Antibiotics linked to higher death rate

A common antibiotic used to treat infections could be deadly for heart disease patients years after taking the drug. Clarithromycin, sold under the brand name Biaxin, is used to treat many skin, ear, sinus and lung infections.

People suffering from heart disease that took a two-week course of it had a significantly higher risk of heart attack or sudden death a year or more after they were treated for infection.

Clarithromycin belongs to a family of antibiotics called macrolides, which fight infections by blocking protein production in bacteria. Both clarithromycin and azithromycin-another common drug in the same family, sold as Z-Pak-are broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Respiratory infections have been shown, in some studies, to raise the risk of heart attack by as much as 17 percent, so it is key that heart disease patients get effective treatment for them quickly, but the FDA's trial suggests that clarithromycin could pose a similar risk to infection.
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Probiotics for respiratory illness

There is growing evidence probiotics can reduce the risk and duration of respiratory tract infections, as well as reducing antibiotic use. Replicating a research model used in France, researchers examined the potential clinical and economic impacts in Canada.

The study included researchers from Western, Lawson Health Research Institute, Laval University and Utrecht University. It incorporated two separate scenarios from two meta-analyses. A meta-analysis combines data from multiple studies using a statistical approach.

Results from the study showed regular probiotic use could eliminate respiratory tract infections. Respiratory tract infections are highly contagious infections of the sinus, throat or airways, including influenza. Although respiratory tract infections are typically viral, about one-quarter of patients are also prescribed antibiotics (which offer benefit only against bacterial infections).

 Antibiotics can have serious side effects like destroying many beneficial bacteria in the human body.  This is why the use of probiotics is an important defense against respiratory tract infections.

Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host and can be consumed in products such as yogurt.
 People are increasingly making probiotics a part of their daily diet or dietary supplements for their Probiotics can also be used to prevent respiratory tract infections.
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Antibiotics with narrower targets for respiratory infections

Researchers who studied pediatric treatment practices in patients with earaches, strep throat and other common infections found that narrow-spectrum antibiotics, which act against a smaller range of bacteria, had fewer adverse effects than broad-spectrum antibiotics, which target a broader variety of bacteria. When judged by both practical and clinical outcomes, narrow-spectrum antibiotics performed equally well or better than broad-spectrum ones, with fewer disruptions to family routines.

The study reflects an "antimicrobial stewardship" approach, guiding healthcare providers to prescribe the most appropriate antibiotic for a patient's specific type of infection, with the aim of improving individual outcomes and reducing the overall risk of antibiotic resistance in which disease-causing microorganisms develop resistance to commonly used antibiotics.

Many children unnecessarily receive broad-spectrum antibiotics for common infections, which can lead to antibiotic resistance and unnecessary side effects," said study leader Jeffrey Gerber, MD, PhD, associate director for Inpatient Research Activities in the Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "This study showed that inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics also affects families.

The study team performed two complementary studies in 31 primary care practices in CHOP's pediatric network in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, between January 2015 and April 2016. They drew on electronic health records of infants and children up to age 12 diagnosed with an acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) and prescribed an oral antibiotic. In a retrospective cohort of approximately 30,000 patients, 14 percent received broad-spectrum drugs and 86 percent received narrow-spectrum drugs.

The ARTIs in the analysis were acute otitis media (earache), Group A streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) and sinusitis (sinus infection). ARTIs account for the majority of antibiotic exposures in children. In addition to assessing clinical outcomes in a retrospective cohort of 30,000 children, the researchers studied a prospective cohort of 2,472 children, doing telephone interviews with caregivers to measure outcomes that parents had identified as their highest concerns: adverse drug effects.

The study team found a significantly higher risk of adverse events for broad-spectrum antibiotics compared to narrow-spectrum antibiotics (3.7 percent vs. 2.7 percent as documented by clinicians, and 35.6 percent vs. 25.1 percent, as reported by patients and families). The rates of treatment failure were not significantly different between both types of antibiotics. Research tells us that antibiotic stewardship programs not only reduce the overall burden of antibiotic resistance, but also improve patient outcomes.
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New treatment for tuberculosis

In search of new strategies against life-threatening tuberculosis infections, a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), as well as Harvard University and Texas A&M University in the USA have found a new ally. They discovered a substance that interferes with the mycomembrane formation of the bacterium. It is effective even in low concentrations and when combined with known antibiotics their effectiveness is improved by up to 100-fold.

