Slashdot Mirror


WHO Issues a List of 12 Most Worrying Drug-Resistant Bacteria (medicalxpress.com)

Artem Tashkinov quotes a report from Medical Xpress: The World Health Organization has issued a list of the top dozen bacteria most dangerous to humans, warning that doctors are fast running out of treatment options. WHO said the most-needed drugs are for germs that threaten hospitals, nursing homes and among patients who need ventilators or catheters. The agency said the dozen listed resistant bacteria are increasingly untreatable and can cause fatal infections; most typically strike people with weakened immune systems. At the top of WHO's list is Acinetobacter baumannii, a group of bacteria that cause a range of diseases from pneumonia to blood or wound infections. In recent years, health officials have detected a few patients resistant to colistin, the antibiotic of last resort. So far, doctors have been able to treat them with other drugs. But experts worry that the colistin-resistant bacteria will spread their properties to other bacteria already resistant to more commonly used antibiotics, creating germs that can't be killed by any known drugs.

3 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Actual List by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since the linked article is still a few clicks away from the actual list, which is then a PDF, here is the actual list:

    Priority 1: CRITICAL
    Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant
    Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant
    Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem-resistant, 3rd generation cephalosporin-resistant

    Priority 2: HIGH
    Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant
    Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, vancomycin intermediate and resistant
    Helicobacter pylori, clarithromycin-resistant
    Campylobacter, fluoroquinolone-resistant
    Salmonella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant
    Neisseria gonorrhoeae, 3rd generation cephalosporin-resistant, fluoroquinolone-resistant

    Priority 3: MEDIUM
    Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-non-susceptible
    Haemophilus influenzae, ampicillin-resistant
    Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant

    Source: http://www.who.int/medicines/p...

  2. Re:Bacteria that worries by slashrio · · Score: 5, Informative

    And please bring back the copper clads in the hospital, door plates, stairs, door knobs, bedsides, chairs etc.
    Copper kills bacteria, including the antibiotic-resistant ones, everybody knows that, except apparently the hospital staffs.
    Silver also, but that might be a bit too expensive.
    Dead bacteria can not be transferred to other people...

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  3. Targeted Alpha Therapy offers a solution by KonoWatakushi · · Score: 2, Informative

    For some time, Targeted alpha therapy has shown promise for treating difficult cancers, but it may also be used to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pathogens like HIV. Once this capability is developed, the antibiotic arms race will end once and for all. The looming threat is very serious, and such promising research should be a high priority.

    Unfortunately, there are artificial barriers that are retarding progress. The most attractive isotopes for use with TAT are Actinium-225 and Bismuth-213, which no longer exist in nature. Looking at the periodic table, one might be inclined to believe that other substitutes exist, but they simply don’t. The neptunium decay chain is unique in that it does not pass through radon or terminate in lead. Born in supernovae long ago, it was extinct in nature until relatively recently, when it was revived in the heart of nuclear reactors.

    However, conventional reactors don’t produce much, and it is impractical to extract the short-lived isotopes from solid fuel rods sealed in a reactor core. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors however, are the ideal machines for producing these life-saving medical isotopes. Meanwhile, LFTR safely transforms nuclear waste into abundant and inexpensive energy.

    It is worth noting that Flibe Energy is the only company in the west pursuing this technology; others developing molten salt reactors are trying to take shortcuts which miss out on the greatest benefits of the thorium fuel cycle. LFTR is a comprehensive solution, which can finally close the fuel cycle, eliminating the need for uranium mining and enrichment. It is a more challenging design, but it doesn’t kick the can down the road; it fully addresses all rational concerns with nuclear technology, and offers many new opportunities.