contact with symptomatic patients known to be infected with C. difficile, these may account for only a minority of new cases of the infection. These findings are important as they indicate that C. difficile infection, which can be fatal especially in older people, may not be effectively controlled by current hospital infection strategies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-transmission-clostridium-difficile-hospitals-contact.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:26:11 EST news247857948 Norovirus, a pathogen that often causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis, was responsible for 18.2 percent of all infection outbreaks and 65 percent of ward closures in U.S. hospitals during a two-year period, according to a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-norovirus-infection-outbreaks-hospitals.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:30:50 EST news247231831 Yet another study adds to the growing evidence that antibiotics can disrupt the balance of the intestinal flora, with negative effects on health. A team of researchers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, has shown in mouse models that a single dose of the commonly used antibiotic, clindamycin, wiped out nearly 90 percent of bacterial taxa, leaving the mice unusually susceptible to infection by Clostridium difficile, a bacterial pathogen that is innocuous for most health people but that can cause severe diarrhea in individuals following antibiotic treatment.  Their research appears in the January issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-dose-antibiotic-mice-highly-vulnerable.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:40:01 EST news246272882 A new study published in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) reports that hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection increases length of stay in hospital by an average of six days. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-difficile-lengthens-hospital-days.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:37:28 EST news242311035 Even a very good wastewater treatment plant can't clean up fragments of superbugs -- bacteria that have developed a resistance to antibiotics -- and until now, almost no one has noticed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-wastewater-treatment-filter-superbug-fragments.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:30:01 EST news241086244 (Medical Xpress) -- Novacta Biosystems has commenced dosing of the first healthy volunteers in a phase I clinical trial of a new antibiotic to treat the hospital superbug Clostridium difficile. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-antibiotic-compound-phase-clinical-trial.html Medications Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:16:57 EST news240045411 Growing evidence for the effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplants as a treatment for patients with recurrent bouts of Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) associated diarrhea is presented in three studies -- including a long-term follow-up of colonoscopic fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) for recurrent C. difficile Infection that included 77 patients from five different states-- unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-fecal-microbiota-transplants-effective-treatment.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:50:01 EST news239278315 Antibiotics may not be the only risk factor associated with community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection, indicating that other undefined causes of the potentially life-threatening infection may exist and could also predict whether or not a patient will require hospitalization, according to the results of the study, "Predictors of Hospitalization in Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile Infection," unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-antibiotics-community-acquired-clostridium-difficile-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:40:18 EST news239276411 A study led by Matej Oresic from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests that autoimmune diabetes is preceded by diminished gut microbial diversity of the Clostridium leptum subgroup, elevated plasma leptin and enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-specific-bacteria-autoimmune-diabetes.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:15:13 EST news239026481 An international team of scientists led by Monash University researchers has uncovered how a common hospital bacterium becomes a deadly superbug that kills increasing numbers of hospital patients worldwide and accounts for an estimated $3.2 billion each year in health care costs in the US alone. Their findings appear October 13th in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-hospital-superbug-debugged.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:30:51 EST news237745839 MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company which has licensed technology from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, is developing a powerful new antibiotic treatment for resistant infections including the deadly MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) bugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-powerful-diff-treatment.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:49:59 EST news235666182 Groundbreaking research encompassing Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, has uncovered a natural defense mechanism that is capable of inactivating the toxin that spreads Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, an increasingly common bacterial infection in hospitals and long-term care settings. The research has immediate implications for developing a new form of treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-newly-cell-mechanism-amplified-nitric.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:00:15 EST news233150210 Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered a molecular process by which the body can defend against the effects of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), pointing the way to a promising new approach for treating an intestinal disease that has become more common, more severe and harder to cure in recent years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-common-hospital-acquired-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:00:01 EST news233149917 New research has identified a novel mechanism by which humans can defend themselves against the well known hospital superbug, Clostridium difficile.  The study provides us with critical information for the development of therapies for the treatment of the infection caused by this bacterium. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-major-superbugs.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:00:01 EST news231155488 Antibiotic overuse and resistance have emerged as major threats during the past two decades. Following an outbreak of Clostridium difficile infections, which often result from antibiotic use, health care professionals in Quebec, Canada targeted physicians and pharmacists with an education campaign that reduced outpatient antibiotic use, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and now available online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-simple-guidelines-decreased-unnecessary-antibiotic.html Health Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:45:16 EST news230870663 (Medical Xpress) -- UCSF basic research into botulism has translated into a novel antitoxin to protect against bioterrorism, with the first clinical trials launching soon to assess the resulting vaccine's safety. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-ucsf-botulism-bioterrorism-treatment.html Medical research Fri, 06 May 2011 08:42:42 EST news223890104