Among the greatest challenges when treating life-threatening tuberculosis infections is the increasing resistance to antibiotics. But the pathogen itself also makes the life of doctors difficult: its dense mycomembrane hampers the effect of many medications. The mycomembrane of the tuberculosis pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis consists of a lipid double layer that encapsulates the cell wall, forming an exterior barrier.

 Structural hallmarks are mycolic acids, branched beta-hydroxy fatty acids with two long hydrocarbon chains. The team hypothesizes that similarly structured beta lactones could "mask" themselves as mycolic acid to enter the mycolic acid metabolic pathways and then block the decisive enzymes. In the context of an extensive search, the interdisciplinary team of scientists hit the bullseye with the beta lactone EZ120. It does indeed inhibit the biosynthesis of the mycomembrane and kills mycobacteria effectively.

Using enzyme assays and mass spectroscopy investigations, Dr. Johannes Lehmann, a researcher at the Chair of Organic Chemistry II at TU Munich, demonstrated during his doctoral work that the new inhibitor blocks especially the enzymes Pks13 and Ag85, which play a key role in the development of mycomembranes. EZ120 is effective even in low doses, easily passes the mycomembrane and exhibits only low toxicity to human cells.

The combined application of this substance with known antibiotics showed a synergistic effect leading to significantly increased effectiveness."Vancomycin, a common antibiotic, and EZ120 work together very well. When used together, the dose can be reduced over 100-fold. Disrupting the mycomembrane enables antibiotics to enter the bacteria more easily. This is a new mode of action and might be a starting point for novel tuberculosis therapies.
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Bacteria obtain resistance from competitor

Bacteria not only develop resistance to antibiotics, they also can pick it up from their rivals. In a recent publication in Cell Reports, Researchers from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have demonstrated that some bacteria inject a toxic cocktail into their competitors causing cell lysis and death. Then, by integrating the released genetic material, which may also carry drug resistance genes, the predator cell can acquire antibiotic resistance.

The frequent and sometimes careless use of antibiotics leads to an increasingly rapid spread of resistance. Hospitals are a particular hot spot for this. Patients not only introduce a wide variety of pathogens, which may already be resistant but also, due to the use of antibiotics to combat infections, hospitals may be a place where anti-microbial resistance can develop and be transferred from pathogen to pathogen. One of these typical hospital germs is the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii. It is also known as the "Iraq bug" because multidrug-resistant bacteria of this species caused severe wound infections in American soldiers during the Iraq war.

The emergence and spread of multidrug resistance could be attributed, among other things, to the special skills of certain bacteria: Firstly, they combat their competitors by injecting them with a cocktail of toxic proteins, so-called effectors, using the type VI secretion system (T6SS), a poison syringe. They are able to uptake and reuse the released genetic material. In the model organism Acinetobacter baylyi, a close relative of the Iraq bug, Prof. Marek Basler's team at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, has now identified five differently acting effectors. Some of these toxic proteins kill the bacterial competition very effectively, but do not destroy the cells.

The predator bacteria take up the released DNA fragments. If these fragments carry certain drug resistance genes, the specific resistance can be conferred upon the new owner. As a result, the antibiotic is no longer effective and the bacterium can reproduce largely undisturbed. Pathogens with such abilities are a major problem in hospitals, as through contact with other resistant bacteria they may accumulate resistance to many antibiotics -- the bacteria become multidrug-resistant. In the worst case, antibiotic treatments are no longer effective, thus nosocomial infections with multidrug-resistant pathogens become a deadly threat to patients.

The T6SS, as well as a set of different effectors, can also be found in other pathogens such as those which cause pneumonia or cholera. Interestingly, not all effectors are sufficient to kill the target cell, as many bacteria have developed or acquired antitoxins -- so-called immunity proteins. Antibiotics and anti-microbial resistance have existed for a long time. They developed through the coexistence of microorganisms and enabled bacteria to defend themselves against enemies or to eliminate competitors. This is one of the ways in which bacteria can conquer and colonize new environmental niches. With the use of antibiotics in medicine, however, the natural ability to develop resistance has become a problem. This faces researchers with the challenge of continually developing new antibiotics and slowing down the spread of drug resistance.
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Antibiotics may reduce the ability of immune cells

Antibiotics normally act in concert with an organism's immune system to eliminate an infection. However, the drugs can have broad side effects, including eliminating "good" bacteria in the course of fighting off a pathogen. Researchers has shown that antibiotics can also reduce the ability of mouse immune cells to kill bacteria, and that changes to the biochemical environment directly elicited by treatment can protect the bacterial pathogen.

Different types of antibiotics can damage mitochondria in mice and in human epithelial cells, and that bacterial susceptibility to drugs can be affected by small molecules, called metabolites, released by cells as intermediates of their metabolic reactions. Antibiotic treatment might further alter the infection microenvironment in ways that impact bacteria and immune cells.

To investigate, the team treated mice infected by Escherichia coli bacteria with a commonly used antibiotic called ciprofloxacin, administered through the animals' drinking water at concentrations relative to what a human would receive, and quantified the biochemical changes. The researchers found that the antibiotic treatment elicited systemic changes in metabolites-not by influencing the microbiome, but by acting directly on the mouse tissues.

On further investigation, the team determined that metabolites released by mouse cells made E. coli more resistant to ciprofloxacin. Antibiotic exposure also impaired immune function by inhibiting respiratory activity in immune cells: Macrophages treated with ciprofloxacin were less able to engulf and kill E. coli bacteria.
The results highlight the potential of antibiotics to modulate the immune system, and reveal the importance of the metabolic microenvironment in resolving an infection.
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Avoid antibiotics during pregnancy

Taking common antibiotics during pregnancy may increase the risk of birth defects, premature birth or low birth weight.

Anttibiotics like Clindamycin, doxycycline, quinolones, macrolides, and phenoxymethylpenicillin were all linked to organ-specific malformations.

Infections like urinary tract infection UTI and pulmonary infection are common during pregnancy. Amoxicillin, cephalosporins, and nitrofurantoin may be considered.

Drugs used to control infections can interfere with a fetus' immune systems and affects good bacteria that are very important for fetus development.
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How to prevents urinary tract infection UTI

When bacteria from rectum and vagina get into the urethra or when the bladder has more of bad bacteria than good ones, urinary tract infection UTI may occur.

Common symptoms of urinary tract infection UTI are pain while urinating, lower abdominal pain, frequent urination at night, lower-back aches, nausea, fatigue, dizziness and headaches.

Poor diet, stress, and abuse of antibiotics can suppress or kill the good bacteria that protect the body from infection.

Risk of UTI can be reduced by wiping from front to back after defecating or when you are cleaning the vagina.
Avoid bathtub; bacteria that come out of your body may enter your vagina and avoid swimming in a dirty water.

Urinating after sexual intercourse,
maintaining good hygiene; wearing of clean underwear, avoiding bacteria buildup; sweating can cause bacteria buildup, take your bath twice in a day.

Avoid spermicides; it may introduce bacteria into the vagina and change the pH of the vagina, avoid douching and urinate regularly.

Oregano essential oil, D-Mannose and cranberry are effective in controlling bacteria that causes urinary tract infections.
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Causes of contraceptive failure

Contraceptive is the use of drugs or devices to prevent pregnancy, there are different types of contraceptives that prevent pregnancy.

The common methods are: sterilization, pill, condoms, the diaphragm, the contraceptive pill, implants, natural method, and intrauterine devices IUDs.

There are different conditions and human errors that can cause failure of a contraceptive method, some of the conditions are:

Inconsistent and incorrect use of a contraceptive pill or method.
Inflammatory bowel disease or digestive disorders.

Taking antibiotics or antiretroviral drugs may cause drugs interactions with contraceptive pills.
Wrong calculation of safe period for natural method.
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Vaginal microbiome responsible for preterm birth

The composition and structure of the vaginal microbiome may influence susceptibility to adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Decrease in the diversity and structure of vaginal microbes of pregnant women between the first and second trimesters is related with preterm birth.

Women at risk of preterm birth are treated with broad strokes, including hormones or antibiotics, bed rest and a surgical procedure that closes the cervix during pregnancy.

Stable amount and diversity of vaginal microbes leads to full term pregnancy while pregnant women who delivered their babies early experienced decreases in the amount and diversity of such microbes between the first and second trimesters.



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Breast milk can kill cancer

Breast milk is being used to fight cancer after scientists discovered it contains a substance that kills tumour cells.

Trials in patients with bladder cancer yielded good results and researchers believe the compound breast milk contains – nicknamed Hamlet – will also help tackle bowel cancer and cervical cancer.

Breast milk is better than chemotherapy because it does not destroy healthy cells. Professor Catharine Svanborg, who made the initial discovery, said ‘There’s something magical about Hamlet’s ability to target tumour cells and kill them.’

Human breast milk contained a protein called alpha-lactalbumin, which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut.

Prof Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, made the chance discovery that the substance kills tumour cells when working on antibiotics.

New breast milk is a very good source of  antimicrobial agents. During one
experiment we needed human cells and bacteria to be present, and we chose human tumour cells for practical reasons.

‘To our amazement, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. The substance attacks cancer cells  in numerous ways – first evading the cell’s outer defences, then targeting the ‘power station’ mitochondria and the  nucleus.

These actions cut off the cell’s energy source and ‘programme’ it to commit suicide, in a process called apoptosis.
Early trials in patients with bladder cancer show those injected with Hamlet start shedding dead tumour cells in their urine within days.

Links between antibiotics and miscarriage

Treatment of urinary tract infections in early pregnancy with these antibiotics: macrolide, quinolones, tetracycline, sulfonamide and metronidazole may increase risk of miscarriage.

"Infections are prevalent during pregnancy," says Dr. Anick Bérard, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec.

 "Although, using antibiotic to treat infections has decreased risk of prematurity and low birth weight. But some antibiotics are increasing the risk of spontaneous abortion, infection severity may also contribute to the abortion.

Bérard and her team looked at data from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort between 1998 and 2009. For this study, 8702 cases, defined as clinically detected spontaneous abortions, were matched with 87 020 controls; mean gestational age at the time of miscarriage was 14 weeks of pregnancy

A total of 1428 (16.4%) cases were
exposed to antibiotics during early pregnancy compared to 11 018 (12.6%) in controls. Participants were between
the ages of 15 and 45 years and covered under Quebec's drug insurance plan.

Miscarriage is common in order women with many health issues and infections. These are considered in this study.

Komodo dragon blood may become an antibiotics

Harmful microbes are developing resistance to drugs that used to kill them, scientists are looking for powerful antibiotics that can destroy bacteria.

The bacterium Clostridium difficile is responsible for about 250,000 infections and 14,000 death, this makes it a threat to human.

Komodo dragon may be the new source of antibiotics because of its special qualities according to Van Hoek and colleagues.

Reptiles are strong animals, Komodo dragon can eat decayed food without any effect, peptide VK25 in its blood contains antimicrobial properties that can prevent biofilms.

The researchers rearrange two amino acids in its blood-VK25 to make it more effective and discovered new synthetic version of the peptide called DRGN-1

The team tested DRGN-1 on mice wounds that had Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stephlococcus aureus, the synthetic peptide destroyed the biofilm of the wounds and the two bacterial strains.

This positive result will make it effective in healing wounds and an effective antibiotics for human.

How to disorganize bacteria for better infections treatment

Some bacteria are useful, good bacteria in gut - probiotics like GI Jake in gut aid digestion and fight with invading microbes.

Bacteria are everywhere, antibiotics are used to control bacteria that can cause health issues for humans, but some bacteria have developed resistance to common available antibiotics.

Researchers are looking at new method of treating infections that reduce the use of antibiotics.

Bacteria infect people by working in unity, living together in biofilm and communicate using chemical. This leads to severe bacteria attack on the host.

Scientists are trying to break the unity by shaking the bacteria at the right frequency to confuse them and prevent communication to reduce or prevent them from attacking the host.